The tablets that belonged to Ashur-bani-pal's private Library and those of the Temple of Nebo can be distinguished by the colophons, when these exist. Two forms of colophon for each class of the two great collections of tablets are known, one short and one long. The short colophon on the tablets of the King's Library reads:--"Palace of Ashur-bani-pal, king of hosts, king of the country of Assyria" and that on the tablets of the Library of Nebo reads:--"[Country of ?] Ashur-bani-pal, king of hosts, king of the country of Assyria." See on the Tablet of Astrological Omens, p. 22. The longer colophons are of considerable interest and renderings of two typical examples are here appended:--
I. Colophon of the Tablets of the Palace Library. (K. 4870.)
1. Palace of Ashur-bani-pal, king of hosts, king of the country of Assyria, 2. who trusteth in the god Ashur and the goddess Bêlit, 3. on whom the god Nebo (Nabû) and the goddess Tasmetu 4. have bestowed all-hearing ears 5. and his possession of eyes that are clearsighted, 6. and the finest results of the art of writing 7. which, among the kings who have gone before, 8. no one ever acquired that craft. 9. The wisdom of Nebo [as expressed in] writing, of every kind, 10. on tablets I wrote, collated and revised, 11. [and] for examination and reading 12. in my palace I placed--[I] 13. the prince who knoweth the light of the king of the gods, Ashur. 14. Whosoever shall carry [them] off, or his name side by side with mine 15. shall write may Ashur and Bêlit wrathfully 16. sweep away, and his name and his seed destroy in the land.
2. Colophon of the Tablets of the Library of Nebo. (RM. 132.)
1. To Nebo, beneficent son, director of the hosts of heaven and of earth, 2. holder of the tablet of knowledge, he who hath grasped the writing reed of destinies, 3. lengthener of days, vivifier of the dead, stablisher of light for the men who are perplexed, 4. [from] the great lord, the noble Ashur-bani-pal, the lord, the approved of the gods Ashur, Bêl and Nebo, 5. the shepherd, the maintainer of the holy places of the great gods, stablisher of their revenues, 6. son of Esarhaddon, king of hosts, king of Assyria, 7. grandson of Sennacherib, king of hosts, king of Assyria, 8. for the life of his souls, length of his days, [and] well-being of his posterity, 9. to make permanent the foundation of his royal throne, to hear his supplications, 10. to receive his petitions, to deliver into his hands the rebellious. 11. The wisdom of Ea, the precious priesthood, the leadership, 12. what is composed for the contentment of the heart of the great gods, 13. I wrote upon tablets, I collated, I revised 14. literally according to all the tablets of the lands of Ashur and Akkad, 15. and I placed in the Library of E-Zida, the temple of Nebo my lord, which is in Nineveh. 16. O Nebo, lord of the hosts of heaven and of earth, look upon that Library joyfully for years (i.e., for ever). 17. Of Ashur-bani-pal, the chief, the worshipper of thy divinity, daily the reward of the offering-- 18. his life decree, so that he may exalt thy great godhead.