Entering the Assyrian Empire, the epic of the kings of the Mesopotamian plain

Ashurbanipal, known as the "Great King, the Almighty King, the Lord of Assyria." He was a poet and a scholar, a lion hunter and a warrior, who ruled the vast empire with strict control and skillfully used the power of art to demonstrate his omnipotent kingship. After his father Esarhaddon ascended to the throne, he appointed his younger son Ashurbanipal as his successor. To appease his older son Shamash-shum-ukin, he made him the king of Babylon. When Ashurbanipal came to power in 669 BC, Nineveh, the capital, was the largest city of its time, with its ruins located in present-day Mosul, Iraq. Ashurbanipal revered war and brought the Assyrian Empire to its peak. He also built the largest and most comprehensive library of his time, which housed at least ten thousand cuneiform tablets, each crafted from the finest clay. In Mesopotamia, receiving messages from the gods through dreams was a long-standing belief. Documents from 3000 BC recorded dreams that inspired kings to take action. Ashurbanipal also collected many magical spells and exorcism rituals to ward off ominous signs. After spending most of his reign in his grandfather's invincible palace, Ashurbanipal built a new palace for himself in Nineveh, called the North Palace. The beams were made of cedar wood from Lebanon, and most of the decorations celebrated his rule and achievements. Assyrian kings filled their gardens, orchards, and hunting parks with plants and animals collected from across the empire. The decorations in Assyrian palaces included scenes of tribute and violent suppression of rebellious subjects. Furniture makers adorned luxurious furniture with animal heads carved from ivory. The corners of thrones or tables often featured lion or bull heads. The expansion of the Assyrian Empire revitalized the production and trade of luxury goods and promoted the exchange of visual culture, technology, people, and ideas in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions. Cyprus accumulated great power and wealth through maritime trade and provided ships to the Assyrian army. In 650 BC, substitute statues became popular. The Phoenicians excelled in producing Tyrian purple, a precious purple fabric made from the mucus of sea snails. This cuneiform text recorded a formula for substituting Tyrian purple with cheaper plant dyes.