The Famous Library of King Ashur-bani-pal at Nineveh. Ashur-bani-pal; the last great king of Assyria and the conqueror of Egypt; was also devoted to the encouragement of his country's art and to the preservation of its literature. He collected a great Library in his palace at Nineveh; sending out scribes to every city of Assyria and Babylonia to make copies of all the ancient texts. These were written in cuneiform characters on clay tablets; which were afterwards baked; they are here represented as stored upon shelves in the thickness of the wall. On the right are two scholars; for whom a librarian is fetching tablets. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson; c.1920).