Smith, George

A yriologist, born at London; trained as a bank-note engraver, but attracted the attention of Sir Henry Rawlinson by his interest in cuneiform inscriptions, and in 1867 received an appointment in the British Museum; acquired great skill as an interpreter of A yrian inscriptions, published "Annals of A urban i pal," and in 1872 discovered a tablet with the "Chaldean Account of the Deluge"; carried through important expeditions (1871-3-6) in search of antiquities in Nineveh and other parts of As syria, accounts of which he published; wrote also histories of Babylonia, As syria, Sennacherib, . (1840-1876).