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"Given the great antiquity of Ashurbanipal’s library, we know an extraordinary amount about it, not just of its contents, but the way in which it was managed, in part thanks to many letters that were also uncovered from the ruins of Nineveh. We know, for example, that it was formed from the libraries of his immediate ancestors, Sargon II, Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, but that Ashurbanipal was the first of his dynasty to have a real scholarly interest in its contents. He actively sought to add new texts, and even wrote material to add to the library’s riches himself.
The books — clay tablets — were kept in Temple libraries, especially those dedicated to Nabu, the god of scribes, and the custodians of these collections were temple priests. The library was essentially the personal resource of the King and his closest advisers, all of them men. No women had access."
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