Wednesday, August 27, 2025

The first archaeologist?

HISTORY: The World’s First Archaeologist Was a Babylonian King (Philip Chrysopoulos, Greek Reporter). HT Rogue Classicism.

Honorable mention should also go to the Neo-Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (ruled 669-631 BCE), who was not exactly an archaeologist, but he was an enthusiastic antiquarian. He collected a vast library of texts, some already ancient in his time, in his capital city Nineveh. He proudly proclaimed, "I read the inscriptions from before the Flood."

We should also mention Nabonidus's daughter, Ennigaldi-Nanna, who herself was a keen archaeologist.

For more on all that, see here.

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