Most actors have other employment in addition to acting. Unfortunately (especially when starting out in your acting career) acting jobs can often be far and few between until you build up your network and experience. Some actors find jobs in a touring company and that employment can last several years. Ashurbanipal was involved in administration and versed in the problems of controlling the northern hill tribes. His tutors were Nabu-shar-usur, a general, and Nabu-ahi-eriba, who interested him in history and literature. Like few Mesopotamian kings before him, he mastered all scribal and priestly knowledge and was able to read Sumerian and obscure Akkadian scripts and languages.