Ashurbanipal

Ashurbanipal's intense interest in collecting divination texts was one of his driving motivations in collecting works for his library. His original motive may have been to "gain possession of rituals and incantations that were vital to maintain his royal power."

Thus, by 612, Babylon had assumed the power formerly held by Assyria. The rise of Babylonian power had begun a decade earlier, with the Babylonian king Nabopolassar (625-615). The kingdom of Judah rebelled against the Babylonians; following earlier policy, it was given several chances to fall into line after it rebelled. In 597, a group of Judeans,

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