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Rassam Cylinder

The Rassam Cylinder is a ten-sided prism engraved with cuneiform script and dated to 643 BCE. It tells, in the first person, about the military campaigns of Ashurbanipal, king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The cylinder was discovered in the North Palace of Nineveh by the Anglo-Iraqi archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in 1854, which is how it got its name. It is preserved in the British Museum.

The Rassam cylinder, a tall reddish-brown inscribed prism covered in dense horizontal text lines.
The Rassam cylinder shown as a tall, multi-sided prism covered with cuneiform inscriptions.
June 2020 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
Rassam Prism of Ashurbanipal, a tall multi-faceted prism covered with cuneiform inscriptions.
The Rassam Prism of Ashurbanipal is shown standing upright, its surface covered with dense cuneiform text.
November 2018 © Anthony Huan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Rassam cylinder covered with dense rows of cuneiform script on a reddish-brown multi-sided prism with visible cracks and missing fragments.
The Rassam cylinder, an ancient inscribed prism with worn and damaged surfaces.
June 2018 © Gary Todd · CC0
Rassam cylinder fragment with cuneiform inscriptions beside a black-and-white transcription diagram.
A Rassam cylinder fragment shown with a transcription diagram of the cuneiform text.
June 2020 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
Two black cuneiform symbols on a white background from the Rassam cylinder.
Cuneiform signs from the Rassam cylinder, shown in black on a plain white background.
January 1907 © Theophilus Goldridge Pinches M.R.A.S. (1856 – 6 June 1934 Muswell Hill, London) · Public domain

Identification

TitleRassam cylinder
Object typecuneiform cylinder
Shapeprism with ten faces

Historical context

Date7th century BCE, probably 643 BCE
Dynasty or periodNeo-Assyrian

Creator

Inscribed byAshurbanipal, king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire

Materials

Inscriptioncuneiform

Iconography and meaning

MeluhhaPossibly identical with Meroe
References in the inscriptionEgypt (Mu-ṣur), the Kingdom of Kush (Ku-u2-si), Shabako (Sha-ba-ku-u), Taharqo (Tar-qu-u2 / Tar-qu-u), Tanutamani (Urdamanee), Esarhaddon (An-shar-pap-ash), Ashurbanipal (An-shar-du-a), the city of Aššur (AššurKI), Assyria (mat AššurKI), the supreme god Anshar (An-shar), and Meluhha
ContentNarrates in the first person Ashurbanipal's victorious military campaign in Egypt

Discovery and provenance

Discovered byHormuzd Rassam
DiscovererAnglo-Iraqi archaeologist
Discovery date1854
Discovery locationNorth Palace of Nineveh
Name originNamed after Hormuzd Rassam

Location and ownership

Current locationBritish Museum

Other

Translation and transcriptionA complete translation was made by Daniel David Luckenbill in Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia; a complete transcription of the cuneiform is available on CDLI
Related reliefsSome reliefs from Nineveh are known that illustrate these campaigns