Typological Aspects of Scholarly Tablets in the Library of Ashurbanipal

Schnitzlein, Babette; Taylor, Jon

Typological Aspects of Scholarly Tablets in the Library of Ashurbanipal

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Journal article

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Schnitzlein, Babette

Taylor, Jon

Date published

November 30, 2024

Abstract

The Library of Ashurbanipal is an archetype of standardisation in cuneiform. It has been seen as a collection of compositions whose text took the form of fixed, canonical versions on which modern reconstructions can best rely. The script used in the Library is so carefully controlled and standardised that it has been described as “typewriter” script. An aspect that has received less attention is the typology of the tablets on which the standardised texts were written in this careful Library script. As the thousands of fragments into which the Library was shattered in antiquity are gradually pieced back together, the types of tablet in that collection are becoming more apparent. These types help us understand the nature of the tablets in antiquity, as well as the functioning and vision of the Library itself.