Page:The Chaldean Account of Genesis (1876).djvu/54

32 Shalmaneser, son of Assur-nazir-pal, 860, during the reign of Nabu-bal-idina, king of Babylon, and these were copied by the Assyrian scribes, and placed in the royal library. Vul-nirari, grandson of Shalmaneser, 812, added to the Calah library, and had tablets written at Nineveh. Assurnirari, 755, continued the literary work, some mythological tablets being dated in his reign.

Tiglath Pileser, 745, enlarged the library, and placed in it various copies of historical inscriptions. It was, however, reserved for Sargon, who founded the last Assyrian dynasty, 722, to make the Assyrian royal hbrary worthy of the empire. Early in his reign he appointed Nabu-suqub-gina principal librarian, and this officer set to work making new copies of all the standard works of the day. During the whole of his term of office copies of the great literary works were produced, the majority of the texts preserved belonging to the early period previous to 1600.

In the period which followed there was a general revival of all the ancient works which had escaped destruction, and the study of this early literature became a marked feature of the time.

Sennacherib, son of Sargon, 705, continued to add to his father's library at Calah, but late in his reign he removed the collection from that city to Nineveh, where from this time the national library remained until the fall of the empire.

Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib, 681, further