Nyob rau xyoo 1850, cov kws tshawb fawb keeb kwm hauv Kuyunjik, Iraq, tau nthuav tawm cov khoom muaj nqis ntawm cov av nplaum cov ntawv sau los ntawm xyoo pua 7 BC. Cov "phau ntawv" thaum ub tau koom nrog Ashurbanipal, uas yog tus kav lub nceeg vaj thaum ub ntawm Assyria los ntawm 668 BC rau ib ncig ntawm 630 BC. Nws yog tus huab tais loj kawg ntawm Neo-Assyrian Empire.
Ntawm ntau tshaj 30,000 daim ntawv sau (cov ntsiav tshuaj cuneiform) yog cov ntawv keeb kwm, kev tswj hwm thiab cov ntaub ntawv raug cai (ntawm cov ntawv xov xwm txawv teb chaws thiab kev koom tes, cov lus tshaj tawm aristocratic, thiab nyiaj txiag teeb meem), kev kho mob, “magical” manuscripts thiab literary tej hauj lwm, nrog rau cov "Epic ntawm Gilgamesh". Tus so yog nyob rau divinations, omens, incantations, thiab zaj nkauj rau ntau tus vajtswv.
Lub tsev qiv ntawv tau tsim rau tsev neeg muaj koob muaj npe, thiab nws muaj huab tais cov ntaub ntawv sau tseg, tab sis nws kuj tau qhib rau cov pov thawj thiab cov kws tshawb fawb hwm. Lub tsev qiv ntawv muaj npe tom qab huab tais Ashurbanipal.
Cov ntawv nyeem muaj "qhov tseem ceeb tsis sib xws" hauv kev kawm txog cov kab lis kev cai qub nyob ze East, raws li British Tsev khaws puav pheej, uas muaj ntau daim ntawv los ntawm Lub Tsev Qiv Ntawv ntawm Ashurbanipal tam sim no nyob.
Lub tsev qiv ntawv tau tsim nyob rau niaj hnub no sab qaum teb Iraq, nyob ze lub nroog Mosul. Cov ntaub ntawv los ntawm lub tsev qiv ntawv tau tshawb pom los ntawm Sir Austen Henry Layard, tus neeg ncig tebchaws Askiv, thiab tus kws tshawb fawb keeb kwm yav dhau los, hauv thaj chaw archaeological ntawm Kouyunjik, Nineveh.
Raws li qee qhov kev xav, lub Library ntawm Alexandria tau txais kev tshoov siab los ntawm Lub Tsev Qiv Ntawv ntawm Ashurbanipal. Alexander lub Great tau lom zem los ntawm nws thiab xav tsim ib qho hauv nws lub nceeg vaj. Nws pib qhov project uas tau ua tiav los ntawm Ptolemy tom qab Alexander tuag.
Feem ntau ntawm cov ntawv tau sau ua Akkadian hauv cov ntawv cuneiform thaum lwm tus tau sau hauv Assyrian. Ntau yam ntawm cov khoom qub tau raug puas tsuaj thiab ua tsis tau rau kev tsim kho dua tshiab. Ntau ntawm cov ntsiav tshuaj thiab cov ntawv sau yog cov tawg tawg loj heev.
Ashurbanipal kuj yog ib tus lej zoo tshaj plaws thiab yog ib tus Vajntxwv tsawg tsawg uas tau nyeem cov ntawv cuneiform hauv Akkadian thiab Sumerian. Hauv ib phau ntawv, nws tau hais tias:
"Kuv, Assurbanipal nyob rau hauv (lub palace), tau saib xyuas ntawm kev txawj ntse ntawm Nebo, ntawm tag nrho cov inscribed thiab av nplaum ntsiav tshuaj, ntawm lawv paub tsis meej thiab nyuaj uas kuv daws tau."
Lwm cov ntawv sau hauv ib phau ntawv ceeb toom tias yog leej twg nyiag nws (lub tsev qiv ntawv) cov ntsiav tshuaj, tus vajtswv yuav “tshem nws” thiab "Lawv tshem nws lub npe, nws cov noob, hauv thaj av."
Ntxiv nrog rau qhov masterpiece "Epic ntawm Gilgamesh," lub tswvyim hais ua dabneeg ntawm Adapa, lub Babylonian creation myth “Elisis,” thiab dab neeg xws li “Tus Neeg pluag ntawm Nippur” yog cov tseem ceeb epics thiab myths xwb zoo los ntawm lub tsev qiv ntawv ntawm Ashurbanipal.
Cov kws sau keeb kwm xaus lus tias lub tsev qiv ntawv keeb kwm tau hlawv hauv hluav taws thaum xyoo 612 BC thaum Nineveh raug rhuav tshem. Txawm li cas los xij, hauv qhov hluav taws kub tau khaws cia zoo kawg nkaus rau cov ntsiav tshuaj rau ob txhiab xyoo tom ntej kom txog rau thaum lawv rov tshawb pom hauv 1849.
