Assurbanipal's Library Finally Online!

It seems Google is digitizing a bunch of books and putting them online. A number of libraries at major research universities have agreed to give them access to their stacks. 

For some odd reason, though, they haven't yet gotten around to the library of King Assurbanipal of Assyria (668-630 BC).

Fortunately, Uncle Sam is stepping into the breach. The National Endowment for the Humanities is ponying up $254,000* for a grant to get those cuneiform tablets digitized and online:

Digitization of lexical texts (bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian dictionaries, synonym lists, and sign lists) found in the library of the Assyrian king Assurbanipal (668-630 B.C.). The project would make available cataloging information and images of all cuneiform tablets coupled with transliterations and translations of the texts.

There is a compelling argument to be made that government needs to step in and support the private sector when the marketplace fails to provide crucial goods and services. This isn't it.

*Link opens PDF of recent grant announcements covering the states Alabama to Maryland. The grant in question is on the bottom of the first page.