The Library at Nineveh

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Conceived to house the sum of all human knowledge the library was built in the 7th century BC as the grand Assyrian Empire entered its last years. The clay tablets have proved to be a window into all aspects of Assyrian life, its literature, politics, religion and medicine – practises that are both deeply alien to us and alluringly familiar.

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Library at Nineveh

bbc.co.uk

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Library at Nineveh, a treasure house of Assyrian ideas from the 7th Century BC.