...empire from the death of his father. The fourth king of the Sargonid dynasty, Ashurbanipal is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. At the time of his reign, the Neo-Assyrian Empire was the largest empire that the world had ever seen and its capital, Nineveh, was probably the largest city on the planet. Selected as heir by his father in despite not being the eldest son, he ascended to the throne jointly with his elder brother Shamash-shum-ukin, who became king of...
