Ashurbanipal in the context of Elam

The Epic of Gilgamesh (/ˈɡɪlɡəmɛʃ/) is an epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of which may date back to the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates back to the 18th century BCE and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni dates to somewhere between the 13th to the 10th centuries BCE and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru ("He Who Saw the Deep(s)", lit. "He Who Sees the Unknown"). Approximately two-thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BCE Assyrian King Ashurbanipal.

The first part of the story discusses Gilgamesh (who was king of Uruk) and Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing the people of Uruk. After Enkidu becomes civilized through sexual initiation with Shamhat, he travels to Uruk, where he challenges Gilgamesh to a test of strength. Gilgamesh wins the contest; nonetheless, the two become friends. Together they make a six-day journey to the legendary Cedar Forest, where they ultimately slay its Guardian, Humbaba, and cut down the sacred Cedar. The goddess Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven, insulting Ishtar in the process, after which the gods decide to sentence Enkidu to death and kill him by giving him a fatal illness.

The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latter era, though it is most often regarded as dating from the foundation of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty by Psamtik I in 664 BC, following the departure of the Nubian Kushite rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty after they were driven out by the Assyrians under King Ashurbanipal. The use of the term "Third Intermediate Period", based on the analogy of the well-known First and Second Intermediate Periods, was popular by 1978, when British Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen used the term for the title of his book on the period. While Kitchen argued that the period was 'far from being chaotic' and hoped that his work would lead to the abolishment of the term, with his own preference being the 'Post-Imperial epoch', his use of the term as a title seems only to have entrenched its use.

The period was ruled by non-native Egyptians and is viewed as one of decline and political instability including division of the state, coinciding with the Late Bronze Age collapse of civilizations in the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean (including the Greek Dark Ages).

Cyaxares was the third king of the Medes. He ascended to the throne in 625 BC, after his father Phraortes lost his life in a battle against the Assyrians, probably Ashurbanipal. Assyrian allies, the Scythians then ruled Media for 28 years before Cyaxeres overthrew Scythian domination and became king.

Cyaxares collaborated with the Babylonians to destroy the Assyrian Empire, and united most of the Iranian peoples of ancient Iran, thereby transforming Media into a major power.

The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of more than 30,000 clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BCE, including texts in various languages. Among its holdings was the famous Epic of Gilgamesh.

Ashurbanipal's Library gives modern historians information regarding people of the ancient Near East. In his Outline of History, H. G. Wells calls the library "the most precious source of historical material in the world."

Wahibre Psamtik I (Ancient Egyptian: Wꜣḥ-jb-Rꜥ Psmṯk) was the first pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the Saite period, ruling from the city of Sais in the Nile delta between 664 and 610 BC. He was installed by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, against the Kushite rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, but later gained more autonomy as the Assyrian Empire declined.

The royal Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal is shown on a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs from the North Palace of Nineveh that are now displayed in room 10a of the British Museum. They are widely regarded as "the supreme masterpieces of Assyrian art".

They show a formalized ritual "hunt" by King Ashurbanipal (reigned 669–631 BC) in an arena, where captured Asian lions were released from cages for the king to slaughter with arrows, spears, or his sword. They were made about 645–635 BC, and originally formed different sequences placed around the palace. They would probably originally have been painted, and formed part of a brightly coloured overall decor.

Phraortes, son of Deioces, was the second king of the Median kingdom.

Like his father Deioces, Phraortes started wars against Assyria, but was defeated and killed by the Assyrian king, probably Ashurbanipal (r. 669-631 BC).

The Sargonid dynasty was the final ruling dynasty of Assyria, ruling as kings of Assyria during the Neo-Assyrian Empire for just over a century from the ascent of Sargon II in 722 BC to the fall of Assyria in 609 BC. Although Assyria would ultimately fall during their rule, the Sargonid dynasty ruled the country during the apex of its power and Sargon II's three immediate successors Sennacherib (r. 705–681 BC), Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC) and Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BC) are generally regarded as three of the greatest Assyrian monarchs. Though the dynasty encompasses seven Assyrian kings, two vassal kings in Babylonia and numerous princes and princesses, the term Sargonids is sometimes used solely for Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.

Though the Sargonid dynasty only encompasses the reigns of a few kings, their rule saw the borders of the empire grow to encompass the entire Ancient Near East, the East Mediterranean, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, and they witnessed the subjugation of rivals such as Babylonia, Elam, Persia, Urartu, Lydia, the Medes, Phrygians, Cimmerians, Israel, Judah, Phoenicia, Chaldea, Canaan, the Kushite Empire, the Arabs, and Egypt, as Assyria's rivals were either completely conquered or made vassals.

Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian cuneiform: Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir"), also spelled Nebuchadrezzar, and most commonly known under the nickname Kudurru, was a governor of the city Uruk in Babylonia under the rule of Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BC) of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, appointed after the defeat of Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, Ashurbanipal's brother who had rebelled against Assyria, c.  648 BC. He was likely the son of the high priest Nabonassar.

In the reign of Ashurbanipal's son Sinsharishkun (r. 627–612 BC), the grave of Nebuchadnezzar was desecrated, with the perpetrators going so far as dragging his body through the streets of Uruk. This was done as a response to the anti-Assyrian activities of his two sons. In 2007, Assyriologist Michael Jursa identified Nebuchadnezzar as the father of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who rebelled against Sinsharishkun in 626 BC (this being the anti-Assyrian activities). If Nabopolassar was his son, Nabopolassar would go on to name his own son, Nebuchadnezzar II, after his father.

Šamaš-šuma-ukin (Neo-Assyrian Akkadian: 𒌋𒌋𒈬𒁺, romanized: Šamaš-šuma-ukin or Šamaš-šumu-ukīn, meaning "Shamash has established the name"), was king of Babylon as a vassal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 668 BC to his death in 648. Born into the Assyrian royal family, Šamaš-šuma-ukin was the son of the Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon and the elder brother of Esarhaddon's successor Ashurbanipal.

Despite being the elder son, Šamaš-šuma-ukin was for unknown reasons bypassed as heir to Assyria. His designation as heir to Babylonia was likely devised by Esarhaddon as a means to counteract future rivalry and jealousy between the brothers. Although Esarhaddon specified that Šamaš-šuma-ukin was to swear an oath of allegiance to Ashurbanipal, the clear primary heir, Šamaš-šuma-ukin was also referred to as Ashurbanipal's "equal brother" and Ashurbanipal was to stay out of his affairs. This part of the succession plans were not upheld by Ashurbanipal after Esarhaddon's death; Šamaš-šuma-ukin only acceded to the Babylonian throne months after Ashurbanipal had become king and was throughout his reign a closely monitored vassal, not entrusted with all of Babylonia or substantial military forces and only allowed to make decisions if they were approved and verified by Ashurbanipal.

Nabonassar (Babylonian cuneiform: Nabû-nāṣir, meaning "Nabu (is) protector") was a high priest (šatammu) of the Eanna temple in Uruk in the reign of the Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC), attested as such from 678 to 675 BC. He is very likely to have been the father of Nebuchadnezzar, governor of Uruk under Esarhaddon's successor Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BC), and the grandfather of Nabopolassar (r. 626–605 BC), the first king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, making Nabonassar the progenitor of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonian kings.

In addition to Nebuchadnezzar, it is probable that Nabonassar was also the father of Bēl-uballiṭ, who is recorded as high priest of the same temple in 642 BC, and of Bel-uballit's colleague and brother, Nabu-ušabši.

Sîn-šumu-līšir or Sîn-šumu-lēšir (Neo-Assyrian Akkadian: 𒀭𒌍𒈬𒋛𒁲, romanized: Sîn-šumu-līšir or Sîn-šumu-lēšir, meaning "Sîn, make the name prosper!"), also spelled Sin-shum-lishir, was a usurper king in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, ruling some cities in northern Babylonia for three months in 626 BC during a revolt against the rule of the king Sîn-šar-iškun. He was the only eunuch to ever claim the throne of Assyria.

Nothing is known of Sîn-šumu-līšir's background or family and he first appears as a prominent courtier and general in the reign of Aššur-etil-ilāni (r. 631–627 BC). After the death of Aššur-etil-ilāni's father and predecessor Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BC), Sîn-šumu-līšir was instrumental in securing Aššur-etil-ilāni's rise to the throne and consolidating his position as king by defeating attempted revolts against his rule. It is possible that Sîn-šumu-līšir, as a prominent general close to the king, was the de facto ruler of Assyria throughout Aššur-etil-ilāni's reign.

The Epic of Gilgamesh (/ˈɡɪlɡəmɛʃ/) is an epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of which may date back to the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates back to the 18th century BCE and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni dates to somewhere between the 13th to the 10th centuries BCE and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru ("He Who Saw the Deep(s)", lit. "He Who Sees the Unknown"). Approximately two-thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BCE Assyrian King Ashurbanipal.

The first part of the story discusses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing his people. After Enkidu becomes civilized through sexual initiation with Shamhat, he travels to Uruk, where he challenges Gilgamesh to a test of strength. Gilgamesh wins the contest; nonetheless, the two become friends. Together, they make a six-day journey to the legendary Cedar Forest, where they ultimately slay its Guardian, Humbaba, and cut down the sacred Cedar. The goddess Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill it, insulting Ishtar in the process. The gods decide to sentence Enkidu to death by giving him a fatal illness.

Ilu-shuma or Ilu-šūma, inscribed DINGIR-šum-ma, (died c. 1974 BC) was a king of Assyria in the early 20th century BC. The length of his reign is uncertain, as the Assyrian King List records him as one of the "six kings whose names were written on bricks, but whose eponyms are not known", referring to the lists of officials after which years were named.

His son, Erishum I, is identified as the king who succeeded him and reigned for 40 years (or 30, depending on the copy of the Assyrian King List), followed by Erishum I's son, Ikunum. He titled himself "vice-regent of Assur, beloved of the god Ashur and the goddess Ishtar." The Synchronistic King List records, "eighty-two kings of Assyria from Erishum I, son of Ilu-shuma, to Ashurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon", in the concluding colophon.