Uploaded November 2019 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
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In the year 612 BC, the coalition army of Medes, Scythians, Cimmerians, Chaldeans and Babylonians stormed the great Assyrian capital of Nineveh. Decades before, Ashurbanipal had built a massive personal library which contained more than 30,000 written texts. During the violent siege of the city, fires consumed the royal palace, and the library. Making it one of the first major book burning event in historical record. Interestingly, because the books were written on clay, the flames served as a method of preservation by hardening the tablets. In fact, they were so well protected against the elements, that archeologists were able to decipher the cuneiform more than two millennia after ... Read the full transcript at HWYN.ORG
Fair Use Film Clip Credit: Agora (Focus Features)
Image Credits and Links:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashurbanipal_II,_detail_of_a_lion-hunt_scene_from_Nineveh,_7th_century_BC,_the_British_Museum.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detail_of_a_stone_monument_of_Ashurbanipal_II_as_a_basket-bearer._668-655_BCE._From_the_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Iraq,_currently_housed_in_the_British_Museum.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliamentary_archives.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Persepolis_east_side_at_spring.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Persepolis_T_Chipiez.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Tachara,_Persepolis.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Perspolis.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period#/media/File:EN-WarringStatesAll260BCE.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Army_of_Terracotta.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birth_Places_of_Chinese_Philosophers.png
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodcut;_Daoist_internal_alchemy_(7)_Wellcome_L0038977.jpg
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodcut;_Daoist_internal_alchemy_(9)_Wellcome_L0038979.jpg
Free Trial for Great Courses Plus -
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In the year 612 BC, the coalition army of Medes, Scythians, Cimmerians, Chaldeans and Babylonians stormed the great Assyrian capital of Nineveh. Decades before, Ashurbanipal had built a massive personal library which contained more than 30,000 written texts. During the violent siege of the city, fires consumed the royal palace, and the library. Making it one of the first major book burning event in historical record. Interestingly, because the books were written on clay, the flames served as a method of preservation by hardening the tablets. In fact, they were so well protected against the elements, that archeologists were able to decipher the cuneiform more than two millennia after ... Read the full transcript at HWYN.ORG
Fair Use Film Clip Credit: Agora (Focus Features)
Image Credits and Links:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashurbanipal_II,_detail_of_a_lion-hunt_scene_from_Nineveh,_7th_century_BC,_the_British_Museum.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detail_of_a_stone_monument_of_Ashurbanipal_II_as_a_basket-bearer._668-655_BCE._From_the_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Iraq,_currently_housed_in_the_British_Museum.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliamentary_archives.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Persepolis_east_side_at_spring.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Persepolis_T_Chipiez.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Tachara,_Persepolis.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Perspolis.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period#/media/File:EN-WarringStatesAll260BCE.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Army_of_Terracotta.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birth_Places_of_Chinese_Philosophers.png
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodcut;_Daoist_internal_alchemy_(7)_Wellcome_L0038977.jpg
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodcut;_Daoist_internal_alchemy_(9)_Wellcome_L0038979.jpg
