Ashurbanipal mother Ešar-ḫamat
Background and accession
Becoming the heir to Assyria
Born c. 685 BC, Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhaddon (r. 681–669). Though Ashurbanipal's inscriptions suggest that he was divinely preordained to rule, his accession was far from straightforward, and its political complexities sowed the seeds for later civil war. Ashurbanipal was probably Esarhaddon's fourth eldest son, younger than Esarhaddon's first crown prince Sin-nadin-apli and the other two sons Shamash-shum-ukin and Shamash-metu-uballit. He also had an older sister, Serua-eterat, and several younger brothers.The Assyrian court was thrown into upheaval upon the unexpected death of Sin-nadin-apli in 674. Esarhaddon's own father Sennacherib had bypassed Esarhaddon's elder brother Arda-Mulissu for the crown, and the rejected heir had murdered Sennacherib, with Esarhaddon winning the ensuing civil war. After the death of his own heir, Esarhaddon quickly made new succession plans, naming his younger son Ashurbanipal as primary heir and emperor of Assyria, and his eldest surviving son Shamash-shum-ukin as king of Babylon (southern Mesopotamia), with the two to rule as "equal brothers". He entirely bypassed his third eldest son, Shamash-metu-uballit, older than Ashurbanipal, perhaps because of poor health.Scholars have speculated at Esarhaddon's reasons for the divided succession, which broke the with the Assyrian tradition of unitary rule. The arrangement might have been intended to assuage the elder Shamash-shum-ukin's jealousy toward his younger brother Ashurbanipal, avoiding future rivalry. One hypothesis is that Ashurbanipal's mother was Assyrian while Shamash-shum-ukin's was Babylonian, which might have disfavored him for the Assyrian throne. However, it is equally likely that the two heirs shared a mother, possibly Esharra-hammat (Esarhaddon's primary consort),The two princes arrived at the Assyrian capital of Nineveh together and partook in a celebration in May 672 with foreign representatives, Assyrian nobles and military commanders. Since the name Ashurbanipal (Aššur-bāni-apli) means "Ashur is the creator of the heir", it was likely bestowed at this time, while his previous name is unnown. It was also perhaps around this time that Ashurbanipal married his future queen, Libbali-sharrat.
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