Assyrian Discoveries An Account of Explorations and Discoveries on the Site of Nineveh, during 1873 and 1874 Cambridge Library Collection - Archaeology Series

The Assyriologist George Smith (1840?76) was trained originally as an engraver, but was enthralled by the discoveries of Layard and Rawlinson. He taught himself cuneiform script, and joined the British Museum as a 'repairer' or matcher of broken cuneiform tablets. Promotion followed, and after one of Smith's most significant discoveries among the material sent to the Museum - a Babylonian story of a great flood - he was sent to the Middle East, where he found more inscriptions which contained other parts of the epic tale of Gilgamesh. In this 1875 work, a bestseller in its day, Smith describes his expedition, the difficulties encountered, and the discoveries, including hundreds of inscriptions which increased knowledge of the Babylonian and Assyrian civilisations but also had a profound effect on traditional biblical studies. Smith died in Aleppo in 1876, having revolutionised understanding of the ancient Near East.

Preface; 1. Former excavations and discoveries in the valley of the Euphrates and Tigris; 2. Discoveries from 1866 to 1872; 3. From London to Mosul; 4. Visit to Babylonia; 5. Excavations at Nimroud; 6. Excavations at Kouyunjik; 7. From Mosul to England; 8. Second journey to Mosul; 9. Excavations at Kouyunjik; 10. Return from Assyria; 11. The Izdubar or Flood series of legends; 12. Early Babylonian texts; 13. Early Assyrian inscriptions; 14. Inscriptions of Tiglath Pileser II; 15. Inscriptions of Sargon; 16. Inscriptions of Sennacherib; 17. Inscriptions of Esarhaddon; 18. Inscriptions of Assurbanipal; 19. Inscriptions of Bel-Zakir-Iskun, king of Assyria, and his succession; 20. Miscellaneous texts; 21. Foreign inscriptions; 22. Objects illustrating arts and customs; 23. Conclusion; Index.