Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal: A Multi-sectional Analysis of Assyriology's Foundational Corpus

阅读阿什巴尼帕尔图书馆将使用一系列相互关联的案例研究来解读来自古代近东的最重要的一组文本。尼尼微是阿什巴尼帕尔国王(公元前668-631年)帝国的首都，在尼尼微的废墟中发现的31,000块石碑和碎片，近两个世纪以来一直是现代亚述和巴比伦学术研究的中心。然而，这个语料库的巨大规模和复杂性，加上开创性挖掘技术和博物馆学实践的缺陷所产生的不确定性，阻碍了我们对这些文本集合实际代表什么的理解。因为虽然我们现在详细地了解了“图书馆”中的特定文本或群体，但我们对“图书馆”本身知之甚少。基于几位学者的个人经验，已经积累了一系列的解释，但这些解释的证据基础非常薄弱。这些解释面临着严峻的挑战。阅读《阿什巴尼帕尔图书馆》解决了一个关键问题：什么是我们所知的阿什巴尼帕尔图书馆？该项目通过三个辅助研究目标来探讨这个问题，每个目标都利用副文本信息来阐明语料库的一个重要部分。第一个目标是“了解读音类型”，通过建立一个新的分类法，并研究注记上的文字与附注的读音之间的关系，系统地分析了附于图书馆碑上的抄本注解。它将首次确定尼尼微有多少平板电脑带有图书馆标签，有多少平板电脑属于阿什巴尼帕尔自己的收藏品。第二个目标是“图书馆记录中的文献”，将尼尼微发现的石碑与阿什巴尼帕尔收藏的古代名录中提到的石碑联系起来。这将揭示他的藏品范围的关键信息，以及他的图书馆是如何运作的。第三个目标是“尼尼微的石碑”，利用文本中提供的关于原作起源的信息，这些原作是从那里复制过来的。要研究的要点是学术知识是如何到达尼尼微的，亚述和巴比伦输入的意义是什么，以及它们是以什么形式出现的。阅读阿什巴尼帕尔图书馆使人们能够第一次根据对证据的详细、系统和彻底的调查来提供对“图书馆”的分析。它建立在多年的准备工作基础上，并利用数字技术来帮助克服原本无法管理的海量材料。该项目依靠一系列精心设计的研究来调查图书馆的一些方面，这些方面从来都不是认真审查的主题，并受益于大英博物馆工作人员与藏品的独特密切关系，以及LMU慕尼黑开发的研究楔形文字碑文的开创性方法。

Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal will interpret the single most important group of texts from the ancient Near East using a series of interlocking case studies. The 31,000 tablets and fragments found in the ruins of Nineveh, the capital of King Ashurbanipal's (668-631 BCE) empire, have been central to the modern study of Assyrian and Babylonian scholarship for almost two centuries now. Yet the sheer size and complexity of this corpus, together with uncertainties generated by the shortcomings of the pioneering excavation techniques and museological practices, have hindered our understanding of what that collection of texts actually represents. For while we now understand in detail particular texts or groups within the "Library", we know very little about the "Library" itself. A body of interpretations has accumulated, based on the experience of several individual scholars, but the evidence base for these interpretations is very weak. These interpretations are open to serious challenge. Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal addresses the key question: What is "Ashurbanipal's Library", as we know it? The project approaches this question through three subsidiary research objectives, each of which leverages paratextual information to elucidate a significant section of the corpus. The first such objective, "Understanding Colophon Types", systematically analyses the scribal notes appended to Library tablets by establishing a new taxonomy and studying the relationship between the text contained on the tablets and the colophons appended to them. For the first time, it will establish how many tablets from Nineveh bear a library label and how many tablets belonged to collections other than Ashurbanipal's own. The second objective, "Literature in Library Records", correlates the tablets discovered at Nineveh with those mentioned in ancient lists recording acquisitions by Ashurbanipal. This will reveal key information about the scope of his collection, as well as how his library functioned. The third objective, "Tablets to Nineveh", exploits the information provided in the texts about the origin of the originals from which they were copied. The main points to be studied are how scholarly knowledge arrived at Nineveh, what the significance of the Assyrian and Babylonian inputs was, and what form they took.Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal makes it possible for the first time to offer an analysis of the "Library" based on detailed, systematic and thorough surveys of the evidence. It builds on many years of preparatory work, and utilises digital technologies to help overcome the otherwise unmanageable mass of material. The project relies on a series of carefully constructed studies to investigate aspects of the Library that have never been the topic of serious scrutiny, and benefits from the uniquely close relationship of British Museum staff with the collection and from the pioneering methods to study cuneiform tablets developed at LMU Munich.