Rassam cylinder


The Rassam cylinder is a cuneiform cylinder, forming a prism with ten faces, written by Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BCE, in 643 BCE. The cylinder was discovered in the North Palace of Nineveh by Hormuzd Rassam in 1854, hence its name. It is located in the British Museum.

Content

The cylinder describes in detail nine military campaigns of Ashurpanipal. The content of the cylinder has been listed as follows:

Extracts

One of these is his victorious campaign in Egypt:
:File:Assyrian siege of an Egyptian fort, probably a scene from the war in 667 BCE. Sculpted in 645 – 635 BCE under Ashurbanipal.jpg|Some reliefs from Nineveh are otherwise known that illustrate these campaigns.
A full translation of the cylinder was made by Luckenbill in Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia. A full transcription of the cuneiform is available on CDLI.

Important words