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huge library of ashurbanipal

The British Museum houses the Library of Ashurbanipal, a collection of approximately 30,000 cuneiform tablets from the Assyrian Empire, discovered in the 19th century. Created by King Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BCE), the library contains texts on astronomy, medicine, history, and literature, including the Epic of Gilgamesh. The tablets survived a fire set by invading Babylonians and Medes, which hardened them. Recent excavations in Nineveh have uncovered more tablets and a 20-foot-tall winged bull statue, while the British Museum's Ashurbanipal Library Project, now led by curator Jon Taylor, focuses on digitizing and studying medical texts.

article culture schedule May 4, 2025 visibility 8 link 3 artists

huge olmec heads mesoamerica

A farmer in southern Mexico discovered the first Olmec head in the late 1850s while clearing land for corn cultivation. Since then, 17 colossal stone heads have been unearthed, primarily at the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan archaeological site in Veracruz. Carved by the Olmec civilization between 1200 and 400 B.C.E., these basalt monuments range from 3.5 to 11.5 feet tall and weigh up to 45 tons. Each head features unique facial expressions and is thought to depict individual Olmec rulers, possibly serving as funerary monuments. The heads are now held by institutions such as the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and the Xalapa Museum of Anthropology.

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