Library of Ashurbanipal

The Library of Ashurbanipal (7th century BCE) is the oldest known systematically organized library in the world, established in Nineveh by the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (r. 668-627 BCE) to preserve the history and culture of Mesopotamia. Over 30,000 texts were discovered at Nineveh in the mid-19th century, but the original collection is thought to have been much larger.