Editing Assyria (section)

=== Scholarship and literature ===
[[File:Library of Ashurbanipal The Flood Tablet.jpg|thumb|A tablet from the [[Library of Ashurbanipal]], containing a portion of the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'']]

Ancient Assyrian literature drew heavily on Babylonian literary traditions. Both the Old and Middle Assyrian periods are limited in terms of surviving literary texts. The most important surviving Old Assyrian literary work is ''[[Sargon, Lord of Lies]]'', a text found in a well-preserved version on a cuneiform tablet from Kültepe. Once thought to have been a parody, the tale is a [[first-person narrative]] of the reign of [[Sargon of Akkad]], the founder of the Akkadian Empire. The text follows Sargon as he gains strength from the god [[Adad]], swears by Ishtar, the "lady of combat", and speaks with the gods. Surviving Middle Assyrian literature is only slightly more diverse.{{Sfn|Livingstone|2017|p=|pp=359–360}}

A distinct Assyrian scholarship tradition, though still drawing on Babylonian tradition, is conventionally placed as beginning around the time of the beginning of the Middle Assyrian period. The rising status of scholarship at this time might be connected to the kings beginning to regard amassing knowledge as a way to strengthen their power.{{Sfn|Heeßel|2017|p=368}} Known Middle Assyrian works include the ''[[Tukulti-Ninurta Epic]]'' (a narrative of the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I and his exploits), fragments of other royal epics, ''[[The Hunter (Assyrian poem)|The Hunter]]'' (a short martial poem) and some royal hymns.{{Sfn|Livingstone|2017|p=|pp=359–360}}

The clear majority of surviving ancient Assyrian literature is from the Neo-Assyrian period.{{Sfn|Livingstone|2017|p=359}} The kings of the Neo-Assyrian Empire began to see preserving knowledge as one of their responsibilities, and not, as previous kings had, a responsibility of private individuals and temples.{{Sfn|Fincke|2017|p=378}} This development might have originated with the kings no longer viewing the [[divination]] performed by their diviners as enough and wished to have access to the relevant texts themselves.{{Sfn|Fincke|2017|p=379}} The office of chief scholar is first attested in the reign of the Neo-Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta II.{{Sfn|Frahm|2017b|p=169}}

Most of the surviving ancient Assyrian literature comes from the Neo-Assyrian [[Library of Ashurbanipal]],{{Sfn|Livingstone|2017|p=359}} which included more than 30,000 documents.{{Sfn|Fincke|2017|pp=383–385}} Libraries were built in the Neo-Assyrian period to preserve knowledge of the past and maintain scribal culture. Neo-Assyrian texts fall into a wide array of genres, including divinatory texts, divination reports, treatments for the sick (either medical or magical), ritual texts, incantations, prayers and hymns, school texts and literary texts.{{Sfn|Fincke|2017|pp=379–380}} An innovation of the Neo-Assyrian period were the [[annals]], a genre of texts recording the events of the reigns of a king, particularly military exploits. Annals were disseminated throughout the empire and probably served propagandistic purposes, supporting the legitimacy of the king's rule.{{Sfn|Parker|2011|pp=365–367}}

Various purely literary works, previously aligned by scholars with propaganda, are known from the Neo-Assyrian period. Such works include, among others, the ''[[Underworld Vision of an Assyrian Crown Prince]]'', the ''[[Sin of Sargon]]'' and the ''[[Marduk Ordeal]]''.{{Sfn|Livingstone|2017|p=364}} In addition to their own works, the Assyrians copied and preserved earlier Mesopotamian literature. The inclusion of texts such as the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', the ''[[Enûma Eliš]]'' (the Babylonian creation myth), ''[[Erra (god)|Erra]]'', the ''[[Etana|Myth of Etana]]'' and the ''[[Anzû|Epic of Anzu]]'' in the Library of Ashurbanipal is the primary reason for how such texts have survived to the present day.{{Sfn|Encyclopaedia Britannica|p=}}