Assyriologists are the qualified experts on cuneiform texts. George Smith's 1876 translations were foundational for their time, but modern scholarship relies on updated editions and translations. Zechariah Sitchin did not know how to read cuneiform or Sumerian. Popular interpretations often combine genuine inscriptions with unsupported or invented material.
Modern cuneiform translations are preferred over popular interpretations
Key facts
- George Smith's 1876 translations were foundational, but modern scholarship relies on updated editions and translations.
- Assyriologists are the qualified experts on ancient cuneiform texts.
- Zechariah Sitchin did not know how to read cuneiform or Sumerian.
- Popular interpretations often combine genuine inscriptions with unsupported or invented material.
Sources
“I Am the First Man to Read That!” | by George Dillard | Mediumworldhistory.medium.com
George Smith knew that many other fascinating texts lay in the ruins of Assyrian palaces, and parlayed his newfound prominence — the Prime ...
George Smith | Babylonian Archaeology, Cuneiform Texts, Epic of ...britannica.com
George Smith was an English Assyriologist and archaeologist who became the first person to translate the Epic of Gilgamesh and its version ...
Ancient Knowledge Networks - Project MUSEmuse.jhu.edu
Since at least the 1850s Assyriologists have been editing and analysing the many cuneiform tablets that show us how ancient think- ers observed ...
Episode 49. George Smith: the man behind the headlines: transcriptwedgepod.org
In December 1872, a young assyriologist named George Smith shared what he thought was an exciting discovery. The rest of the world agreed. He made headlines ...
George Smith - Linda Hall Librarylindahall.org
George Smith, an English Assyriologist, died Aug. 19, 1876, at the age of just 36. Smith had essentially no schooling and worked as a printer's ...
Smith, George (1840–1876), Assyriologistoxforddnb.com
During 1871 Smith published The Phonetic Values of Cuneiform Characters ... translated from cuneiform cylinders on which he had been at work since 1867.
Epic Herosmithsonianmag.com
Smith would go on to become the world's leading expert in the ancient Akkadian language and its fiendishly difficult script, write the first true history of ...
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.