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Ashurbanipal, (flourished 7th century bc), last of the great kings of Assyria (reigned 668 to 627 bc), who assembled in Nineveh the first systematically organized library in the ancient Middle East. The life of this vigorous ruler of an empire ranging initially from the Persian Gulf to Cilicia, Syria, and Egypt can be largely reconstructed from his autobiographical annals and royal correspondence. His father, Esarhaddon, appointed him crown prince of Assyria in May 672 bc to avert a dynastic struggle. Shamash-shum-ukin, a son of equal status by another wife, was appointed crown prince of Babylonia. Probably owing to the influential queen mother Naqi’a-Zakutu, Ashurbanipal was given responsibility earlier.
