Ashurbanipal was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the throne as his father Esarhaddon‘s favored heir; his 38-year reign was among the longest of any Assyrian king. Though sometimes regarded as the apogee of ancient Assyria, his reign also marked the last time Assyrian armies waged war throughout the ancient Near East and the beginning of the end of Assyrian dominion over the region. 685 BC – 631 BC; died at about 54. Alive at the same time as Hesiod, Pittacus of Mytilene, Micah, Nebuchadnezzar II, and Archilochus of Paros. Wiki link