Rassam cylinder

The Rassam cylinder is a cuneiform cylinder, forming a prism with ten faces, written by Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in 643 BCE. The 7th century BCE cylinder was discovered in the North Palace of Nineveh by Hormuzd Rassam in 1854, hence its name. It is located in the British Museum.

Content
The cylinder describes in detail nine military campaigns of Ashurbanipal. The content of the cylinder has been listed as follows:

"# Introduction, account of the accession of Ashurbanipal
 * 1) First Egyptian War against Tirhakah
 * 2) Second Egyptian War against Urdamane
 * 3) Conquest of Tyre and death of Ba'al, king of Tyre
 * 4) Expedition against Ahseri, king of Van
 * 5) Expedition against Teumman, king of Elam
 * 6) War against Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, brother of Ashurbanipal
 * 7) First war with Ummanaldas, king of Elam
 * 8) Second war with Ummanaldas, king of Elam
 * 9) Expedition against Uate, king of Arabia
 * 10) Capture of Ummanaldas, king of Elam
 * 11) Embassy from Istar-duri, king of Ararat
 * 12) Repair of the Palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh, conclusion, and date of the inscription"

Extracts
One of these is his victorious campaign in Egypt:

"In my first campaign I marched against Magan, Meluhha, Taharqa, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, whom Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father who begot me, had defeated, and whose land he brought under his sway. This same Taharqa forgot the might of Ashur, Ishtar and the other great gods, my lords, and put his trust upon his own power. He turned against the kings and regents whom my own father had appointed in Egypt. He entered and took residence in Memphis, the city which my own father had conquered and incorporated into Assyrian territory."

Some reliefs from Nineveh are otherwise known that illustrate these campaigns.

A full translation of the cylinder was made by Luckenbill in Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia. A full transcription of the cuneiform is available on CDLI.