{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":13.95,"endTime":16.62,"body":"Hello, and welcome"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":13.95,"endTime":16.62,"body":"to the Thin End of the Wedge,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":16.83,"endTime":19.74,"body":"the podcast where experts from"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":16.83,"endTime":19.74,"body":"around the world share new and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":19.74,"endTime":23.85,"body":"interesting stories about life"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":19.74,"endTime":23.85,"body":"in the ancient Middle East. My"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":23.85,"endTime":27.66,"body":"name is Jon. Each episode I talk"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":23.85,"endTime":27.66,"body":"to friends and colleagues, and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":27.66,"endTime":31.02,"body":"get them to explain their work"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":27.66,"endTime":31.02,"body":"in a way we can all understand."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":32.549,"endTime":38.039,"body":"In December 1872, a young"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":32.549,"endTime":38.039,"body":"assyriologist named George Smith"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":38.339,"endTime":42.629,"body":"shared what he thought was an"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":38.339,"endTime":42.629,"body":"exciting discovery. The rest of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":42.629,"endTime":46.289,"body":"the world agreed. He made"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":42.629,"endTime":46.289,"body":"headlines internationally."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":46.859,"endTime":50.429,"body":"Immediately, and single"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":46.859,"endTime":50.429,"body":"handedly, he changed the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":50.429,"endTime":54.329,"body":"position of assyriology in the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":50.429,"endTime":54.329,"body":"popular consciousness forever."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":55.439,"endTime":59.519,"body":"In this episode, we look at"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":55.439,"endTime":59.519,"body":"Smith, his work, and his legacy."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":60.359,"endTime":65.249,"body":"To mark the 150th anniversary of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":60.359,"endTime":65.249,"body":"his landmark lecture, I call on"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":65.249,"endTime":69.119,"body":"several colleagues to shed light"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":65.249,"endTime":69.119,"body":"on this special character. Let's"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":69.119,"endTime":71.279,"body":"meet them now, in order of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":69.119,"endTime":71.279,"body":"appearance."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":71.76,"endTime":74.43,"body":"My name is Sophus"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":71.76,"endTime":74.43,"body":"Helle. I am a writer,"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":74.46,"endTime":78.3,"body":"translator, and cultural"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":74.46,"endTime":78.3,"body":"historian. And I have a special"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":78.3,"endTime":82.29,"body":"love for the Babylonian epics"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":78.3,"endTime":82.29,"body":"and Gilgamesh in particular."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":83.07,"endTime":85.71,"body":"My name is Dr."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":83.07,"endTime":85.71,"body":"Gareth Brereton. I'm an"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":85.71,"endTime":88.08,"body":"archaeologist. I'm interested in"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":85.71,"endTime":88.08,"body":"the archaeology of early"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":88.08,"endTime":93.03,"body":"Mesopotamia. And I'm currently"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":88.08,"endTime":93.03,"body":"working on some research for the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":93.06,"endTime":96.75,"body":"Tello / Girsu project, looking"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":93.06,"endTime":96.75,"body":"at the archival sources and the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":96.75,"endTime":100.41,"body":"collecting histories around"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":96.75,"endTime":100.41,"body":"Girsu, and its involvement with"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":100.41,"endTime":101.37,"body":"the British Museum."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":102.84,"endTime":106.08,"body":"My name is"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":102.84,"endTime":106.08,"body":"Strahil Panayotov. I'm currently"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":106.08,"endTime":110.37,"body":"a curator for Assyrian medicine"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":106.08,"endTime":110.37,"body":"at the British Museum and"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":110.37,"endTime":113.85,"body":"working also as assistant at the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":110.37,"endTime":113.85,"body":"Bulgarian Academy of Sciences."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":113.85,"endTime":119.01,"body":"So I'm basically researching the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":113.85,"endTime":119.01,"body":"cuneiform world and the stories"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":119.04,"endTime":120.15,"body":"around this world."},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":120.87,"endTime":122.76,"body":"My name is"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":120.87,"endTime":122.76,"body":"Enrique Jimenez, an"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":122.76,"endTime":127.5,"body":"assyriologist at LMU Munich. And"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":122.76,"endTime":127.5,"body":"I work on Babylonian literature,"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":127.53,"endTime":130.32,"body":"which is the topic that brought"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":127.53,"endTime":130.32,"body":"me to George Smith."},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":130.87,"endTime":134.179,"body":"I am Cornelia"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":130.87,"endTime":134.179,"body":"Wunsch. I am an assyriologist."},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":134.254,"endTime":138.465,"body":"And I have very early on"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":134.254,"endTime":138.465,"body":"specialised in the late period,"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":138.541,"endTime":143.053,"body":"which nobody wanted to do back"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":138.541,"endTime":143.053,"body":"then. And I was interested in"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":143.128,"endTime":147.641,"body":"legal documents. Of course, they"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":143.128,"endTime":147.641,"body":"give you a lot of knowledge"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":147.716,"endTime":152.68,"body":"about what people were doing,"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":147.716,"endTime":152.68,"body":"how they were expanding their lives."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":153.49,"endTime":174.61,"body":"My name is Mark"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":153.49,"endTime":174.61,"body":"Weeden, and I'm an associate"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":163.69,"endTime":166.69,"body":"I'm Pippa Steele,"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":163.69,"endTime":166.69,"body":"a senior research associate"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":166.69,"endTime":170.71,"body":"based at the Faculty of Classics"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":166.69,"endTime":170.71,"body":"in Cambridge. Much of my"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":170.71,"endTime":174.07,"body":"scholarship has been dedicated"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":170.71,"endTime":174.07,"body":"to the languages and writing"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":174.07,"endTime":177.91,"body":"systems of ancient Cyprus, as"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":174.07,"endTime":177.91,"body":"well as the Bronze Age Aegean"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":174.61,"endTime":179.14,"body":"professor of ancient Middle"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":174.61,"endTime":179.14,"body":"Eastern languages at University"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":177.91,"endTime":180.88,"body":"and systems of Cretan"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":177.91,"endTime":180.88,"body":"hieroglyphic, Linear A, and"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":179.14,"endTime":181.63,"body":"College London, in the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":179.14,"endTime":181.63,"body":"department of Greek and Latin."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":180.88,"endTime":183.28,"body":"Linear B, plus the later Greek"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":180.88,"endTime":183.28,"body":"alphabet."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":184.02,"endTime":186.84,"body":"I also bring in a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":184.02,"endTime":186.84,"body":"former curator at the British"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":186.84,"endTime":191.73,"body":"Museum during the late 19th and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":186.84,"endTime":191.73,"body":"early 20th century--Sir E.A."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":191.76,"endTime":196.83,"body":"Wallis Budge. Budge was himself"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":191.76,"endTime":196.83,"body":"a remarkable character. He rose"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":196.83,"endTime":199.68,"body":"from humble origins to a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":196.83,"endTime":199.68,"body":"position of high regard in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":199.68,"endTime":203.58,"body":"society. He earned a reputation"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":199.68,"endTime":203.58,"body":"as an entertaining dinner guest,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":203.76,"endTime":207.06,"body":"no doubt due to the many"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":203.76,"endTime":207.06,"body":"humorous anecdotes he recounted."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":207.81,"endTime":210.9,"body":"Some of the information he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":207.81,"endTime":210.9,"body":"relays is demonstrably wrong,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":210.9,"endTime":214.38,"body":"however. So we must take"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":210.9,"endTime":214.38,"body":"everything he says with a pinch"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":214.0,"endTime":229.18,"body":"We start the story with one of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":214.0,"endTime":229.18,"body":"Budge's anecdotes set in 1872."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":214.38,"endTime":214.95,"body":"of salt."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":229.84,"endTime":233.56,"body":"The story goes that Smith was"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":229.84,"endTime":233.56,"body":"working on the tablet we now"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":233.56,"endTime":235.33,"body":"know as the Flood Tablet."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":236.53,"endTime":239.62,"body":"One side of it was easily"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":236.53,"endTime":239.62,"body":"legible; but the greater part of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":239.62,"endTime":243.58,"body":"the other was covered with a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":239.62,"endTime":243.58,"body":"thick whitish limelike deposit,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":244.0,"endTime":248.41,"body":"which resisted all his brushings"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":244.0,"endTime":248.41,"body":"and attempts to remove it. It"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":248.41,"endTime":251.56,"body":"happened that Ready [Robert"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":248.41,"endTime":251.56,"body":"Ready, hired by the museum to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":251.56,"endTime":255.34,"body":"conserve tablets] was absent"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":251.56,"endTime":255.34,"body":"from the Museum on private"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":255.34,"endTime":258.79,"body":"business for several weeks, and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":255.34,"endTime":258.79,"body":"there was no one else to whom"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":258.79,"endTime":262.36,"body":"Birch [Samuel Birch, head of the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":258.79,"endTime":262.36,"body":"department] would allow the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":262.36,"endTime":266.53,"body":"tablet to be given for cleaning."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":262.36,"endTime":266.53,"body":"Smith was constitutionally a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":266.53,"endTime":271.0,"body":"highly nervous, sensitive man;"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":266.53,"endTime":271.0,"body":"and his irritation at Ready's"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":271.0,"endTime":274.6,"body":"absence knew no bounds. He"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":271.0,"endTime":274.6,"body":"thought that the tablet ought to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":274.6,"endTime":278.5,"body":"supply a very important part of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":274.6,"endTime":278.5,"body":"the legend; and his impatience"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":278.5,"endTime":282.73,"body":"to verify his theory produced in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":278.5,"endTime":282.73,"body":"him an almost incredible state"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":282.76,"endTime":287.47,"body":"of mental excitement, which grew"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":282.76,"endTime":287.47,"body":"greater as the days passed. At"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":287.47,"endTime":290.59,"body":"length Ready returned, and the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":287.47,"endTime":290.59,"body":"tablet was given to him to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":290.59,"endTime":295.09,"body":"clean. … A few days later, …"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":290.59,"endTime":295.09,"body":"Smith took the tablet and began"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":295.09,"endTime":298.57,"body":"to read over the lines which"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":295.09,"endTime":298.57,"body":"Ready had brought to light ; and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":298.57,"endTime":300.97,"body":"when he saw that they contained"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":298.57,"endTime":300.97,"body":"the portion of the legend he had"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":300.97,"endTime":305.44,"body":"hoped to find there, he said, \""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":300.97,"endTime":305.44,"body":"I am the first man to read that"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":305.47,"endTime":309.64,"body":"after more than two thousand"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":305.47,"endTime":309.64,"body":"years of oblivion.\" Setting the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":309.64,"endTime":313.0,"body":"tablet on the table, he jumped"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":309.64,"endTime":313.0,"body":"up and rushed about the room in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":313.0,"endTime":316.84,"body":"a great state of excitement,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":313.0,"endTime":316.84,"body":"and, to the astonishment of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":316.84,"endTime":319.6,"body":"those present, began to undress"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":316.84,"endTime":319.6,"body":"himself !"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":321.19,"endTime":325.24,"body":"Smith had just found a story"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":321.19,"endTime":325.24,"body":"about a great flood, the details"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":325.24,"endTime":328.6,"body":"of which were astonishingly"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":325.24,"endTime":328.6,"body":"similar to the biblical story of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":328.6,"endTime":332.8,"body":"Noah. He promptly wrote up his"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":328.6,"endTime":332.8,"body":"discovery and presented it to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":332.8,"endTime":336.34,"body":"Birch and to Henry Rawlinson,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":332.8,"endTime":336.34,"body":"who was leading the Museum’s"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":336.34,"endTime":339.67,"body":"programme to publish the most"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":336.34,"endTime":339.67,"body":"important tablets. It was"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":339.67,"endTime":342.91,"body":"decided that he should share his"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":339.67,"endTime":342.91,"body":"amazing discovery with the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":342.91,"endTime":346.87,"body":"world. So Sophus, how did he do"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":342.91,"endTime":346.87,"body":"this?"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":347.95,"endTime":351.31,"body":"Smith presents his"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":347.95,"endTime":351.31,"body":"findings at the Society of"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":351.34,"endTime":357.16,"body":"Biblical Archaeology on December"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":351.34,"endTime":357.16,"body":"3 1872. And this is a much"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":357.16,"endTime":361.24,"body":"anticipated moment. And we know"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":357.16,"endTime":361.24,"body":"this in part from an article"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":361.27,"endTime":365.47,"body":"that was published in The Times."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":361.27,"endTime":365.47,"body":"In the wonderful style of 19th"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":365.47,"endTime":369.4,"body":"century newspaper reports, you"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":365.47,"endTime":369.4,"body":"get a sense of the cheering, and"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":369.4,"endTime":373.03,"body":"the clapping that went on in the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":369.4,"endTime":373.03,"body":"audience. So it's quite a lively"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":373.03,"endTime":376.6,"body":"picture. And it's liveliness for"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":373.03,"endTime":376.6,"body":"us today derives in no small"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":376.6,"endTime":379.78,"body":"part from the fact that The"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":376.6,"endTime":379.78,"body":"Times' report says that the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":379.81,"endTime":382.72,"body":"sitting Prime Minister, William"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":379.81,"endTime":382.72,"body":"Gladstone was in the audience,"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":382.72,"endTime":386.68,"body":"which gives you a sense of both"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":382.72,"endTime":386.68,"body":"how anticipated this was and how"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":386.68,"endTime":388.87,"body":"important this discovery was"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":386.68,"endTime":388.87,"body":"felt to be."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":389.65,"endTime":393.01,"body":"Why was Smith's"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":389.65,"endTime":393.01,"body":"discovery so important that even"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":393.01,"endTime":396.28,"body":"the Prime Minister turned up to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":393.01,"endTime":396.28,"body":"hear an academic lecture?"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":397.18,"endTime":400.06,"body":"Its importance"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":397.18,"endTime":400.06,"body":"derived in large part from the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":400.06,"endTime":403.27,"body":"fact that Smith had entitled"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":400.06,"endTime":403.27,"body":"this lecture \"The Chaldean"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":403.3,"endTime":408.13,"body":"account of the Deluge\" and there"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":403.3,"endTime":408.13,"body":"was a real sense that this was"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":408.16,"endTime":412.84,"body":"of particular importance for the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":408.16,"endTime":412.84,"body":"historicity of the Bible. One"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":412.84,"endTime":416.62,"body":"can easily read this discovery"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":412.84,"endTime":416.62,"body":"from a Victorian perspective as"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":416.62,"endTime":419.2,"body":"proving the Bible right and"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":416.62,"endTime":419.2,"body":"saying, okay, we now have"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":419.2,"endTime":422.23,"body":"independent confirmation that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":419.2,"endTime":422.23,"body":"the Deluge as described in the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":422.23,"endTime":425.65,"body":"Bible is actually a real"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":422.23,"endTime":425.65,"body":"historical event. But at the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":425.65,"endTime":429.79,"body":"same time, there quickly came a"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":425.65,"endTime":429.79,"body":"sense that later in Germany"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":429.79,"endTime":434.29,"body":"exploded into what we call the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":429.79,"endTime":434.29,"body":"Bibel-Babel controversy, that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":434.29,"endTime":437.56,"body":"actually, this was a challenge"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":434.29,"endTime":437.56,"body":"to the historicity of the Bible."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":438.13,"endTime":442.12,"body":"Because the biblical account"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":438.13,"endTime":442.12,"body":"could be seen as dependent on"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":442.12,"endTime":445.21,"body":"the Babylonian sources; that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":442.12,"endTime":445.21,"body":"actually the Bible was an"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":445.21,"endTime":447.97,"body":"adaptation of originally"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":445.21,"endTime":447.97,"body":"Babylonian sources."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":448.32,"endTime":451.895,"body":"For me, what is particularly"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":448.32,"endTime":451.895,"body":"interesting is this sense of"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":451.958,"endTime":455.785,"body":"confusion, perhaps, but also of"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":451.958,"endTime":455.785,"body":"wonder at this new thing that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":455.847,"endTime":459.297,"body":"had arrived. Umberto Eco has a"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":455.847,"endTime":459.297,"body":"wonderful book, where he"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":459.36,"endTime":463.187,"body":"describes the confusion felt by"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":459.36,"endTime":463.187,"body":"European scientists when they"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":459.72,"endTime":468.643,"body":"When we think about the relation"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":459.72,"endTime":468.643,"body":"between Gilgamesh and the Greek"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":463.25,"endTime":466.951,"body":"discovered the duck-billed"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":463.25,"endTime":466.951,"body":"platypus that seemed to defy all"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":467.013,"endTime":471.028,"body":"of their established scientific"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":467.013,"endTime":471.028,"body":"categories, and they had to slot"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":468.783,"endTime":477.428,"body":"stories, we think about another"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":468.783,"endTime":477.428,"body":"comparison that is made not so"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":471.091,"endTime":474.792,"body":"this new creature into their"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":471.091,"endTime":474.792,"body":"taxonomies. And it's something"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":474.855,"endTime":478.744,"body":"of the same sense of wonder and"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":474.855,"endTime":478.744,"body":"excitement, but also confusion"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":477.567,"endTime":485.655,"body":"much by Smith himself, but"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":477.567,"endTime":485.655,"body":"actually by Gladstone. So after"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":478.807,"endTime":482.633,"body":"that I read in these reports."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":478.807,"endTime":482.633,"body":"People don't quite know what to"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":482.696,"endTime":486.586,"body":"do with this text. I think that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":482.696,"endTime":486.586,"body":"is evident, especially through"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":485.794,"endTime":494.3,"body":"Smith has given his lecture,"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":485.794,"endTime":494.3,"body":"Gladstone stands up and offers a"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":486.648,"endTime":490.036,"body":"people attempting to understand"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":486.648,"endTime":490.036,"body":"it through a series of"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":490.098,"endTime":493.8,"body":"comparisons. Throughout Smith's"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":490.098,"endTime":493.8,"body":"account, and throughout the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":493.862,"endTime":497.689,"body":"response that is described in"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":493.862,"endTime":497.689,"body":"The Times, people are comparing"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":494.439,"endTime":502.805,"body":"speech in best Prime Minister"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":494.439,"endTime":502.805,"body":"fashion, in which he says that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":497.752,"endTime":501.139,"body":"Gilgamesh to other texts that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":497.752,"endTime":501.139,"body":"they knew. And those are"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":501.202,"endTime":505.154,"body":"especially Greek texts, and of"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":501.202,"endTime":505.154,"body":"course, biblical texts. The most"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":502.945,"endTime":511.868,"body":"this new discovery is important"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":502.945,"endTime":511.868,"body":"not only for the Bible, but also"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":505.217,"endTime":508.981,"body":"obvious comparison is of course,"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":505.217,"endTime":508.981,"body":"to the biblical tale of the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":509.043,"endTime":512.933,"body":"flood, and the parallels there"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":509.043,"endTime":512.933,"body":"are more than just comparisons."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":512.008,"endTime":520.792,"body":"for the understanding of Homer."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":512.008,"endTime":520.792,"body":"And then he goes into this like"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":512.995,"endTime":516.571,"body":"They are posited to be real,"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":512.995,"endTime":516.571,"body":"direct historical parallels."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":516.634,"endTime":520.335,"body":"Smith also describes in his"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":516.634,"endTime":520.335,"body":"lecture Gilgamesh as this, like"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":520.398,"endTime":524.162,"body":"Herakles-, or Hercules-like"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":520.398,"endTime":524.162,"body":"figure, and especially dwells on"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":520.932,"endTime":529.019,"body":"lyrical praise of Homer and"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":520.932,"endTime":529.019,"body":"calls Homer, \"the friend of my"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":524.224,"endTime":527.612,"body":"how both heroes killed lions."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":524.224,"endTime":527.612,"body":"And this was actually an"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":527.674,"endTime":531.125,"body":"important part of the early"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":527.674,"endTime":531.125,"body":"reception of the Epic, this"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":529.159,"endTime":537.804,"body":"youth, the friend of my middle"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":529.159,"endTime":537.804,"body":"age, the friend of my old age.\""},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":531.187,"endTime":535.14,"body":"parallel to Hercules, which we"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":531.187,"endTime":535.14,"body":"don't think about so much today."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":535.0,"endTime":605.29,"body":"The flood story was"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":535.0,"endTime":605.29,"body":"interesting for all sorts of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":537.943,"endTime":545.891,"body":"But I think that's a really"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":537.943,"endTime":545.891,"body":"important moment to focus on,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":546.03,"endTime":554.675,"body":"because it's easy to slot these"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":546.03,"endTime":554.675,"body":"Victorians in our minds as oh,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":554.815,"endTime":562.902,"body":"just biblically-obsessed people"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":554.815,"endTime":562.902,"body":"who cared about Gilgamesh,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":563.041,"endTime":571.547,"body":"because it reminded them of the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":563.041,"endTime":571.547,"body":"Deluge. But they are actually"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":571.686,"endTime":580.192,"body":"also attuned to its literary"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":571.686,"endTime":580.192,"body":"significance already on the very"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":580.331,"endTime":588.837,"body":"first day of Gilgamesh's modern"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":580.331,"endTime":588.837,"body":"life. So that's how Gilgamesh"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":588.976,"endTime":596.924,"body":"enters the world, by people"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":588.976,"endTime":596.924,"body":"trying to make sense of it by"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":597.064,"endTime":603.06,"body":"likening it to texts that they"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":597.064,"endTime":603.06,"body":"knew better."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":605.29,"endTime":606.28,"body":"different reasons, then?"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":607.11,"endTime":610.74,"body":"I think there are a number of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":607.11,"endTime":610.74,"body":"reasons why Gilgamesh does"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":607.229,"endTime":729.06,"body":"How well did Smith"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":607.229,"endTime":729.06,"body":"actually understand the story?"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":610.77,"endTime":615.12,"body":"provoke this sensation when it"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":610.77,"endTime":615.12,"body":"is first discovered. One is that"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":615.12,"endTime":619.32,"body":"there just was a very large"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":615.12,"endTime":619.32,"body":"interest in Assyrian matters in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":619.32,"endTime":624.42,"body":"general. Frederick Bohrer, in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":619.32,"endTime":624.42,"body":"his work on the reception of the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":624.42,"endTime":628.41,"body":"visual arts of Assyria in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":624.42,"endTime":628.41,"body":"Europe, has noted that there is"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":628.41,"endTime":632.13,"body":"a bit of a class divide here."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":628.41,"endTime":632.13,"body":"That actually the curators of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":632.13,"endTime":635.13,"body":"the British Museum and the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":632.13,"endTime":635.13,"body":"established art historians"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":635.16,"endTime":639.75,"body":"looked down on Assyrian reliefs"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":635.16,"endTime":639.75,"body":"as not fully accomplished, and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":639.75,"endTime":642.06,"body":"were much more interested in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":639.75,"endTime":642.06,"body":"Greek and even in Egyptian"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":642.06,"endTime":647.64,"body":"matters. But there was a real"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":642.06,"endTime":647.64,"body":"popular interest in the Assyrian"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":647.64,"endTime":651.57,"body":"reliefs. People outside of the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":647.64,"endTime":651.57,"body":"academy were really, really"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":651.57,"endTime":655.08,"body":"interested in them. And I think"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":651.57,"endTime":655.08,"body":"that is one backdrop for why"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":655.08,"endTime":659.28,"body":"Gilgamesh as this Mesopotamian"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":655.08,"endTime":659.28,"body":"tale exploded onto the scene."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":659.88,"endTime":662.85,"body":"The other"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":659.88,"endTime":662.85,"body":"is--Vybarr Cregan-Reid has a"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":662.85,"endTime":666.0,"body":"wonderful book on this called"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":662.85,"endTime":666.0,"body":"Discovering Gilgamesh--that at"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":666.0,"endTime":669.87,"body":"the time, people were still"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":666.0,"endTime":669.87,"body":"making sense of what history"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":670.02,"endTime":673.77,"body":"meant to them in this new way."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":670.02,"endTime":673.77,"body":"So there have been these"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":673.77,"endTime":677.91,"body":"discoveries in geology. And, you"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":673.77,"endTime":677.91,"body":"know, we've coming on to the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":677.91,"endTime":680.55,"body":"formulation of a theory of"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":677.91,"endTime":680.55,"body":"evolution, and so on so forth."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":681.33,"endTime":681.6,"body":"These"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":685.84,"endTime":690.413,"body":"I'm actually quite"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":685.84,"endTime":690.413,"body":"impressed by how well he"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":690.52,"endTime":697.221,"body":"understands it. And of course,"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":690.52,"endTime":697.221,"body":"there are very basic things that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":697.327,"endTime":703.071,"body":"he doesn't grasp because the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":697.327,"endTime":703.071,"body":"Akkadian language and the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":703.177,"endTime":708.815,"body":"cuneiform script was only"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":703.177,"endTime":708.815,"body":"recently deciphered. And an"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":708.921,"endTime":715.303,"body":"obvious example of what Smith"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":708.921,"endTime":715.303,"body":"does not get about the Epic is"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":715.409,"endTime":722.11,"body":"the name of the main character."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":715.409,"endTime":722.11,"body":"The signs that make up the name"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":722.217,"endTime":727.96,"body":"of Gilgamesh--GISH TUN GIL"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":722.217,"endTime":727.96,"body":"MASH--it's not obvious that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":728.067,"endTime":734.449,"body":"those should be read Gilgamesh."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":728.067,"endTime":734.449,"body":"And it's only the Theophilus"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":730.71,"endTime":734.46,"body":"Smith isn't just"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":730.71,"endTime":734.46,"body":"hoping for an appreciative"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":734.555,"endTime":740.405,"body":"Pinches, who some years later"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":734.555,"endTime":740.405,"body":"comes up with the correct"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":734.79,"endTime":738.78,"body":"audience, is he? He's hoping for"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":734.79,"endTime":738.78,"body":"something else too."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":739.14,"endTime":754.47,"body":"Yes, he is. And"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":739.14,"endTime":754.47,"body":"that's the other part of"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":740.512,"endTime":747.106,"body":"reading of Gilgamesh in a very"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":740.512,"endTime":747.106,"body":"dramatic article entitled \"Exit"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":747.213,"endTime":754.02,"body":"Gishtubar\", which was one of the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":747.213,"endTime":754.02,"body":"previous readings of the signs."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":754.126,"endTime":760.296,"body":"Smith himself has the reading"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":754.126,"endTime":760.296,"body":"Izdubar, which is for him as"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":754.5,"endTime":819.51,"body":"Gladstone's speech because"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":754.5,"endTime":819.51,"body":"Gladstone very much picks up on"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":760.402,"endTime":766.784,"body":"good an interpretation of the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":760.402,"endTime":766.784,"body":"signs as any. But again, to be"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":766.89,"endTime":773.591,"body":"fair to him, he does acknowledge"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":766.89,"endTime":773.591,"body":"that this may very well not be"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":773.698,"endTime":780.186,"body":"the right reading. The account"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":773.698,"endTime":780.186,"body":"that he gives, for us it might"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":780.293,"endTime":786.887,"body":"seem quite garbled, but he also"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":780.293,"endTime":786.887,"body":"does make a lot of points that"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":786.994,"endTime":793.376,"body":"remain important to this day,"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":786.994,"endTime":793.376,"body":"such as identifying Utnapishti"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":793.482,"endTime":799.758,"body":"with the figure of Xisuthros"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":793.482,"endTime":799.758,"body":"from Greek mythology. He has a"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":799.864,"endTime":807.31,"body":"basic outline of the poem in"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":799.864,"endTime":807.31,"body":"mind that, to me, at least is impressive."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":819.51,"endTime":824.25,"body":"this and then quashes it."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":819.51,"endTime":824.25,"body":"Gladstone praises what he calls"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":824.25,"endTime":826.83,"body":"the British tradition of"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":824.25,"endTime":826.83,"body":"accomplishing great things"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":826.83,"endTime":830.25,"body":"through individual effort, by"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":826.83,"endTime":830.25,"body":"which he means no government"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":830.25,"endTime":830.85,"body":"funding."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":831.99,"endTime":834.54,"body":"So who was this"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":831.99,"endTime":834.54,"body":"young man who had just caused"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":834.54,"endTime":840.27,"body":"such a sensation? Budge"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":834.54,"endTime":840.27,"body":"describes him like this: \"I"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":840.27,"endTime":844.71,"body":"remember that he was a man of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":840.27,"endTime":844.71,"body":"medium height, shy and nervous."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":845.34,"endTime":849.72,"body":"He had a broad, high forehead,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":845.34,"endTime":849.72,"body":"and keen eyes set rather close"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":849.72,"endTime":854.52,"body":"together, and he wore a short"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":849.72,"endTime":854.52,"body":"beard. His hands were small, and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":854.52,"endTime":858.0,"body":"his fingers were long, and had"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":854.52,"endTime":858.0,"body":"curiously pointed tips.\""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":859.24,"endTime":862.99,"body":"Smith was born in 1840, in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":859.24,"endTime":862.99,"body":"Chelsea, which was then a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":862.99,"endTime":867.25,"body":"working-class neighborhood. As a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":862.99,"endTime":867.25,"body":"14 year old boy, he took up an"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":867.25,"endTime":870.19,"body":"apprenticeship at a printing"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":867.25,"endTime":870.19,"body":"company called Bradbury and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":870.22,"endTime":874.75,"body":"Evans, where he learned how to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":870.22,"endTime":874.75,"body":"engrave banknotes. According to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":874.75,"endTime":878.41,"body":"Budge, one of the owners of that"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":874.75,"endTime":878.41,"body":"firm declared that Smith was so"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":878.41,"endTime":881.77,"body":"good at his job that he would"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":878.41,"endTime":881.77,"body":"have become one of the master"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":881.77,"endTime":885.85,"body":"engravers of the 19th century."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":881.77,"endTime":885.85,"body":"The other said that his decision"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":885.85,"endTime":890.23,"body":"to give up this well paid job,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":885.85,"endTime":890.23,"body":"to follow his literary bent was"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":890.23,"endTime":892.21,"body":"an act of pure folly."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":893.29,"endTime":896.23,"body":"Young George was caught up in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":893.29,"endTime":896.23,"body":"all the excitement around the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":896.23,"endTime":899.08,"body":"antiquities being brought to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":896.23,"endTime":899.08,"body":"London from the excavations at"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":899.08,"endTime":903.67,"body":"Nineveh, and he read everything"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":899.08,"endTime":903.67,"body":"he could find. As luck would"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":903.67,"endTime":907.12,"body":"have it, his workplace was"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":903.67,"endTime":907.12,"body":"located close enough to the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":907.12,"endTime":910.21,"body":"British Museum that he could"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":907.12,"endTime":910.21,"body":"visit during his lunch breaks."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":911.02,"endTime":914.38,"body":"He soon came to the attention of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":911.02,"endTime":914.38,"body":"Birch, who offered him a role as"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":914.38,"endTime":918.4,"body":"a repairer. He was supposed to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":914.38,"endTime":918.4,"body":"look through the fragments of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":918.4,"endTime":921.82,"body":"cuneiform tablets, and join them"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":918.4,"endTime":921.82,"body":"back into their original"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":921.82,"endTime":926.23,"body":"complete form. He was obviously"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":921.82,"endTime":926.23,"body":"very good at this. Budge says"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":926.23,"endTime":930.25,"body":"that, \"He read the Ninevite"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":926.23,"endTime":930.25,"body":"script with the greatest ease,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":930.91,"endTime":934.09,"body":"and his ability to find the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":930.91,"endTime":934.09,"body":"general meaning of a passage in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":934.09,"endTime":937.09,"body":"an inscription, even though"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":934.09,"endTime":937.09,"body":"there were words in it that he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":937.09,"endTime":941.23,"body":"did not know, proved that he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":937.09,"endTime":941.23,"body":"possessed real genius.\""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":941.99,"endTime":947.03,"body":"In 1866, he was rewarded with a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":941.99,"endTime":947.03,"body":"promotion to assistant, a more"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":947.03,"endTime":950.54,"body":"research based role. Budge"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":947.03,"endTime":950.54,"body":"continues: \"He worked"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":950.54,"endTime":954.83,"body":"incessantly and heartily cursed"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":950.54,"endTime":954.83,"body":"the London fog, which deprived"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":954.83,"endTime":957.98,"body":"him of light. Considering the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":954.83,"endTime":957.98,"body":"imperfect state of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":958.01,"endTime":961.19,"body":"Assyriological knowledge at that"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":958.01,"endTime":961.19,"body":"time, and the difficulty of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":961.19,"endTime":965.06,"body":"reading the tablets, hundreds of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":961.19,"endTime":965.06,"body":"which were still uncleaned, his"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":965.06,"endTime":969.23,"body":"copies are wonderfully good, and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":965.06,"endTime":969.23,"body":"merit the highest praise and the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":969.23,"endTime":971.87,"body":"sincere gratitude of all"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":969.23,"endTime":971.87,"body":"scholars.\""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":973.37,"endTime":977.24,"body":"Yet not everyone viewed Smith"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":973.37,"endTime":977.24,"body":"positively. Among the visitors"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":977.24,"endTime":980.36,"body":"to the Museum was an eminent"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":977.24,"endTime":980.36,"body":"scholar called Jules Oppert."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":981.83,"endTime":985.49,"body":"Alongside Rawlinson, Oppert had"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":981.83,"endTime":985.49,"body":"been one of the four scholars"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":985.52,"endTime":990.68,"body":"who in 1857 had participated in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":985.52,"endTime":990.68,"body":"a test to prove that cuneiform"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":990.71,"endTime":995.21,"body":"really had been deciphered. Over"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":990.71,"endTime":995.21,"body":"the years, Rawlinson showed him"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":995.21,"endTime":998.66,"body":"interesting tablets that had"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":995.21,"endTime":998.66,"body":"been found, including fragments"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":998.69,"endTime":1003.49,"body":"of what we now know as the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":998.69,"endTime":1003.49,"body":"Gilgamesh Epic. Oppert secured"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1003.49,"endTime":1006.94,"body":"funding to publish this"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1003.49,"endTime":1006.94,"body":"material, and was very upset to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1006.94,"endTime":1012.49,"body":"learn that it had been entrusted"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1006.94,"endTime":1012.49,"body":"to Smith. According to Budge, he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1012.49,"endTime":1016.54,"body":"was bitterly disappointed, and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1012.49,"endTime":1016.54,"body":"expressed his annoyance vividly"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1016.57,"endTime":1021.52,"body":"and picturesquely in many"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1016.57,"endTime":1021.52,"body":"languages. He bore no malice"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1021.55,"endTime":1026.2,"body":"against Rawlinson and Norris"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1021.55,"endTime":1026.2,"body":"[another assistant] for, said"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1026.2,"endTime":1030.61,"body":"he, 'they are scholars', but he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1026.2,"endTime":1030.61,"body":"took a great dislike to Smith,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1030.67,"endTime":1033.1,"body":"whom he described as a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1030.67,"endTime":1033.1,"body":"'mechanic'.\""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1034.66,"endTime":1038.59,"body":"It was against this background"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1034.66,"endTime":1038.59,"body":"of scholarly rivalry that Smith"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1038.59,"endTime":1041.65,"body":"delivered his spectacular"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1038.59,"endTime":1041.65,"body":"lecture at the Society of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1041.65,"endTime":1045.85,"body":"Biblical Archaeology. He yearned"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1041.65,"endTime":1045.85,"body":"to excavate Nineveh to find the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1045.85,"endTime":1049.99,"body":"fragments that would fill gaps"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1045.85,"endTime":1049.99,"body":"in the Flood story. In all the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1049.99,"endTime":1053.26,"body":"excitement, the Daily Telegraph"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1049.99,"endTime":1053.26,"body":"offered to fund an expedition."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1054.01,"endTime":1057.07,"body":"In return, they would get to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1054.01,"endTime":1057.07,"body":"publish regular updates on his"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1057.07,"endTime":1061.12,"body":"progress. It was a rather"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1057.07,"endTime":1061.12,"body":"unusual arrangement."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1061.69,"endTime":1064.87,"body":"It sounds today"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1061.69,"endTime":1064.87,"body":"like an absolutely crazy scheme."},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1066.1,"endTime":1069.4,"body":"But you know, it's miraculous"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1066.1,"endTime":1069.4,"body":"that it actually works. And I"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1069.4,"endTime":1073.18,"body":"think it's quite important to"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1069.4,"endTime":1073.18,"body":"note the context in which the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1073.18,"endTime":1075.79,"body":"Daily Telegraph is doing"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1073.18,"endTime":1075.79,"body":"this--as pointed out by David"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1075.79,"endTime":1077.59,"body":"Damrosch in his work on"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1075.79,"endTime":1077.59,"body":"Gilgamesh's early"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1077.62,"endTime":1081.61,"body":"reception--they are very much"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1077.62,"endTime":1081.61,"body":"competing with the New York"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1081.61,"endTime":1085.81,"body":"Times that had financed the"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1081.61,"endTime":1085.81,"body":"expedition to find Livingstone"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1085.84,"endTime":1087.97,"body":"in Africa. So there was a sense"},{"speaker":"Sophus Helle","startTime":1085.84,"endTime":1087.97,"body":"of one-upmanship."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1089.89,"endTime":1093.22,"body":"Smith set out for"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1089.89,"endTime":1093.22,"body":"Nineveh just a month later. And"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1093.22,"endTime":1096.73,"body":"within just a week of starting"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1093.22,"endTime":1096.73,"body":"work, by the most incredible"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1096.73,"endTime":1100.3,"body":"stroke of luck, he found a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1096.73,"endTime":1100.3,"body":"fragment that restored the text"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1100.3,"endTime":1104.74,"body":"of the Flood story. Smith was"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1100.3,"endTime":1104.74,"body":"obviously ecstatic, and he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1104.74,"endTime":1108.52,"body":"wanted to keep digging for more."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1104.74,"endTime":1108.52,"body":"But the Daily Telegraph now had"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1108.52,"endTime":1112.3,"body":"the headlines they had wanted."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1108.52,"endTime":1112.3,"body":"They published a message from"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1112.3,"endTime":1116.71,"body":"Smith declaring his mission"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1112.3,"endTime":1116.71,"body":"complete. This was not the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1116.71,"endTime":1122.41,"body":"message Smith had sent."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1116.71,"endTime":1122.41,"body":"Outraged, but powerless, he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1122.41,"endTime":1126.16,"body":"closed the excavations and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1122.41,"endTime":1126.16,"body":"grudgingly returned to Britain."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1126.75,"endTime":1130.68,"body":"So much for the first"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1126.75,"endTime":1130.68,"body":"expedition. Soon after Smith's"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1130.68,"endTime":1135.72,"body":"return, he was introduced to the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1130.68,"endTime":1135.72,"body":"aspiring young Budge. Budge"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1135.75,"endTime":1139.53,"body":"remembers the meeting like this,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1135.75,"endTime":1139.53,"body":"\"He was describing his work"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1139.59,"endTime":1143.82,"body":"among the ruins of Kuyunjik, and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1139.59,"endTime":1143.82,"body":"its difficulties, with an air"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1143.82,"endTime":1147.69,"body":"almost of apology, although the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1143.82,"endTime":1147.69,"body":"results which he obtained prove"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1147.69,"endTime":1151.62,"body":"that his mission had been a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1147.69,"endTime":1151.62,"body":"splendid success. His portion of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1151.62,"endTime":1156.6,"body":"modesty was so great that I have"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1151.62,"endTime":1156.6,"body":"since thought that he left very"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1156.6,"endTime":1160.29,"body":"little of that quality for the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1156.6,"endTime":1160.29,"body":"use of later Assyriologists, who"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1160.29,"endTime":1162.27,"body":"have built upon his"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1160.29,"endTime":1162.27,"body":"foundations.\""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1164.04,"endTime":1167.49,"body":"The excavation permit was still"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1164.04,"endTime":1167.49,"body":"valid until the spring of the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1164.117,"endTime":1173.962,"body":"Back in London, Smith devoted"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1164.117,"endTime":1173.962,"body":"himself to research. During this"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1167.49,"endTime":1171.12,"body":"next year, however, so the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1167.49,"endTime":1171.12,"body":"Museum funded a second"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1171.12,"endTime":1175.44,"body":"expedition. During these"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1171.12,"endTime":1175.44,"body":"excavations, he found many more"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1174.121,"endTime":1181.743,"body":"time, Smith produced a whole"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1174.121,"endTime":1181.743,"body":"series of important"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1175.44,"endTime":1180.69,"body":"tablets, but the work did not go"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1175.44,"endTime":1180.69,"body":"smoothly. The wintry weather"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1180.69,"endTime":1183.72,"body":"hindered progress, and relations"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1180.69,"endTime":1183.72,"body":"with local people were"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1181.902,"endTime":1191.747,"body":"publications. In his free time,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1181.902,"endTime":1191.747,"body":"he wrote an account of his two"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1183.72,"endTime":1187.29,"body":"complicated. Having handed over"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1183.72,"endTime":1187.29,"body":"duplicate objects for the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1187.29,"endTime":1190.65,"body":"collection of the Imperial"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1187.29,"endTime":1190.65,"body":"Ottoman Museum in Istanbul, he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1190.65,"endTime":1192.48,"body":"returned home, tired"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1191.906,"endTime":1202.228,"body":"expeditions to Nineveh, which he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1191.906,"endTime":1202.228,"body":"called, Assyrian Discoveries. It"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1202.387,"endTime":1212.073,"body":"being 1875, this was by no means"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1202.387,"endTime":1212.073,"body":"an excavation report that we"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1212.232,"endTime":1221.443,"body":"would recognise. For all its"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1212.232,"endTime":1221.443,"body":"weaknesses, it was at least a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1221.601,"endTime":1231.606,"body":"publication (something which not"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1221.601,"endTime":1231.606,"body":"all excavations can claim). It"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1231.764,"endTime":1241.451,"body":"was published quickly. And it"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1231.764,"endTime":1241.451,"body":"does actually contain all sorts"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1241.61,"endTime":1251.138,"body":"of information that we can use"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1241.61,"endTime":1251.138,"body":"to understand something about"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1251.296,"endTime":1260.824,"body":"where objects were found, and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1251.296,"endTime":1260.824,"body":"what those contexts were like."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1260.983,"endTime":1265.43,"body":"It's also a compelling read."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1265.45,"endTime":1269.83,"body":"For him, the first expedition"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1265.45,"endTime":1269.83,"body":"was a great adventure. You can"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1269.83,"endTime":1275.32,"body":"feel his excitement. He starts"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1269.83,"endTime":1275.32,"body":"his story by telling us, \"I got"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1275.32,"endTime":1280.27,"body":"off from London on the evening"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1275.32,"endTime":1280.27,"body":"of the 20th of January 1873 and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1280.27,"endTime":1283.72,"body":"crossed the channel during the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1280.27,"endTime":1283.72,"body":"night. As the weather was"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1283.72,"endTime":1287.86,"body":"stormy, I paid the usual tribute"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1283.72,"endTime":1287.86,"body":"to Neptune, but reached the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1287.86,"endTime":1291.91,"body":"French coast in good condition"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1287.86,"endTime":1291.91,"body":"for breakfast.\" We can"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1291.91,"endTime":1295.12,"body":"supplement his published account"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1291.91,"endTime":1295.12,"body":"with details from private"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1295.12,"endTime":1298.87,"body":"letters sent to his family. Some"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1295.12,"endTime":1298.87,"body":"of these are now in the archives"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1298.87,"endTime":1303.04,"body":"of the British Museum. One of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1298.87,"endTime":1303.04,"body":"them is a lovely letter to his"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1303.04,"endTime":1308.26,"body":"son Fred, sent from Istanbul. He"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1303.04,"endTime":1308.26,"body":"tells him that, \"I want to come"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1308.29,"endTime":1311.38,"body":"all the way back to England to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1308.29,"endTime":1311.38,"body":"see you all before I start for"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1311.38,"endTime":1316.36,"body":"Assyria.\" He then signs off,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1311.38,"endTime":1316.36,"body":"\"your loving Papa\", before"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1316.36,"endTime":1319.18,"body":"drawing two funny sketches,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1316.36,"endTime":1319.18,"body":"which you can see in the show"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1319.18,"endTime":1324.94,"body":"notes. One is his son Freddie,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1319.18,"endTime":1324.94,"body":"the other Smith being seasick"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1325.42,"endTime":1328.21,"body":"with the label \"poor Papa in the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1325.42,"endTime":1328.21,"body":"boat\"."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1329.11,"endTime":1332.74,"body":"Despite the mixed results of his"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1329.11,"endTime":1332.74,"body":"archaeological forays, Smith"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1332.74,"endTime":1335.95,"body":"looked set to enjoy a long and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1332.74,"endTime":1335.95,"body":"very successful career,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1336.16,"endTime":1341.05,"body":"translating cuneiform tablets."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1336.16,"endTime":1341.05,"body":"But now fate would deliver one"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1341.05,"endTime":1346.48,"body":"last dramatic turn in Smith's"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1341.05,"endTime":1346.48,"body":"extraordinary life. Gareth and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1346.48,"endTime":1351.16,"body":"Strahil explain for us what"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1346.48,"endTime":1351.16,"body":"happens next. Let's start with"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1351.16,"endTime":1354.67,"body":"you, Gareth. Smith had"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1351.16,"endTime":1354.67,"body":"experienced all kinds of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1354.67,"endTime":1358.21,"body":"frustrations on his second"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1354.67,"endTime":1358.21,"body":"mission. Yet he ended his book"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1358.21,"endTime":1361.75,"body":"about that mission with a plea"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1358.21,"endTime":1361.75,"body":"for further funding to continue"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1361.75,"endTime":1366.79,"body":"the work. Whose idea was this"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1361.75,"endTime":1366.79,"body":"third mission? And what was it"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1366.79,"endTime":1368.17,"body":"intended to achieve?"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1369.47,"endTime":1373.07,"body":"Yes, I mean, in"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1369.47,"endTime":1373.07,"body":"his publication, Smith complains"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1373.1,"endTime":1376.7,"body":"a lot about his second journey,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1373.1,"endTime":1376.7,"body":"especially the stretch back to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1376.7,"endTime":1380.93,"body":"Aleppo. So he traveled during a"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1376.7,"endTime":1380.93,"body":"severe winter, where it was"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1380.93,"endTime":1383.75,"body":"raining heavily and the rivers"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1380.93,"endTime":1383.75,"body":"were flooded, so it made"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1383.75,"endTime":1386.84,"body":"crossing very difficult. At one"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1383.75,"endTime":1386.84,"body":"stage of the journey on the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1386.84,"endTime":1390.77,"body":"appraoch to Urfa. Smith was also"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1386.84,"endTime":1390.77,"body":"abandoned by his guiding guards."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1391.43,"endTime":1394.73,"body":"Then at Berecik the customs"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1391.43,"endTime":1394.73,"body":"official seized Smith's cases of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1394.73,"endTime":1398.78,"body":"antiquities, despite having the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1394.73,"endTime":1398.78,"body":"correct paperwork to hand. When"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1398.78,"endTime":1401.36,"body":"the antiquities are finally"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1398.78,"endTime":1401.36,"body":"released, the pasha at Aleppo"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1401.36,"endTime":1404.06,"body":"would not allow Smith and the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1401.36,"endTime":1404.06,"body":"antiquities to leave the city."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1404.57,"endTime":1406.97,"body":"And this forced the British"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1404.57,"endTime":1406.97,"body":"Counsul to intervene on Smith's"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1406.97,"endTime":1410.39,"body":"behalf. But despite these"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1406.97,"endTime":1410.39,"body":"complaints, like you say, Smith"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1410.39,"endTime":1414.14,"body":"ends his book about his mission,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1410.39,"endTime":1414.14,"body":"with what appears to be a plea"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1414.14,"endTime":1417.71,"body":"for 5000 pounds to continue the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1414.14,"endTime":1417.71,"body":"work for a further three years."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1418.28,"endTime":1421.28,"body":"However, Smith does not put"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1418.28,"endTime":1421.28,"body":"himself forward to lead any"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1421.28,"endTime":1425.6,"body":"future work. Rather, he states"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1421.28,"endTime":1425.6,"body":"that, \"Any interests which may"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1425.6,"endTime":1429.08,"body":"be taken in my labours may take"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1425.6,"endTime":1429.08,"body":"the form of encouraging further"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1429.08,"endTime":1432.65,"body":"and systematic exploration of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1429.08,"endTime":1432.65,"body":"this important field.\""},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1433.83,"endTime":1438.57,"body":"So it's not clear that Smith was"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1433.83,"endTime":1438.57,"body":"interested himself in going on"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1438.57,"endTime":1441.3,"body":"this mission and perhaps thought"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1438.57,"endTime":1441.3,"body":"that someone else might take his"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1441.3,"endTime":1445.44,"body":"place. If then appears that Sir"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1441.3,"endTime":1445.44,"body":"Henry Rawlinson persuaded the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1445.44,"endTime":1447.72,"body":"Museum Trustees to fund the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1445.44,"endTime":1447.72,"body":"third expedition to Iraq at the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1447.72,"endTime":1451.86,"body":"end of 1875. And the objective"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1447.72,"endTime":1451.86,"body":"was to continue excavations at"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1451.86,"endTime":1454.92,"body":"Nineveh in hope to recover more"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1451.86,"endTime":1454.92,"body":"tablets for the British Museum"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1454.92,"endTime":1458.97,"body":"collections. And Smith actually"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1454.92,"endTime":1458.97,"body":"received explicit written"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1458.97,"endTime":1462.66,"body":"instructions by the Principal"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1458.97,"endTime":1462.66,"body":"Librarian, in effect the Museum"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1462.66,"endTime":1465.72,"body":"director, pertaining to all"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1462.66,"endTime":1465.72,"body":"aspects of the expedition, which"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1465.72,"endTime":1469.14,"body":"\"You"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1465.72,"endTime":1469.14,"body":"will restrict your researchers"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1469.14,"endTime":1472.62,"body":"to the exploration of the mound"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1469.14,"endTime":1472.62,"body":"of Kuyunjik and the remains of"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1472.62,"endTime":1475.29,"body":"the Royal Library of Assyria and"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1472.62,"endTime":1475.29,"body":"especially those portions of the"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1475.29,"endTime":1478.74,"body":"site of the Library, which you"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1475.29,"endTime":1478.74,"body":"have not already excavated. And"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1478.74,"endTime":1481.23,"body":"you will direct your attention"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1478.74,"endTime":1481.23,"body":"in particular to the acquisition"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1481.23,"endTime":1484.65,"body":"of inscribed tablets, whether"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1481.23,"endTime":1484.65,"body":"complete or fragmentary. It is"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1484.65,"endTime":1487.62,"body":"most desirable, moreover, that"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1484.65,"endTime":1487.62,"body":"you should obtain the part of"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1487.62,"endTime":1490.74,"body":"tablets required to complete the"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1487.62,"endTime":1490.74,"body":"portions already in the Museum"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1490.74,"endTime":1493.89,"body":"collection. You will not extend"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1490.74,"endTime":1493.89,"body":"your excavation beyond the"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1493.89,"endTime":1497.61,"body":"limits above prescribed, without"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1493.89,"endTime":1497.61,"body":"obtaining in the first instance"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1497.76,"endTime":1501.75,"body":"the sanction of the Trustees of"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1497.76,"endTime":1501.75,"body":"the British Museum.\" So Smith's"},{"speaker":"includes the following","startTime":1501.81,"endTime":1503.52,"body":"instructions were very clear."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1504.26,"endTime":1506.78,"body":"What did Smith think"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1504.26,"endTime":1506.78,"body":"about this third mission?"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1507.44,"endTime":1509.99,"body":"He was pledged"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1507.44,"endTime":1509.99,"body":"and he felt compelled to go,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1507.709,"endTime":1515.104,"body":"In a letter now lost, Smith"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1507.709,"endTime":1515.104,"body":"actually wrote to the Principal"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1510.05,"endTime":1512.27,"body":"even though he"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1510.05,"endTime":1512.27,"body":"obviously--through his letters"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1512.27,"endTime":1515.12,"body":"to his wife--made his feelings"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1512.27,"endTime":1515.12,"body":"clear that he didn't want to be"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1515.12,"endTime":1519.08,"body":"there at all. This fateful trip"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1515.12,"endTime":1519.08,"body":"did not begin well. Having been"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1515.229,"endTime":1522.875,"body":"Librarian regarding his plan, to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1515.229,"endTime":1522.875,"body":"which received the following"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1519.08,"endTime":1521.9,"body":"held up in Constantinople for"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1519.08,"endTime":1521.9,"body":"months on end to wait for his"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1521.9,"endTime":1525.68,"body":"firman or excavation permit. And"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1521.9,"endTime":1525.68,"body":"he wrote a letter to his wife"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1523.0,"endTime":1530.52,"body":"response. \"Dear Sir, I have"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1523.0,"endTime":1530.52,"body":"received your letter of 12th and"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1525.68,"endTime":1528.56,"body":"Mary while stuck in"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1525.68,"endTime":1528.56,"body":"Constantinople. He was"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1528.59,"endTime":1531.62,"body":"overwhelmed by doubts regarding"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1528.59,"endTime":1531.62,"body":"the success of the mission, and"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1530.646,"endTime":1538.166,"body":"20th of March and laid them"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1530.646,"endTime":1538.166,"body":"before the Trustees. As you have"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1531.62,"endTime":1533.9,"body":"actually planned to leave the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1531.62,"endTime":1533.9,"body":"excavation in the charge of his"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1533.9,"endTime":1538.1,"body":"assistant Peter Mateev so he"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":1533.9,"endTime":1538.1,"body":"could return home early. So this"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1538.1,"endTime":1542.15,"body":"\"My Dear"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1538.1,"endTime":1542.15,"body":"Mary, I do not enjoy my stay"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1538.291,"endTime":1545.31,"body":"not yet been in a position to"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1538.291,"endTime":1545.31,"body":"commence operations at the"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1542.15,"endTime":1545.75,"body":"here. Although I live well, I'm"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1542.15,"endTime":1545.75,"body":"certainly thin and often I feel"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1545.436,"endTime":1553.207,"body":"mounds, there is only a passage"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1545.436,"endTime":1553.207,"body":"in your letter which calls for"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1545.75,"endTime":1549.23,"body":"I would sooner have cold mutton"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1545.75,"endTime":1549.23,"body":"at home than be here. The truth"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1549.23,"endTime":1552.47,"body":"is, I do not do very well as a"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1549.23,"endTime":1552.47,"body":"single man. I've been married"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1552.47,"endTime":1556.25,"body":"too long. It was all very well"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1552.47,"endTime":1556.25,"body":"in the first expedition, but the"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1553.332,"endTime":1560.226,"body":"immediate comment. It is that"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1553.332,"endTime":1560.226,"body":"passage in which you say,"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1556.25,"endTime":1558.74,"body":"gilt was soon off the"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1556.25,"endTime":1558.74,"body":"gingerbread. And if I had not"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1558.74,"endTime":1562.49,"body":"been pledged, I would not have"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1558.74,"endTime":1562.49,"body":"come now. I have often"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1560.351,"endTime":1567.245,"body":"referring to Mr. Mathewson,"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1560.351,"endTime":1567.245,"body":"'after he has been under my"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1562.49,"endTime":1565.64,"body":"considerable doubts as to my"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1562.49,"endTime":1565.64,"body":"success and greater doubts as to"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1565.64,"endTime":1570.53,"body":"my stopping until 1877. But we"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1565.64,"endTime":1570.53,"body":"shall see. I start on the 8th."},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1567.37,"endTime":1575.267,"body":"instructions at the excavations,"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1567.37,"endTime":1575.267,"body":"I hope it necessary to be able"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1570.86,"endTime":1574.91,"body":"That may alter my tone. It is"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1570.86,"endTime":1574.91,"body":"miserable waiting here. After"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1574.91,"endTime":1578.0,"body":"this it will be two weeks before"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1574.91,"endTime":1578.0,"body":"you hear from me. Kiss all our"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1575.392,"endTime":1582.16,"body":"to leave him in charge of the"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1575.392,"endTime":1582.16,"body":"work and I may return to"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1578.0,"endTime":1580.85,"body":"pets and tell them Papa will"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1578.0,"endTime":1580.85,"body":"soon come back. And look one of"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1580.85,"endTime":1583.79,"body":"these days to see my cab drive"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1580.85,"endTime":1583.79,"body":"up to the door. If I am"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1582.286,"endTime":1588.678,"body":"England.' These words appear to"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1582.286,"endTime":1588.678,"body":"suggest that you're"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1583.79,"endTime":1586.67,"body":"successful this year, I will"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1583.79,"endTime":1586.67,"body":"come home in July and leave the"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1586.67,"endTime":1589.4,"body":"excavations in the charge of my"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1586.67,"endTime":1589.4,"body":"assistant who is a very good and"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1588.803,"endTime":1594.945,"body":"contemplating quitting the"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1588.803,"endTime":1594.945,"body":"excavations before the"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1589.4,"endTime":1592.19,"body":"likely party. Your loving hubby,"},{"speaker":"is part of the letter","startTime":1589.4,"endTime":1592.19,"body":"George.\""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1593.59,"endTime":1596.32,"body":"So here we meet an"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1593.59,"endTime":1596.32,"body":"assistant. Until recently, we"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1595.07,"endTime":1601.839,"body":"expiration of your leave of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1595.07,"endTime":1601.839,"body":"absence. This the Trustees"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1596.35,"endTime":1598.36,"body":"knew very little about him."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1596.35,"endTime":1598.36,"body":"Strahil, can you explain for"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1598.39,"endTime":1605.17,"body":"us--who was this mysterious Mr."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1598.39,"endTime":1605.17,"body":"Mathewson? And how do we know"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1601.964,"endTime":1608.356,"body":"consider to be very"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1601.964,"endTime":1608.356,"body":"objectionable. It is not stated"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1605.2,"endTime":1605.71,"body":"about him?"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1608.482,"endTime":1615.877,"body":"that Mr. Mathewson's labour"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1608.482,"endTime":1615.877,"body":"would be equally efficient with"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1616.002,"endTime":1623.648,"body":"your own, and if not equally"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1616.002,"endTime":1623.648,"body":"efficient, it is clear that such"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1623.773,"endTime":1631.669,"body":"important duties ought not to be"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1623.773,"endTime":1631.669,"body":"left to this person, excepting"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1631.795,"endTime":1639.315,"body":"in cases of absolute necessity,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1631.795,"endTime":1639.315,"body":"the Trustees wish to receive"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1639.44,"endTime":1646.71,"body":"your explanation of this. I'm"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1639.44,"endTime":1646.71,"body":"very sorry to hear from your"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1646.835,"endTime":1653.854,"body":"last letter that the plague is"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1646.835,"endTime":1653.854,"body":"increasing throughout the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1653.98,"endTime":1661.25,"body":"country. This will require every"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1653.98,"endTime":1661.25,"body":"precaution on your part.\""},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1662.15,"endTime":1679.13,"body":"So the story"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1662.15,"endTime":1679.13,"body":"around Matthewson so far as I"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1679.13,"endTime":1684.59,"body":"can see it in the literature, so"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1679.13,"endTime":1684.59,"body":"he got famous in [19]93 with an"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1684.59,"endTime":1689.06,"body":"article from Sheila Evers. And"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1684.59,"endTime":1689.06,"body":"she looked upon the British"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1689.06,"endTime":1693.95,"body":"Museum Original Papers. And she"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1689.06,"endTime":1693.95,"body":"noticed that a particular figure"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1693.95,"endTime":1697.34,"body":"there, Mathewson, played a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1693.95,"endTime":1697.34,"body":"prominent role in the last"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1697.34,"endTime":1702.44,"body":"journey of Smith. This was"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1697.34,"endTime":1702.44,"body":"everything the world knew about"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1702.44,"endTime":1708.8,"body":"him. By a coincidence, more than"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1702.44,"endTime":1708.8,"body":"10 years ago, I came upon an"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1708.83,"endTime":1714.65,"body":"archive in a remote Bulgarian"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1708.83,"endTime":1714.65,"body":"village in the Balkan Mountains."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1715.07,"endTime":1719.45,"body":"It turned out that it contained"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1715.07,"endTime":1719.45,"body":"some cuneiform tablets. And it"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1719.45,"endTime":1722.72,"body":"turned out that they were"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1719.45,"endTime":1722.72,"body":"brought there by a person called"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1722.75,"endTime":1728.54,"body":"Peter Mateev. Also in this local"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1722.75,"endTime":1728.54,"body":"museum, there was unpublished"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1728.57,"endTime":1732.71,"body":"autobiography of the same"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1728.57,"endTime":1732.71,"body":"person. And when I went through"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1732.71,"endTime":1737.66,"body":"the autobiography, it turned out"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1732.71,"endTime":1737.66,"body":"that this person Peter Mateev"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1737.81,"endTime":1743.12,"body":"was in fact Mathewson, the last"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1737.81,"endTime":1743.12,"body":"dragoman or assistant of George"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1743.12,"endTime":1746.63,"body":"Smith. It got pretty"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1743.12,"endTime":1746.63,"body":"interesting, because there was a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1746.63,"endTime":1751.04,"body":"lot of unpublished data that"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1746.63,"endTime":1751.04,"body":"nobody had looked upon it. So in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1751.04,"endTime":1754.73,"body":"the years after this discovery,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1751.04,"endTime":1754.73,"body":"whenever I was in the British"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1754.73,"endTime":1760.31,"body":"Museum, I ordered letters. And a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1754.73,"endTime":1760.31,"body":"kind of interesting story"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1760.34,"endTime":1765.32,"body":"started to appear when you"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1760.34,"endTime":1765.32,"body":"connect the material from the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1765.38,"endTime":1768.92,"body":"Bulgarian documents that are"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1765.38,"endTime":1768.92,"body":"kept in this local museum, but"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1768.92,"endTime":1773.06,"body":"also in the national library in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1768.92,"endTime":1773.06,"body":"Sofia and the heritage of Smith"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1773.12,"endTime":1773.96,"body":"in London."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1775.04,"endTime":1777.5,"body":"What was Mathewson"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1775.04,"endTime":1777.5,"body":"doing in the Middle East?"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1777.0,"endTime":1778.317,"body":"This person"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1777.0,"endTime":1778.317,"body":"Peter Mateev was born in this"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1778.098,"endTime":1786.603,"body":"In those days, the subjects of"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1778.098,"endTime":1786.603,"body":"the Ottoman Empire, especially"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1778.349,"endTime":1780.309,"body":"very small village right now"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1778.349,"endTime":1780.309,"body":"called Kotel in Bulgaria. And he"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1780.342,"endTime":1782.173,"body":"was born during the last years"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1780.342,"endTime":1782.173,"body":"of the Ottoman Empire. His"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1782.205,"endTime":1784.198,"body":"parents were wealthy persons."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1782.205,"endTime":1784.198,"body":"They had a lot of sheep and also"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1784.23,"endTime":1786.222,"body":"land. They were landowners, so"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1784.23,"endTime":1786.222,"body":"they could afford to send their"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1786.255,"endTime":1788.151,"body":"biggest son--this is Peter"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1786.255,"endTime":1788.151,"body":"Mateev--to study first in Malta,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1786.742,"endTime":1794.969,"body":"the educated subjects, were"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1786.742,"endTime":1794.969,"body":"polyglots. So Peter Mateev knew"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1788.183,"endTime":1789.886,"body":"and later on to study in the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1788.183,"endTime":1789.886,"body":"famous Robert College in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1789.918,"endTime":1791.685,"body":"Istanbul, or Constantinople in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1789.918,"endTime":1791.685,"body":"those days. And after he"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1791.718,"endTime":1793.678,"body":"finished his study in the famous"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1791.718,"endTime":1793.678,"body":"college, he got a job at the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1793.71,"endTime":1795.96,"body":"British Post. And there starts"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1793.71,"endTime":1795.96,"body":"the connection with the British Empire."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1795.0,"endTime":1801.09,"body":"How did he come to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1795.0,"endTime":1801.09,"body":"be travelling with Smith?"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1795.108,"endTime":1803.335,"body":"Bulgarian, knew Turkish, knew"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":1795.108,"endTime":1803.335,"body":"Arabic, knew English, I guess"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1801.0,"endTime":1806.159,"body":"The next"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1801.0,"endTime":1806.159,"body":"year, in 1875, George Smith"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1803.475,"endTime":1811.422,"body":"also French. They were very"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1803.475,"endTime":1811.422,"body":"cosmopolitan people. It seems"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1806.302,"endTime":1814.328,"body":"arrived in Constantinople"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1806.302,"endTime":1814.328,"body":"waiting for firman. And firman"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1811.562,"endTime":1819.928,"body":"that he did quite well in the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1811.562,"endTime":1819.928,"body":"British Post. A year before he"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1814.471,"endTime":1823.071,"body":"in the Turkish Empire is an"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1814.471,"endTime":1823.071,"body":"official document that gives you"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1820.067,"endTime":1828.294,"body":"met with Smith, in 1874, he was,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1820.067,"endTime":1828.294,"body":"so to say, chosen from the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1823.214,"endTime":1830.523,"body":"a permission to do something."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1823.214,"endTime":1830.523,"body":"You know, the Turkish"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1828.433,"endTime":1835.126,"body":"British society in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1828.433,"endTime":1835.126,"body":"Constantinople, to escort and"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1830.667,"endTime":1839.122,"body":"authorities in the Ottoman"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1830.667,"endTime":1839.122,"body":"Empire can be quite slow. He was"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1835.266,"endTime":1842.516,"body":"support a British lady"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1835.266,"endTime":1842.516,"body":"traveller. This lady, I still"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1839.266,"endTime":1848.438,"body":"lingering in Constantinople. In"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1839.266,"endTime":1848.438,"body":"fact, having fun in a ranch of a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1842.656,"endTime":1850.743,"body":"cannot find her real name. She's"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1842.656,"endTime":1850.743,"body":"also not mentioned in his"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1848.581,"endTime":1856.751,"body":"British person for several"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1848.581,"endTime":1856.751,"body":"months. And he was waiting for"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1850.882,"endTime":1859.667,"body":"autobiography. She wanted to go"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1850.882,"endTime":1859.667,"body":"by horse from Constantinople to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1856.894,"endTime":1865.35,"body":"the firman, but it seems that"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1856.894,"endTime":1865.35,"body":"the firman took a bit longer."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1859.806,"endTime":1868.033,"body":"Baghdad. And this was quite an"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1859.806,"endTime":1868.033,"body":"adventure. It seems that the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1865.493,"endTime":1874.379,"body":"And finally he got introduced to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1865.493,"endTime":1874.379,"body":"Peter Mateev. The person that"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1868.172,"endTime":1875.144,"body":"journey was not quite"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1868.172,"endTime":1875.144,"body":"successful, but Mateev could"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1874.522,"endTime":1882.118,"body":"was important for this"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1874.522,"endTime":1882.118,"body":"connection, so to say, was Sir"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1875.283,"endTime":1883.649,"body":"support her and bring her alive"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1875.283,"endTime":1883.649,"body":"back. And he had a very good"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1882.261,"endTime":1891.29,"body":"Philip Francis, who was living"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1882.261,"endTime":1891.29,"body":"and working in Constantinople in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1883.789,"endTime":1888.53,"body":"reputation in the British society."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1891.434,"endTime":1899.89,"body":"those days. And it seems that"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1891.434,"endTime":1899.89,"body":"Peter Mateev and George Smith"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1900.033,"endTime":1908.919,"body":"got along. Finally, they got the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1900.033,"endTime":1908.919,"body":"firman. Peter Mateev helped a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1909.062,"endTime":1917.804,"body":"lot in this situation, because"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1909.062,"endTime":1917.804,"body":"he knew all the authorities in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1917.948,"endTime":1926.977,"body":"Constantinople, since working in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1917.948,"endTime":1926.977,"body":"the British Post in those days"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1927.12,"endTime":1936.149,"body":"involved the close contact with"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1927.12,"endTime":1936.149,"body":"other representatives. Both had"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1936.293,"endTime":1945.465,"body":"to set off on their journey. But"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1936.293,"endTime":1945.465,"body":"there was one problem. And this"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1945.608,"endTime":1953.921,"body":"problem was that Peter Mateev"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1945.608,"endTime":1953.921,"body":"was a subject of the Ottoman"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1954.064,"endTime":1962.377,"body":"Empire. And he was from the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1954.064,"endTime":1962.377,"body":"minority; so he was Bulgarian."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1962.52,"endTime":1971.406,"body":"So in order to be able to deal"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1962.52,"endTime":1971.406,"body":"with the authorities better, he"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1971.549,"endTime":1980.005,"body":"had to receive British passport."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1971.549,"endTime":1980.005,"body":"So the same person, Philip"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1980.148,"endTime":1988.891,"body":"Francis, managed to get him a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1980.148,"endTime":1988.891,"body":"British passport,  and his name"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1989.034,"endTime":1997.49,"body":"was slightly changed from Mateev"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1989.034,"endTime":1997.49,"body":"to Mathewson. And then the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":1997.633,"endTime":2000.5,"body":"journey could start."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2004.76,"endTime":2008.06,"body":"So we have Smith in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2004.76,"endTime":2008.06,"body":"Istanbul, and he's picked up an"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2008.06,"endTime":2023.84,"body":"assistant in Peter Mateev. What"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2008.06,"endTime":2023.84,"body":"actually happened on this third"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2014.22,"endTime":2016.906,"body":"The thing is"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2014.22,"endTime":2016.906,"body":"that in order to comprehend the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2016.967,"endTime":2020.569,"body":"whole quite complex picture, you"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2016.967,"endTime":2020.569,"body":"have to go through all the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2020.63,"endTime":2024.049,"body":"documentation in Bulgarian, but"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2020.63,"endTime":2024.049,"body":"also connect this to the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2024.11,"endTime":2026.43,"body":"documentation that you have in London."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2024.2,"endTime":2025.01,"body":"expedition?"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2026.0,"endTime":2028.568,"body":"It was pretty"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2026.0,"endTime":2028.568,"body":"much a disaster from the start."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2028.626,"endTime":2031.594,"body":"Smith finally obtained his"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2028.626,"endTime":2031.594,"body":"excavation permit, and he"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2031.651,"endTime":2034.962,"body":"departed Constantinople for"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2031.651,"endTime":2034.962,"body":"Aleppo. But on his arrival was"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2035.019,"endTime":2038.33,"body":"dismayed to find that his"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2035.019,"endTime":2038.33,"body":"journey would be disrupted by an"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2038.388,"endTime":2041.642,"body":"outbreak of plague in the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2038.388,"endTime":2041.642,"body":"region. And while in Aleppo, he"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2041.699,"endTime":2045.238,"body":"wrote the following letter to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2041.699,"endTime":2045.238,"body":"his wife, \"My Dear Mary, how are"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2045.295,"endTime":2048.435,"body":"you and the chicks? I am"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2045.295,"endTime":2048.435,"body":"capital. I arrived on the 14th"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2048.492,"endTime":2052.032,"body":"at the port, pushed on. On the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2048.492,"endTime":2052.032,"body":"16th arrived at Aleppo. And I'm"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2052.089,"endTime":2055.514,"body":"here at the same house I always"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2052.089,"endTime":2055.514,"body":"stay at. People are all very"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2055.571,"endTime":2059.053,"body":"kind all inquire after you or"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2055.571,"endTime":2059.053,"body":"little ones. Up to the present."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2059.11,"endTime":2062.365,"body":"I've travelled without guards,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2059.11,"endTime":2062.365,"body":"the country being safe and"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2062.422,"endTime":2066.075,"body":"quiet, as I've known it, and the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2062.422,"endTime":2066.075,"body":"people old friends who are glad"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2066.132,"endTime":2069.443,"body":"to see me again. There is"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2066.132,"endTime":2069.443,"body":"however, a great misfortune. The"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2069.5,"endTime":2072.983,"body":"plague is sweeping part of the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2069.5,"endTime":2072.983,"body":"district I ought to visit. Now"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2073.04,"endTime":2076.465,"body":"do not be alarmed. You were not"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2073.04,"endTime":2076.465,"body":"aware that the plague was in"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2076.522,"endTime":2079.89,"body":"this country when I was here"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2076.522,"endTime":2079.89,"body":"last, although then it was not"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2079.948,"endTime":2083.658,"body":"spreading so fast. But as it is,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2079.948,"endTime":2083.658,"body":"I'm very cautious although there"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2083.715,"endTime":2087.198,"body":"is normal changes. I've stopped"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2083.715,"endTime":2087.198,"body":"my journey and remain for the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2087.255,"endTime":2090.851,"body":"presence at Aleppo just to see"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2087.255,"endTime":2090.851,"body":"how it goes.\" He then goes on to"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2090.908,"endTime":2093.991,"body":"\"I am now going on a"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2090.908,"endTime":2093.991,"body":"pleasure excursion for eight"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2094.048,"endTime":2097.759,"body":"days with a friend to visit some"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2094.048,"endTime":2097.759,"body":"ruins and fill up the time while"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2097.816,"endTime":2101.356,"body":"I stay here. Kiss all our little"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2097.816,"endTime":2101.356,"body":"pets and tell them papa never"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2101.413,"endTime":2104.781,"body":"goes to bed without thinking of"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2101.413,"endTime":2104.781,"body":"you all. Your loving hubby,"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2104.838,"endTime":2108.263,"body":"George.\" So while at Aleppo,"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2104.838,"endTime":2108.263,"body":"Smith and his companions are in"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2108.32,"endTime":2111.574,"body":"the company of the British"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2108.32,"endTime":2111.574,"body":"Consul at Aleppo, a Mr. Skene,"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2111.631,"endTime":2115.171,"body":"who encouraged Smith to explore"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2111.631,"endTime":2115.171,"body":"an area on the Euphrates River"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2115.228,"endTime":2118.368,"body":"in the hope of finding"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2115.228,"endTime":2118.368,"body":"Carchemish. So they went down to"},{"speaker":"say","startTime":2118.425,"endTime":2119.51,"body":"the suggested site."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2119.0,"endTime":2121.886,"body":"\"When Mr."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2119.0,"endTime":2121.886,"body":"Smith went to have a look at"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2121.962,"endTime":2126.292,"body":"them, he started to draw these"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2121.962,"endTime":2126.292,"body":"reliefs, Luwian reliefs in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2126.367,"endTime":2130.849,"body":"Carchemish. I continued upwards"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2126.367,"endTime":2130.849,"body":"to look for inscriptions is"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2130.925,"endTime":2135.407,"body":"directed. There was a large flat"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2130.925,"endTime":2135.407,"body":"area with small remains of"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2135.482,"endTime":2139.888,"body":"pottery. A few Arabs from the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2135.482,"endTime":2139.888,"body":"nearby mill on the river had"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2139.964,"endTime":2144.522,"body":"climbed up with us, curious to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2139.964,"endTime":2144.522,"body":"see what we were going to do."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2144.598,"endTime":2148.775,"body":"When asked if they had not seen"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2144.598,"endTime":2148.775,"body":"an inscription on stone"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2148.851,"endTime":2153.029,"body":"anywhere, they took me to a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2148.851,"endTime":2153.029,"body":"stone as large as a pillar."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2153.105,"endTime":2157.662,"body":"After overturning it the lower"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2153.105,"endTime":2157.662,"body":"part turned out to be covered"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2157.738,"endTime":2162.296,"body":"with script unknown to me. Of"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2157.738,"endTime":2162.296,"body":"course, I called Mr. Smith. He"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2159.38,"endTime":2213.74,"body":"Of course,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2159.38,"endTime":2213.74,"body":"Smith's primary objective was to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2162.372,"endTime":2166.929,"body":"came but obviously he did not"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2162.372,"endTime":2166.929,"body":"feel well. And after he looked"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2167.005,"endTime":2171.867,"body":"at the inscription dropped down"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2167.005,"endTime":2171.867,"body":"on the ground. I rushed for some"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2171.943,"endTime":2176.424,"body":"cognac, and when I gave him"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2171.943,"endTime":2176.424,"body":"some, I brought him to himself."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2176.5,"endTime":2180.678,"body":"The Archimedes exclamation,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2176.5,"endTime":2180.678,"body":"'Eureka!' came to his mind."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2180.754,"endTime":2185.007,"body":"inscriptions of that kind were"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2180.754,"endTime":2185.007,"body":"supposed to belong to the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2185.083,"endTime":2189.717,"body":"Hittites, and only a few of them"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2185.083,"endTime":2189.717,"body":"were known at that time.\" He"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2189.793,"endTime":2194.35,"body":"couldn't read Luwian in those"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2189.793,"endTime":2194.35,"body":"days, but found several Luwian"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2194.426,"endTime":2199.136,"body":"inscriptions that he copied. And"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2194.426,"endTime":2199.136,"body":"on one of the inscriptions he"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2199.212,"endTime":2203.617,"body":"noted with cuneiform, GAR GA"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2199.212,"endTime":2203.617,"body":"MISH. So he was quite certain"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2203.693,"endTime":2208.099,"body":"that Jerablus or Hierapolis"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2203.693,"endTime":2208.099,"body":"later on, is what was known in"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2208.175,"endTime":2210.53,"body":"those early days as Carchemish."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2213.74,"endTime":2216.83,"body":"continue his work in Nineveh."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2213.74,"endTime":2216.83,"body":"Yet on the sixth of April, he"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2216.83,"endTime":2220.7,"body":"was informed by telegram that an"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2216.83,"endTime":2220.7,"body":"antiquities dealer in Baghdad,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2220.73,"endTime":2223.61,"body":"Michael Marini, was offering to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2220.73,"endTime":2223.61,"body":"sell the Museum a collection of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2223.61,"endTime":2227.69,"body":"Akkadian tablets. So before"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2223.61,"endTime":2227.69,"body":"heading north to Mosul, Smith"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2227.69,"endTime":2231.08,"body":"was now instructed by the Museum"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2227.69,"endTime":2231.08,"body":"to travel to Baghdad to inspect"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2231.08,"endTime":2233.27,"body":"the tablets with a view to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2231.08,"endTime":2233.27,"body":"purchasing the collection."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2234.14,"endTime":2236.18,"body":"When they"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2234.14,"endTime":2236.18,"body":"reached Baghdad, there were some"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2236.18,"endTime":2240.83,"body":"complications in the Ottoman"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2236.18,"endTime":2240.83,"body":"Empire. In those days, the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2240.86,"endTime":2245.87,"body":"sultans of the Ottoman Empire"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2240.86,"endTime":2245.87,"body":"were changing in several months."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2246.89,"endTime":2251.54,"body":"There was also a rebellion in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2246.89,"endTime":2251.54,"body":"Bosnia and Herzegovina, so the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2251.54,"endTime":2256.58,"body":"Ottoman Empire was starting to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2251.54,"endTime":2256.58,"body":"falling apart. The British"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2256.61,"endTime":2262.16,"body":"representatives in Baghdad were"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2256.61,"endTime":2262.16,"body":"very worried. So the British"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2262.28,"endTime":2267.38,"body":"representatives in Baghdad told"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2262.28,"endTime":2267.38,"body":"Smith and Mateev 'you cannot"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2267.44,"endTime":2271.37,"body":"conduct excavations in Nineveh,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2267.44,"endTime":2271.37,"body":"because of these complications.'"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2272.17,"endTime":2274.45,"body":"From Baghdad,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2272.17,"endTime":2274.45,"body":"Smith and Mathewson made a brief"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2274.45,"endTime":2277.24,"body":"journey to Qurna to meet the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2274.45,"endTime":2277.24,"body":"British Consul General and"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2277.24,"endTime":2280.99,"body":"confirm the planned excavations."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2277.24,"endTime":2280.99,"body":"However, Smith's plans for"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2280.99,"endTime":2284.68,"body":"Nineveh went into disarray."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2280.99,"endTime":2284.68,"body":"Following his return to Baghdad,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2284.71,"endTime":2287.14,"body":"Smith wrote to the Principal"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2284.71,"endTime":2287.14,"body":"Librarian at the British Museum,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2287.2,"endTime":2290.92,"body":"to inform him of the bleak"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2287.2,"endTime":2290.92,"body":"situation. It would appear that"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2290.92,"endTime":2293.62,"body":"Smith had lost all hope of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2290.92,"endTime":2293.62,"body":"traveling to Mosul to excavate"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2293.89,"endTime":2296.56,"body":"and proposed that he should"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2293.89,"endTime":2296.56,"body":"return home. In a letter he"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2296.56,"endTime":2300.94,"body":"\"The country I find is"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2296.56,"endTime":2300.94,"body":"in such a disturbed state that I"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2300.94,"endTime":2305.05,"body":"cannot go to Mosul to excavate."},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2300.94,"endTime":2305.05,"body":"I therefore propose to give up"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2305.05,"endTime":2309.55,"body":"the expedition and return to"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2305.05,"endTime":2309.55,"body":"England at once. In my next I"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2309.55,"endTime":2312.04,"body":"hope to give you a detailed"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2309.55,"endTime":2312.04,"body":"account of my work since I left"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2312.04,"endTime":2315.31,"body":"Aleppo. I am, as you will"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2312.04,"endTime":2315.31,"body":"suppose, very much disappointed"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2315.76,"endTime":2319.96,"body":"at the failure of my mission.\""},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2315.76,"endTime":2319.96,"body":"So his original mission now in"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2319.96,"endTime":2323.68,"body":"tatters, Smith devoted his time"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2319.96,"endTime":2323.68,"body":"in Baghdad to the intense study"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2323.71,"endTime":2327.49,"body":"of his newly acquired tablets. A"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2323.71,"endTime":2327.49,"body":"glimpse into Smith's state of"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2327.49,"endTime":2330.64,"body":"mind, and his so called nervous"},{"speaker":"writes","startTime":2327.49,"endTime":2330.64,"body":"attacks whilst in Baghdad is"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2331.15,"endTime":2337.18,"body":"\"In Baghdad,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2331.15,"endTime":2337.18,"body":"while proving over the tablets,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2337.3,"endTime":2341.29,"body":"making out the complete list of"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2337.3,"endTime":2341.29,"body":"them, and making notes on the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2341.29,"endTime":2345.52,"body":"more interesting ones, he would"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2341.29,"endTime":2345.52,"body":"get up--this is Smith--and walk"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2345.52,"endTime":2350.11,"body":"about the room shaking all over."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2345.52,"endTime":2350.11,"body":"At this time, he would always"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2350.11,"endTime":2354.46,"body":"take some brandy, which would"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2350.11,"endTime":2354.46,"body":"steady his, I may say, already"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2354.55,"endTime":2358.39,"body":"shattered nerves. Again, he"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2354.55,"endTime":2358.39,"body":"would sit down, but only for a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2358.39,"endTime":2362.83,"body":"few minutes to get up and say"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2358.39,"endTime":2362.83,"body":"that his head was anything but"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2362.83,"endTime":2367.42,"body":"right. But that an hour's walk"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2362.83,"endTime":2367.42,"body":"in the garden would set him up"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2367.42,"endTime":2372.19,"body":"again. We go into the garden,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2367.42,"endTime":2372.19,"body":"but scarcely have we walked for"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2372.19,"endTime":2376.66,"body":"five minutes, when he would say,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2372.19,"endTime":2376.66,"body":"'I feel better. Let's go in and"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2376.66,"endTime":2381.07,"body":"give another trial at the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2376.66,"endTime":2381.07,"body":"tablets.' We go in, and in a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2381.07,"endTime":2385.21,"body":"minute, he's convinced that his"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2381.07,"endTime":2385.21,"body":"head will not help him. This"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2385.21,"endTime":2388.78,"body":"would happen a dozen times in a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2385.21,"endTime":2388.78,"body":"day. At times, he would feel"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2388.78,"endTime":2391.81,"body":"better, especially in the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2388.78,"endTime":2391.81,"body":"morning, after a good night's"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2391.81,"endTime":2397.75,"body":"rest, then he would go over many"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2391.81,"endTime":2397.75,"body":"tablets. The way he used to go"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2397.84,"endTime":2402.34,"body":"to work was he would sort all"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2397.84,"endTime":2402.34,"body":"the tablets into different"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2402.37,"endTime":2406.9,"body":"reigns, and again in the number"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2402.37,"endTime":2406.9,"body":"of years each reign contained."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2407.44,"endTime":2411.88,"body":"He will then say, there are so"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2407.44,"endTime":2411.88,"body":"many days' work for me, dividing"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2411.88,"endTime":2416.83,"body":"them all so.\" And so on and so"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2411.88,"endTime":2416.83,"body":"on. So you can see how eager was"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2416.83,"endTime":2418.87,"body":"he to study the tablets in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2416.83,"endTime":2418.87,"body":"Baghdad."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2419.35,"endTime":2421.27,"body":"Following a"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2419.35,"endTime":2421.27,"body":"month studying the tablets in"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2421.27,"endTime":2424.36,"body":"Baghdad, Smith and Mateev were"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2421.27,"endTime":2424.36,"body":"instructed by the Museum to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2424.36,"endTime":2426.25,"body":"leave the country by boat from"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2424.36,"endTime":2426.25,"body":"Basra."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2427.14,"endTime":2429.63,"body":"And so they"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2427.14,"endTime":2429.63,"body":"set off on a journey from"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2429.63,"endTime":2434.28,"body":"Baghdad to Qurna. They were"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2429.63,"endTime":2434.28,"body":"heading for a ship from Basra"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2434.52,"endTime":2439.47,"body":"that had to take them back to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2434.52,"endTime":2439.47,"body":"London. When they reached Qurna,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2439.62,"endTime":2443.4,"body":"there was a plague, and they"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2439.62,"endTime":2443.4,"body":"were put under quarantine in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2443.4,"endTime":2447.93,"body":"Qurna. While waiting for the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2443.4,"endTime":2447.93,"body":"quarantine--it was 10 days--they"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2448.08,"endTime":2452.43,"body":"were put on a ship. That's in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2448.08,"endTime":2452.43,"body":"the middle of the summer. So you"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2452.43,"endTime":2455.37,"body":"can imagine that the heat was"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2452.43,"endTime":2455.37,"body":"unbearable. During the days on"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2455.37,"endTime":2458.85,"body":"the steamer, the health of Smith"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2455.37,"endTime":2458.85,"body":"was shaky. He couldn't really"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2458.85,"endTime":2462.33,"body":"deal with the heat, with the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2458.85,"endTime":2462.33,"body":"mosquitoes, with the insects,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2462.57,"endTime":2468.12,"body":"with the humidity. While waiting"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2462.57,"endTime":2468.12,"body":"in Qurna for 10 days, they were"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2468.12,"endTime":2473.61,"body":"constantly checking if the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2468.12,"endTime":2473.61,"body":"tablets that had to be exported"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2473.64,"endTime":2477.69,"body":"to the British Museum from"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2473.64,"endTime":2477.69,"body":"Baghdad arrived in Qurna in"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2477.69,"endTime":2479.37,"body":"order to be shipped to London."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2479.98,"endTime":2482.32,"body":"However, as the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2479.98,"endTime":2482.32,"body":"political crisis in the Ottoman"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2482.32,"endTime":2485.44,"body":"Empire intensified, the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2482.32,"endTime":2485.44,"body":"authorities then introduced a"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2485.44,"endTime":2488.2,"body":"temporary ban on the export of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2485.44,"endTime":2488.2,"body":"antiquities, which then meant"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2488.23,"endTime":2491.23,"body":"the tablets purchased by Smith"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2488.23,"endTime":2491.23,"body":"could not pass through customs."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2491.32,"endTime":2492.43,"body":"And this was a disaster."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2493.02,"endTime":2495.36,"body":"Now comes the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2493.02,"endTime":2495.36,"body":"lucky coincidence that Smith and"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2495.39,"endTime":2498.81,"body":"Mateev were traveling with one"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2495.39,"endTime":2498.81,"body":"of the authorities from the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2498.81,"endTime":2503.55,"body":"customs from Aleppo to Baghdad."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2498.81,"endTime":2503.55,"body":"So basically what has happened"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2503.55,"endTime":2508.47,"body":"is that Mateev and Smith, they"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2503.55,"endTime":2508.47,"body":"set off with a steamer along the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2508.68,"endTime":2513.0,"body":"Euphrates. So they were"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2508.68,"endTime":2513.0,"body":"traveling on the steamer with"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2513.0,"endTime":2518.76,"body":"many other gentlemen until they"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2513.0,"endTime":2518.76,"body":"reached Baghdad. So during that"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2518.79,"endTime":2524.88,"body":"time on the same steamer was one"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2518.79,"endTime":2524.88,"body":"of the major representatives of"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2524.88,"endTime":2529.59,"body":"the customs in Baghdad. And they"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2524.88,"endTime":2529.59,"body":"got pretty friendly with"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2529.62,"endTime":2534.33,"body":"Mathewson, because on every stop"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2529.62,"endTime":2534.33,"body":"they went hunting rabbits and"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2534.33,"endTime":2540.42,"body":"birds. Mateev found his old"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2534.33,"endTime":2540.42,"body":"friend and they could arrange"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2540.42,"endTime":2542.79,"body":"that the antiquities are sent to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2540.42,"endTime":2542.79,"body":"London."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2542.0,"endTime":2545.36,"body":"Not wishing to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2542.0,"endTime":2545.36,"body":"leave without his precious"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2545.36,"endTime":2548.54,"body":"cargo, Smith returned to Baghdad"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2545.36,"endTime":2548.54,"body":"and purchased another large"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2548.54,"endTime":2551.78,"body":"collection of tablets from"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2548.54,"endTime":2551.78,"body":"Michael Marini. Whilst back in"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2551.78,"endTime":2554.36,"body":"the city, Smith also wrote the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2551.78,"endTime":2554.36,"body":"following letter to his wife"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2554.36,"endTime":2558.98,"body":"Mary, updating her on his"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2554.36,"endTime":2558.98,"body":"situation: \"My Dear Mary, you"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2558.98,"endTime":2561.17,"body":"will be surprised to hear that"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2558.98,"endTime":2561.17,"body":"I've returned to Baghdad. I"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2561.26,"endTime":2563.63,"body":"might have been halfway home by"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2561.26,"endTime":2563.63,"body":"now. But I tried to go south to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2563.63,"endTime":2567.29,"body":"India, and from there to Egypt"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2563.63,"endTime":2567.29,"body":"and then home. There was a"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2567.29,"endTime":2570.41,"body":"quarantine to keep out the most"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2567.29,"endTime":2570.41,"body":"pestilential place in the whole"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2570.41,"endTime":2573.62,"body":"country. I would not stand it"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2570.41,"endTime":2573.62,"body":"and after a week took advantage"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2573.62,"endTime":2576.47,"body":"of the offer of some more"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2573.62,"endTime":2576.47,"body":"antiquities here to return and"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2576.47,"endTime":2577.16,"body":"purchase them.\""},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2578.48,"endTime":2582.38,"body":"But Smith was"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2578.48,"endTime":2582.38,"body":"hesitant to go again to Qurna,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2582.77,"endTime":2587.66,"body":"because the quarantine was so"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2582.77,"endTime":2587.66,"body":"bad that he didn't want to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2587.66,"endTime":2595.07,"body":"repeat the same thing again. So,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2587.66,"endTime":2595.07,"body":"Smith decided to return to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2595.1,"endTime":2600.02,"body":"Aleppo on horse. But the other"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2595.1,"endTime":2600.02,"body":"reason--I think, more important"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2600.05,"endTime":2605.09,"body":"reason--is that he had hidden"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2600.05,"endTime":2605.09,"body":"desire anyway to try to excavate"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2605.09,"endTime":2611.72,"body":"in Nineveh. This is supported by"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2605.09,"endTime":2611.72,"body":"the autobiography of Mateev. So"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2611.72,"endTime":2616.76,"body":"they both decided to buy horses"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2611.72,"endTime":2616.76,"body":"and go back on land to Halab [="},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2617.83,"endTime":2620.492,"body":"\"I am now going"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2617.83,"endTime":2620.492,"body":"north to Mosul and from there"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2617.84,"endTime":2617.99,"body":"Aleppo]."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2620.551,"endTime":2624.161,"body":"home in that direction. There's"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2620.551,"endTime":2624.161,"body":"quarantine so I shall have to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2622.94,"endTime":2628.01,"body":"Things were about to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2622.94,"endTime":2628.01,"body":"go very wrong. Could you tell us"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2624.22,"endTime":2627.829,"body":"endure two weeks there before"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2624.22,"endTime":2627.829,"body":"getting on. The weather is very"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2627.888,"endTime":2631.675,"body":"hot. The plague is almost over."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2627.888,"endTime":2631.675,"body":"There was only one death from it"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2629.06,"endTime":2635.9,"body":"what happened next on the return"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2629.06,"endTime":2635.9,"body":"journey?"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2631.734,"endTime":2635.462,"body":"two days ago. It has been bad."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":2631.734,"endTime":2635.462,"body":"I'm in excellent health and show"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2635.0,"endTime":2667.58,"body":"So once the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2635.0,"endTime":2667.58,"body":"tablets finally passed through"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2635.521,"endTime":2639.071,"body":"no sign of my many toils. My"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2635.521,"endTime":2639.071,"body":"love to all our pets. Papa will"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2639.13,"endTime":2642.799,"body":"be back among them. But I will"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2639.13,"endTime":2642.799,"body":"write again and tell you when I"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2642.858,"endTime":2646.645,"body":"shall reach England. Your loving"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2642.858,"endTime":2646.645,"body":"hubby, George. P.S. Think of my"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2646.704,"endTime":2650.136,"body":"own vice here. I smoked six"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2646.704,"endTime":2650.136,"body":"cigars and drank three bottles"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2650.195,"endTime":2653.745,"body":"of beer per day. Do not say"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2650.195,"endTime":2653.745,"body":"anything to the Museum people of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2653.804,"endTime":2657.236,"body":"the presents I gave you. They're"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2653.804,"endTime":2657.236,"body":"very critical and rude in"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2657.295,"endTime":2658.42,"body":"letters sent to me."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2667.61,"endTime":2672.02,"body":"customs, Smith departed Baghdad"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2667.61,"endTime":2672.02,"body":"for Aleppo via Mosul. That"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2672.02,"endTime":2674.36,"body":"evening, however, the party were"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2672.02,"endTime":2674.36,"body":"again forced into quarantine for"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2674.36,"endTime":2677.9,"body":"15 days at the small town of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2674.36,"endTime":2677.9,"body":"Kifri in the Diyala region,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2678.5,"endTime":2681.83,"body":"where Smith's health started to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2678.5,"endTime":2681.83,"body":"decline again. He would not"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2681.83,"endTime":2684.47,"body":"leave the hut to do exercise. He"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2681.83,"endTime":2684.47,"body":"would only pace up and down"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2684.47,"endTime":2686.54,"body":"outside in the evenings. He"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2684.47,"endTime":2686.54,"body":"could not bring himself to do"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2686.54,"endTime":2689.75,"body":"any work or write his letters,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2686.54,"endTime":2689.75,"body":"and would apparently obsess over"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2689.75,"endTime":2693.62,"body":"the number of stages left to"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2689.75,"endTime":2693.62,"body":"reach Aleppo. As his assistant"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2693.62,"endTime":2697.04,"body":"Mateev observed, that it was"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2693.62,"endTime":2697.04,"body":"curious to watch the working of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2697.04,"endTime":2700.88,"body":"an overburdened mind, so"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2697.04,"endTime":2700.88,"body":"powerful in one respect, so weak"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2700.91,"endTime":2704.39,"body":"in another. Smith would often"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2700.91,"endTime":2704.39,"body":"push onwards in a state of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2704.39,"endTime":2707.15,"body":"complete exhaustion, swigging"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2704.39,"endTime":2707.15,"body":"from a flask of brandy to keep"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2707.15,"endTime":2707.75,"body":"him going."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2709.07,"endTime":2711.8,"body":"The thing is,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2709.07,"endTime":2711.8,"body":"in order to be able to do such a"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2711.8,"endTime":2714.53,"body":"journey in the middle of"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2711.8,"endTime":2714.53,"body":"summer--these are the months"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2714.56,"endTime":2719.21,"body":"July and August--the only"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2714.56,"endTime":2719.21,"body":"possibility is to travel during"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2719.21,"endTime":2724.01,"body":"the night and sleep during the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2719.21,"endTime":2724.01,"body":"day. But this is very tiring."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2725.0,"endTime":2729.38,"body":"They both started the journey,"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2725.0,"endTime":2729.38,"body":"went to Erbil. Smith wanted to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2729.38,"endTime":2733.4,"body":"excavate there. It didn't"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2729.38,"endTime":2733.4,"body":"happen. Then went to Mosul to"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2733.4,"endTime":2738.32,"body":"see if they can excavate there."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2733.4,"endTime":2738.32,"body":"It was impossible, although"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2738.35,"endTime":2741.47,"body":"there are notes in the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2738.35,"endTime":2741.47,"body":"autobiography and also in some"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2741.47,"endTime":2746.18,"body":"of the letters that the locals"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2741.47,"endTime":2746.18,"body":"recognised Smith from the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2746.18,"endTime":2749.66,"body":"previous years, and they were"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2746.18,"endTime":2749.66,"body":"quite willing to cooperate with"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2749.66,"endTime":2753.26,"body":"him again. But again, the"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2749.66,"endTime":2753.26,"body":"authorities didn't allow this."},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2753.89,"endTime":2756.11,"body":"So the only thing was to go"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":2753.89,"endTime":2756.11,"body":"back."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2757.62,"endTime":2759.72,"body":"On reaching"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2757.62,"endTime":2759.72,"body":"Mosul, exhausted from the long"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2759.72,"endTime":2763.23,"body":"night in the saddle, Smith wrote"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":2759.72,"endTime":2763.23,"body":"to the Principal Librarian"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2763.44,"endTime":2767.97,"body":"\"My dear"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2763.44,"endTime":2767.97,"body":"Sir, I arrived here two days"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2767.97,"endTime":2771.09,"body":"ago. On my way back, I have"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2767.97,"endTime":2771.09,"body":"obtained permission to export"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2771.09,"endTime":2774.3,"body":"the purchases and pass them"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2771.09,"endTime":2774.3,"body":"through the customs house. I"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2774.3,"endTime":2776.97,"body":"must delay my report on my"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2774.3,"endTime":2776.97,"body":"proceedings on them until my"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2776.97,"endTime":2780.54,"body":"return. There is no chance of"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2776.97,"endTime":2780.54,"body":"excavating. At present, the"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2780.54,"endTime":2783.42,"body":"whole country is in a dangerous"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2780.54,"endTime":2783.42,"body":"state. And here at Mosul, we"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2783.42,"endTime":2785.64,"body":"narrowly escaped the slaughter"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2783.42,"endTime":2785.64,"body":"of the whole Christian"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2785.64,"endTime":2789.36,"body":"population. Guards are stationed"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2785.64,"endTime":2789.36,"body":"at the French Consulate and"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2789.36,"endTime":2792.6,"body":"Catholic Church and things look"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2789.36,"endTime":2792.6,"body":"anything but comfortable. Plague"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2792.6,"endTime":2795.33,"body":"and quarantine delayed my"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2792.6,"endTime":2795.33,"body":"journey until now. And the heat"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2795.33,"endTime":2798.3,"body":"is so great that travelling by"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2795.33,"endTime":2798.3,"body":"day is impossible, so it will"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2798.3,"endTime":2800.13,"body":"take some time to reach Aleppo."},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2801.75,"endTime":2805.89,"body":"The very same day, he also wrote"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2801.75,"endTime":2805.89,"body":"a letter to his wife, Mary: \"My"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2805.89,"endTime":2809.04,"body":"Dear Mary, here I am again in"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2805.89,"endTime":2809.04,"body":"the old place, having traveled"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2809.07,"endTime":2813.15,"body":"300 miles since I last wrote."},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2809.07,"endTime":2813.15,"body":"I've still nearly 600 miles"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2813.15,"endTime":2816.06,"body":"before reaching the sea. The"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2813.15,"endTime":2816.06,"body":"weather is so hot that we cannot"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2816.06,"endTime":2819.45,"body":"go out in the day and having to"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2816.06,"endTime":2819.45,"body":"travel at night progres is very"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2819.45,"endTime":2822.69,"body":"slow, and I feel the fatigue"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2819.45,"endTime":2822.69,"body":"very much. The country is in a"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2822.69,"endTime":2826.47,"body":"bad state. They have had famine,"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2822.69,"endTime":2826.47,"body":"plague, war, and murder, and is"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2826.47,"endTime":2829.35,"body":"evidently tumbling to pieces."},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2826.47,"endTime":2829.35,"body":"That is why I do not stop to"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2829.35,"endTime":2829.77,"body":"dig.\""},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2830.88,"endTime":2834.476,"body":"From Mosul, they travel overland"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2830.88,"endTime":2834.476,"body":"to Diyarbakir, where Smith sent"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2834.532,"endTime":2837.679,"body":"a further report on to the"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2834.532,"endTime":2837.679,"body":"Principal Librarian: \"My dear"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2837.735,"endTime":2840.938,"body":"Sir, I've been forced to come"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2837.735,"endTime":2840.938,"body":"here as the direct route to"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2840.995,"endTime":2844.366,"body":"Aleppo is closed. From here I"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2840.995,"endTime":2844.366,"body":"wish to go to Eznun and thence"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2844.423,"endTime":2847.513,"body":"to England, but he road is now"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2844.423,"endTime":2847.513,"body":"unsafe. Bands of Turkish"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2847.57,"endTime":2850.829,"body":"soldiers are broken loose and"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2847.57,"endTime":2850.829,"body":"the plundering and murdering"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2850.885,"endTime":2854.369,"body":"they're about to try the road"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2850.885,"endTime":2854.369,"body":"over and start a night. I've had"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2854.425,"endTime":2857.91,"body":"a long and severe journey and"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2854.425,"endTime":2857.91,"body":"I've suffered much on the road.\""},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2857.0,"endTime":2862.19,"body":"From Diyarbakir the party"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2857.0,"endTime":2862.19,"body":"traveled again by night towards"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2862.22,"endTime":2865.49,"body":"Urfa, where the ever-weakening"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2862.22,"endTime":2865.49,"body":"Smith was forced to stay for a"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2865.49,"endTime":2869.63,"body":"day to recover his strength. On"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2865.49,"endTime":2869.63,"body":"the approach to Berecik Smith's"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2869.63,"endTime":2872.48,"body":"condition continued to decline."},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2869.63,"endTime":2872.48,"body":"He could not stay upright in the"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2872.48,"endTime":2876.11,"body":"saddle and again he arrived in a"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2872.48,"endTime":2876.11,"body":"state of exhaustion. After some"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2876.11,"endTime":2878.6,"body":"sleep and sustenance, Smith"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2876.11,"endTime":2878.6,"body":"declared himself better and"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2878.6,"endTime":2881.39,"body":"anxious to continue the journey"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2878.6,"endTime":2881.39,"body":"that night. They crossed the"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2881.39,"endTime":2884.24,"body":"Euphrates by raft and were on"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2881.39,"endTime":2884.24,"body":"the road for two hours before"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2884.24,"endTime":2888.23,"body":"Smith could go no further. Smith"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2884.24,"endTime":2888.23,"body":"managed two hours sleep before"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2888.23,"endTime":2891.29,"body":"waking with a headache, and"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2888.23,"endTime":2891.29,"body":"asked Mathewson for some brandy."},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2892.49,"endTime":2895.16,"body":"Mateev noted that this was the"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2892.49,"endTime":2895.16,"body":"first time Smith had complained"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2895.16,"endTime":2899.0,"body":"about a headache, and that Smith"},{"speaker":"outlining his progress","startTime":2895.16,"endTime":2899.0,"body":"was also shaking all over. To"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2899.0,"endTime":2902.0,"body":"\"A nervous"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2899.0,"endTime":2902.0,"body":"attack and a very bad one"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2902.03,"endTime":2904.79,"body":"accompanied with a headache. I"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2902.03,"endTime":2904.79,"body":"should have stopped the night at"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2904.82,"endTime":2905.3,"body":"Berecik.\""},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2906.62,"endTime":2909.23,"body":"After three hours rest they"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2906.62,"endTime":2909.23,"body":"departed again. But Smith was"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2909.23,"endTime":2912.29,"body":"soon forced to stop at the"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2909.23,"endTime":2912.29,"body":"village of Ikisji declaring that"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2912.29,"endTime":2915.89,"body":"he could go no further on"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2912.29,"endTime":2915.89,"body":"horseback. The following day,"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2915.89,"endTime":2918.59,"body":"Smith asked Mateev to ride ahead"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2915.89,"endTime":2918.59,"body":"to the British consul at Aleppo,"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2918.74,"endTime":2921.92,"body":"to request a tahtravan, which is"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2918.74,"endTime":2921.92,"body":"a type of mule-drawn sedan"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2921.92,"endTime":2925.16,"body":"chair, as well as a doctor,"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2921.92,"endTime":2925.16,"body":"since he felt unable to travel"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2925.16,"endTime":2929.57,"body":"without medication and medical"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2925.16,"endTime":2929.57,"body":"attention. Mateev, who was"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2929.57,"endTime":2932.24,"body":"actually also suffering from a"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2929.57,"endTime":2932.24,"body":"fever, rode fast through the"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2932.24,"endTime":2934.61,"body":"night and reached the consul at"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2932.24,"endTime":2934.61,"body":"Aleppo at 10am in the morning."},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2935.48,"endTime":2938.48,"body":"The British consul, Mr. Skene,"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2935.48,"endTime":2938.48,"body":"sent for a tahtravan, while"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2938.48,"endTime":2941.12,"body":"Mathewson went into the city to"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2938.48,"endTime":2941.12,"body":"acquire provisions and consult a"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2941.12,"endTime":2945.11,"body":"doctor. Unable to find a doctor"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2941.12,"endTime":2945.11,"body":"he procured the services of an"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2945.11,"endTime":2948.38,"body":"English dentist, John Parsons,"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2945.11,"endTime":2948.38,"body":"who was visiting Aleppo whilst"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2948.38,"endTime":2949.43,"body":"touring the Middle East."},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2950.33,"endTime":2953.3,"body":"Mathewson had been exhausted"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2950.33,"endTime":2953.3,"body":"from his journey and suffering"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2953.3,"endTime":2956.24,"body":"another bout of fever, traveled"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2953.3,"endTime":2956.24,"body":"back to Smith in the tahtravan,"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2956.48,"endTime":2959.9,"body":"accompanied by the dentist"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2956.48,"endTime":2959.9,"body":"Parsons, where they found Smith"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2959.9,"endTime":2962.99,"body":"somewhat recovered and in good"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2959.9,"endTime":2962.99,"body":"spirits. On the previous day,"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2962.99,"endTime":2965.75,"body":"however, Smith was so unwell"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2962.99,"endTime":2965.75,"body":"that he thought he was going to"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2965.75,"endTime":2969.2,"body":"die. In a letter sent home to"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2965.75,"endTime":2969.2,"body":"his wife, the dentist John"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2969.2,"endTime":2971.9,"body":"Parsons wrote the following"},{"speaker":"which Smith remarked","startTime":2969.2,"endTime":2971.9,"body":"account of his encounter with"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2971.9,"endTime":2976.79,"body":"\"Immediately I saw him I"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2971.9,"endTime":2976.79,"body":"had little hope. I could see"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2976.79,"endTime":2978.98,"body":"that he was completely"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2976.79,"endTime":2978.98,"body":"exhausted, and that his mind"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2978.98,"endTime":2982.58,"body":"somewhat lost itself at times."},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2978.98,"endTime":2982.58,"body":"He was lying in a miserable hut"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2982.58,"endTime":2985.97,"body":"stretched on a blanket, but he"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2982.58,"endTime":2985.97,"body":"was pleased much am I coming and"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2985.97,"endTime":2988.64,"body":"said it did him good to see my"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2985.97,"endTime":2988.64,"body":"face, although I had never met"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2988.64,"endTime":2989.54,"body":"him before.\""},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2990.86,"endTime":2993.74,"body":"So on the evening of the 13th of"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2990.86,"endTime":2993.74,"body":"August, the party departed,"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2993.77,"endTime":2996.92,"body":"Smith riding in the tatravan."},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2993.77,"endTime":2996.92,"body":"But after two hours, he could go"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2996.92,"endTime":3000.04,"body":"no further. He was so weak by"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":2996.92,"endTime":3000.04,"body":"this point that Mateev had to"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3000.04,"endTime":3002.14,"body":"carry him in and out of the"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3000.04,"endTime":3002.14,"body":"tahtravan and into the local"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3002.14,"endTime":3005.65,"body":"village. He could not sleep at"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3002.14,"endTime":3005.65,"body":"night, suffering from fever, a"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3005.65,"endTime":3008.32,"body":"bad headache, and the effects of"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3005.65,"endTime":3008.32,"body":"two laxatives he had taken"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3008.47,"endTime":3012.94,"body":"whilst Mateev was in Aleppo. The"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3008.47,"endTime":3012.94,"body":"next morning, he decided that he"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3012.94,"endTime":3015.37,"body":"could travel no further in the"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3012.94,"endTime":3015.37,"body":"tahtravan, and requested a"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3015.37,"endTime":3019.24,"body":"proper doctor. So while Mateev"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3015.37,"endTime":3019.24,"body":"went ahead to Aleppo, the"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3019.24,"endTime":3021.7,"body":"dentist John Parsons made some"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3019.24,"endTime":3021.7,"body":"meat and broth and cutlets for"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3021.7,"endTime":3024.07,"body":"Smith, which gave him the"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3021.7,"endTime":3024.07,"body":"strength to continue to the"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3024.07,"endTime":3025.21,"body":"village of Trabanli."},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3026.2,"endTime":3030.97,"body":"Parsons recounts the journey as"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3026.2,"endTime":3030.97,"body":"follows: \"So at 6pm, I put him"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3030.97,"endTime":3033.58,"body":"in the tatravan and got him on"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3030.97,"endTime":3033.58,"body":"to a village called Trabanli."},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3034.27,"endTime":3037.21,"body":"About midnight we arrived. He"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3034.27,"endTime":3037.21,"body":"was much exhausted, though, with"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3037.21,"endTime":3041.8,"body":"this, and I thought he would"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3037.21,"endTime":3041.8,"body":"have died. At the consulate in"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3041.8,"endTime":3045.13,"body":"Aleppo, Mr. Skene procured the"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3041.8,"endTime":3045.13,"body":"services of a doctor, and Mrs."},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3045.13,"endTime":3047.44,"body":"Skene offered to return with"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3045.13,"endTime":3047.44,"body":"Mateev to take care of the"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3047.44,"endTime":3051.31,"body":"ailing Smith. The party left"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3047.44,"endTime":3051.31,"body":"Aleppo on the 15th of August"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3051.31,"endTime":3054.22,"body":"traveling overnight. Mateev and"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3051.31,"endTime":3054.22,"body":"the doctor rode in advance of"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3054.22,"endTime":3056.8,"body":"the party and past through"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3054.22,"endTime":3056.8,"body":"Trabanli, where with some"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3056.8,"endTime":3059.8,"body":"fortune they discovered that"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3056.8,"endTime":3059.8,"body":"Smith and Parsons had arrived in"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3059.8,"endTime":3063.61,"body":"the village during the night."},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3059.8,"endTime":3063.61,"body":"The doctor examined Smith and"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3063.61,"endTime":3066.82,"body":"found him with a very bad fever"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3063.61,"endTime":3066.82,"body":"without strength and completely"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3066.82,"endTime":3067.57,"body":"exhausted."},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3069.07,"endTime":3071.74,"body":"Smith's concern over his"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3069.07,"endTime":3071.74,"body":"deteriorating health is in fact"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3071.74,"endTime":3074.53,"body":"captured in the final pages of"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3071.74,"endTime":3074.53,"body":"his notebook--his last written"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3074.53,"endTime":3077.77,"body":"words in effect--where he"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3074.53,"endTime":3077.77,"body":"accepts the possibility of his"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3077.77,"endTime":3080.89,"body":"death, his concern for his"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3077.77,"endTime":3080.89,"body":"family's future, reflects on his"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3080.89,"endTime":3085.15,"body":"legacy, as well as duty to the"},{"speaker":"Smith","startTime":3080.89,"endTime":3085.15,"body":"Museum. One passage reads as"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3085.15,"endTime":3089.5,"body":"\"Night 12th Not so"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3085.15,"endTime":3089.5,"body":"well. Purge brought low. If"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3089.5,"endTime":3092.68,"body":"doctor present I should recover,"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3089.5,"endTime":3092.68,"body":"but he has not come. Very"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3092.68,"endTime":3096.1,"body":"doubtful. Case of fatal farewell"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3092.68,"endTime":3096.1,"body":"to my dear Mary and all the"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3096.1,"endTime":3099.25,"body":"little ones. My work has been"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3096.1,"endTime":3099.25,"body":"entirely for the science I"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3099.25,"endTime":3103.51,"body":"study. I hope the friends"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3099.25,"endTime":3103.51,"body":"protect my family. I do not fear"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3103.51,"endTime":3106.75,"body":"the change, but desire to live"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3103.51,"endTime":3106.75,"body":"for my family. Perhaps all will"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3106.75,"endTime":3107.98,"body":"be well yet.\""},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3109.12,"endTime":3112.03,"body":"Mrs. Skene then arrived and"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3109.12,"endTime":3112.03,"body":"watched over Smith and made him"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3112.03,"endTime":3115.9,"body":"as comfortable as she could. The"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3112.03,"endTime":3115.9,"body":"party left Trabanli with Smith"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3115.9,"endTime":3118.6,"body":"in the tahtravan, stopping for"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3115.9,"endTime":3118.6,"body":"the night at a village nine"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3118.6,"endTime":3122.8,"body":"miles out from Aleppo. At this"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3118.6,"endTime":3122.8,"body":"point, Smith could not stand"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3122.8,"endTime":3126.46,"body":"without assistance and was often"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3122.8,"endTime":3126.46,"body":"carried by Mateev, who noted"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3126.46,"endTime":3129.91,"body":"that Smith began to prove"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3126.46,"endTime":3129.91,"body":"insensible to suffering, and his"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3129.91,"endTime":3134.02,"body":"mind began to wander. Smith"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3129.91,"endTime":3134.02,"body":"could not sleep properly that"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3134.02,"endTime":3136.78,"body":"night due to his worsening"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3134.02,"endTime":3136.78,"body":"fever, yet the party pushed on"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3136.78,"endTime":3139.39,"body":"to Aleppo at daybreak and"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3136.78,"endTime":3139.39,"body":"arrived at the consulate on the"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3139.39,"endTime":3142.42,"body":"morning of the 18th, where he"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3139.39,"endTime":3142.42,"body":"was immediately put to bed."},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3143.89,"endTime":3146.5,"body":"In a letter to the Principal"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3143.89,"endTime":3146.5,"body":"Librarian at the British Museum,"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3146.68,"endTime":3150.55,"body":"Mateev describes Smith's"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3146.68,"endTime":3150.55,"body":"condition in Aleppo: \"All day,"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3150.55,"endTime":3153.4,"body":"his mind wandered talked of"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3150.55,"endTime":3153.4,"body":"Carchemish and the Hittites and"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3153.4,"endTime":3157.54,"body":"other places he had visited, but"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3153.4,"endTime":3157.54,"body":"in a disjointed manner, spoke of"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3157.54,"endTime":3160.03,"body":"his papers in England and"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3157.54,"endTime":3160.03,"body":"several times persisted in"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3160.03,"endTime":3163.84,"body":"saying that his family was"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3160.03,"endTime":3163.84,"body":"downstairs.\" On the 19th of"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3163.84,"endTime":3166.66,"body":"August, the doctor gave Smith a"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3163.84,"endTime":3166.66,"body":"sleeping medication, probably"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3166.66,"endTime":3170.92,"body":"chlorohydrate or bromides. Smith"},{"speaker":"follows","startTime":3166.66,"endTime":3170.92,"body":"was given half the medication at"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3170.92,"endTime":3174.4,"body":"30am. At 11 he fell asleep"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3170.92,"endTime":3174.4,"body":"and according to Mateev's"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3174.4,"endTime":3178.03,"body":"account, never awoke to"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3174.4,"endTime":3178.03,"body":"conscious again, four or six"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3178.03,"endTime":3181.78,"body":"times opened his eyes, but never"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3178.03,"endTime":3181.78,"body":"moved or gave away other signs."},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3183.67,"endTime":3186.79,"body":"At 4pm Mateev notice that his"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3183.67,"endTime":3186.79,"body":"jaw began to fall and went"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3186.79,"endTime":3189.79,"body":"downstairs to fetch Mr. Skene,"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3186.79,"endTime":3189.79,"body":"who informed the distraught"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3189.82,"endTime":3191.14,"body":"Mateev that Smith was dying."},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3191.84,"endTime":3194.99,"body":"Smith's passing is described in"},{"speaker":"10","startTime":3191.84,"endTime":3194.99,"body":"a letter from Mateev to the"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3195.02,"endTime":3199.76,"body":"\"He breathed his"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3195.02,"endTime":3199.76,"body":"last exactly at six o'clock pm"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3199.79,"endTime":3203.69,"body":"on the 19th of August. He was"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3199.79,"endTime":3203.69,"body":"unconscious to the last and but"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3203.69,"endTime":3206.48,"body":"for the hard and quick breathing"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3203.69,"endTime":3206.48,"body":"during his last hour, there was"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3206.48,"endTime":3210.77,"body":"not the least sign of suffering."},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3206.48,"endTime":3210.77,"body":"The last movement he made was"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3210.77,"endTime":3214.79,"body":"when he was helped to take a"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3210.77,"endTime":3214.79,"body":"sleeping draft at 10:30am. After"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3214.79,"endTime":3217.25,"body":"he breathed his last, his"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3214.79,"endTime":3217.25,"body":"features remained calm and"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3217.25,"endTime":3221.06,"body":"composed, no pain depicted on"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3217.25,"endTime":3221.06,"body":"them, but emaciated to the last"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3221.06,"endTime":3225.95,"body":"degree. That night Smith's body"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3221.06,"endTime":3225.95,"body":"was prepared for burial and at"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3225.95,"endTime":3230.78,"body":"4pm the following day, Sunday,"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3225.95,"endTime":3230.78,"body":"the 20th of August 1876, Smith"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3230.78,"endTime":3233.36,"body":"was buried in the Protestant"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3230.78,"endTime":3233.36,"body":"cemetery with Mr. Skene"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3233.36,"endTime":3235.1,"body":"presiding over the service.\""},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3236.74,"endTime":3239.86,"body":"So news of Smith's death in"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3236.74,"endTime":3239.86,"body":"Aleppo reach ed the Museum by a"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3239.86,"endTime":3243.73,"body":"letter sent from Peter Mateev"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3239.86,"endTime":3243.73,"body":"and from the British Consul in"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3243.73,"endTime":3246.82,"body":"Aleppo, Mr. Skene. So Peter"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3243.73,"endTime":3246.82,"body":"Mateev wrote to the Principal"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3246.82,"endTime":3250.54,"body":"Librarian at the British Museum"},{"speaker":"British Museum","startTime":3246.82,"endTime":3250.54,"body":"on the 26th of August in 1876,"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3250.81,"endTime":3255.91,"body":"\"Sir, should"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3250.81,"endTime":3255.91,"body":"you still be ignorant of the sad"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3255.91,"endTime":3260.02,"body":"event, I write to you the"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3255.91,"endTime":3260.02,"body":"decease of Mr. George Smith of"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3260.02,"endTime":3264.22,"body":"the British Museum. Mr. George"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3260.02,"endTime":3264.22,"body":"Smith breathed his last at six"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3264.22,"endTime":3267.13,"body":"o'clock a.m. on the 18th instant"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3264.22,"endTime":3267.13,"body":"in the British Consulate in"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3267.13,"endTime":3270.73,"body":"Aleppo in the presence of the"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3267.13,"endTime":3270.73,"body":"English consul, Mr. Skene, and"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3270.73,"endTime":3274.72,"body":"that of the doctor. I would have"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3270.73,"endTime":3274.72,"body":"immediately telegraphed the sad"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3274.72,"endTime":3278.17,"body":"intelligence but for Mr. Skene's"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3274.72,"endTime":3278.17,"body":"advice, which was that I should"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3278.17,"endTime":3282.64,"body":"send it to you by post with all"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3278.17,"endTime":3282.64,"body":"particulars. This now I do. My"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3282.64,"endTime":3285.52,"body":"first intention was to come"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3282.64,"endTime":3285.52,"body":"myself to England and give you a"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3285.52,"endTime":3290.26,"body":"verbal report. This also the"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3285.52,"endTime":3290.26,"body":"consul's advice overruled. He"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3290.26,"endTime":3292.51,"body":"said that I should only have to"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3290.26,"endTime":3292.51,"body":"pay my passage back to"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3292.51,"endTime":3295.75,"body":"Constantinople. And I should"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3292.51,"endTime":3295.75,"body":"very well send you my report in"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3295.75,"endTime":3297.37,"body":"writing, which I now do."},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3298.71,"endTime":3301.8,"body":"On the 27th of August, the"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3298.71,"endTime":3301.8,"body":"British consul in Aleppo Mr."},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3301.8,"endTime":3304.83,"body":"Skene wrote the following to"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3301.8,"endTime":3304.83,"body":"Samuel Birch, the keeper of the"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3304.83,"endTime":3309.18,"body":"Department of Egyptian and"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3304.83,"endTime":3309.18,"body":"Assyrian Antiquities: \"My dear"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3309.18,"endTime":3312.36,"body":"Sir, I have just received your"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3309.18,"endTime":3312.36,"body":"note of the 10th inquiring about"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3312.36,"endTime":3316.5,"body":"poor Mr. Smith. Before this"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3312.36,"endTime":3316.5,"body":"reaches you will have heard of"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3316.5,"endTime":3319.83,"body":"his sad fate from Mr. Winter"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3316.5,"endTime":3319.83,"body":"Jones, to whom I wrote to last"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3319.83,"endTime":3322.95,"body":"mail. But also from the"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3319.83,"endTime":3322.95,"body":"Secretary of State for Foreign"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3322.95,"endTime":3325.92,"body":"Affairs, to whom I reported"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3322.95,"endTime":3325.92,"body":"officially for the information"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3325.92,"endTime":3329.91,"body":"of the Trustees of the British"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3325.92,"endTime":3329.91,"body":"Museum. I never saw live"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3329.91,"endTime":3333.45,"body":"sacrificed more unmistakably. If"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3329.91,"endTime":3333.45,"body":"he had traveled like other"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3333.45,"endTime":3336.69,"body":"people, Mr. Smith would have"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3333.45,"endTime":3336.69,"body":"lived to render good service to"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3336.69,"endTime":3340.2,"body":"science, I feel sure. But it"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3336.69,"endTime":3340.2,"body":"would have required a stronger"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3340.2,"endTime":3343.26,"body":"constitution than his to bear"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3340.2,"endTime":3343.26,"body":"the fatigue and deprivation he"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3343.26,"endTime":3348.12,"body":"endured. He would hurry on all"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3343.26,"endTime":3348.12,"body":"day without food then throw"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3348.12,"endTime":3351.0,"body":"himself on the earthen floor of"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3348.12,"endTime":3351.0,"body":"a hut and when begged to take"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3351.0,"endTime":3354.63,"body":"his supper undress and go to"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3351.0,"endTime":3354.63,"body":"bed, he was too tired to move."},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3355.26,"endTime":3358.17,"body":"In the morning he would ask for"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3355.26,"endTime":3358.17,"body":"a piece of bread and mount up to"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3358.17,"endTime":3360.48,"body":"go through the same ordeal,"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3358.17,"endTime":3360.48,"body":"until he found himself unable to"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3360.48,"endTime":3363.78,"body":"get up at a village 60 miles"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3360.48,"endTime":3363.78,"body":"from Aleppo. I did all I could"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3363.78,"endTime":3367.5,"body":"for him, but he was too far gone"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3363.78,"endTime":3367.5,"body":"to recover. Believe me, dear"},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3367.5,"endTime":3370.17,"body":"Sir, yours faithfully, A.H."},{"speaker":"with the following","startTime":3367.5,"endTime":3370.17,"body":"Skene.\""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3371.04,"endTime":3373.74,"body":"What did Mathewson"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3371.04,"endTime":3373.74,"body":"do after Smith's death?"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":3373.0,"endTime":3377.71,"body":"He returned"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":3373.0,"endTime":3377.71,"body":"to Constantinople. And as I told"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":3377.71,"endTime":3383.17,"body":"you, in those days, the Ottoman"},{"speaker":"Strahil Panayotov","startTime":3377.71,"endTime":3383.17,"body":"Empire was in chaos. So he lost"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3382.33,"endTime":3446.38,"body":"What was the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3382.33,"endTime":3446.38,"body":"Museum's reaction to Smith's"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3383.2,"endTime":3388.06,"body":"his work at the British Post,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3383.2,"endTime":3388.06,"body":"but found another work. And"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3388.09,"endTime":3393.31,"body":"several years afterwards was the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3388.09,"endTime":3393.31,"body":"liberation of Bulgaria from the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3393.31,"endTime":3398.86,"body":"Ottoman Empire. Mateev was very"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3393.31,"endTime":3398.86,"body":"well educated and knew a lot of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3398.86,"endTime":3402.34,"body":"people from Constantinople. And"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3398.86,"endTime":3402.34,"body":"it turned out that he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3402.34,"endTime":3407.32,"body":"established the Bulgarian post"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3402.34,"endTime":3407.32,"body":"after the liberation. He also"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3407.32,"endTime":3412.63,"body":"served as chief administrator of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3407.32,"endTime":3412.63,"body":"a province in Bulgaria. In the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3412.63,"endTime":3419.5,"body":"years after the liberation, he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3412.63,"endTime":3419.5,"body":"was also trade agent in Edirne,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3419.62,"endTime":3425.92,"body":"in Odrin, but also a diplomat in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3419.62,"endTime":3425.92,"body":"Atin and so on. He was also the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3425.92,"endTime":3429.67,"body":"chief commissar of the first"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3425.92,"endTime":3429.67,"body":"international Bulgarian"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3429.67,"endTime":3433.45,"body":"exposition in St. Louis in the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3429.67,"endTime":3433.45,"body":"United States. So he was a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3433.45,"endTime":3438.1,"body":"diplomat. He was a director of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3433.45,"endTime":3438.1,"body":"the post and so on. Played a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3438.13,"endTime":3441.28,"body":"considerable role in the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3438.13,"endTime":3441.28,"body":"formative years of the Bulgarian"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3441.28,"endTime":3443.05,"body":"society after the liberation."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3446.38,"endTime":3446.83,"body":"death?"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3447.76,"endTime":3449.98,"body":"In terms of the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3447.76,"endTime":3449.98,"body":"Museum's reaction, it's quite"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3449.98,"endTime":3453.49,"body":"difficult to understand it from"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3449.98,"endTime":3453.49,"body":"the available correspondence."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3453.97,"endTime":3456.04,"body":"Beyond the fact that it was"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3453.97,"endTime":3456.04,"body":"recorded somewhat matter of"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3456.04,"endTime":3459.34,"body":"factly in the Trustee minutes."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3456.04,"endTime":3459.34,"body":"It would seem that the Museum"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3459.91,"endTime":3463.0,"body":"and any following correspondence"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3459.91,"endTime":3463.0,"body":"is more concerned with the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3463.0,"endTime":3466.87,"body":"administration of Smith's"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3463.0,"endTime":3466.87,"body":"personal effects and its"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3466.87,"endTime":3468.58,"body":"transfer from Aleppo to London."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3470.11,"endTime":3473.14,"body":"Smith was still a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3470.11,"endTime":3473.14,"body":"young man when he died, and he"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3473.14,"endTime":3475.84,"body":"left behind a family. What"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3473.14,"endTime":3475.84,"body":"happened to them?"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3476.83,"endTime":3479.5,"body":"Yes, George"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3476.83,"endTime":3479.5,"body":"Smith was only 36 when he died,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3479.86,"endTime":3484.99,"body":"although his wife Mary was"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3479.86,"endTime":3484.99,"body":"either 41 or 42 at the time. He"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3484.99,"endTime":3487.78,"body":"Charles, Frederick, Elizabeth,"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3487.78,"endTime":3490.42,"body":"George, Arthur, and Ethel. And"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3487.78,"endTime":3490.42,"body":"the eldest, Charles, was"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3490.42,"endTime":3494.68,"body":"probably 12 at the time of"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3490.42,"endTime":3494.68,"body":"Smith's death. Following Smith's"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3494.71,"endTime":3498.31,"body":"passing, Louise Parson, the wife"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3494.71,"endTime":3498.31,"body":"of John Parson, the dentist who"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3498.31,"endTime":3500.71,"body":"attended Smith in his final"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3498.31,"endTime":3500.71,"body":"days, actually wrote a letter to"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3500.71,"endTime":3505.54,"body":"Mary Smith, which begins as"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3500.71,"endTime":3505.54,"body":"follows: \"Although a perfect"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3505.54,"endTime":3509.56,"body":"stranger to you, I cannot help"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3505.54,"endTime":3509.56,"body":"feeling deeply interested in you"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3509.65,"endTime":3512.83,"body":"and your dear little ones, in as"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3509.65,"endTime":3512.83,"body":"much as I am the wife of Mr."},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3512.83,"endTime":3516.07,"body":"John Parson, who tended your"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3512.83,"endTime":3516.07,"body":"dear departed husband in his"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3516.07,"endTime":3519.76,"body":"dying illness. I know not"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3516.07,"endTime":3519.76,"body":"whether the letter inserted in"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3519.76,"endTime":3523.3,"body":"the Times September 9, written"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3519.76,"endTime":3523.3,"body":"by my husband has been seen or"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3523.3,"endTime":3527.05,"body":"read by you. In case it is not,"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3523.3,"endTime":3527.05,"body":"I feel sure closer details of"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3527.05,"endTime":3530.68,"body":"his illness would be valued by"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3527.05,"endTime":3530.68,"body":"you, and therefore I have not"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3530.68,"endTime":3534.46,"body":"hesitated to address you. And I"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3530.68,"endTime":3534.46,"body":"sincerely trust in doing so I"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3534.46,"endTime":3538.54,"body":"shall not intrude on your deep"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3534.46,"endTime":3538.54,"body":"grief and distress, but rather"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3538.54,"endTime":3541.3,"body":"alleviate by the way of"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3538.54,"endTime":3541.3,"body":"knowledge and assurance that"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3541.3,"endTime":3545.02,"body":"your dear husband was cared for"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3541.3,"endTime":3545.02,"body":"so soon as his illness was made"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3545.02,"endTime":3546.28,"body":"known in Aleppo.\""},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3547.72,"endTime":3550.51,"body":"Following George Smith's death"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3547.72,"endTime":3550.51,"body":"we know from the census records"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3550.51,"endTime":3553.33,"body":"that Mary Smith and her children"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3550.51,"endTime":3553.33,"body":"survived on a civil list"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3553.36,"endTime":3557.11,"body":"pension, which was granted by"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3553.36,"endTime":3557.11,"body":"the government following Smith's"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3557.14,"endTime":3561.04,"body":"passing. However, Mary Smith"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3557.14,"endTime":3561.04,"body":"also negotiated the sale of"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3561.04,"endTime":3565.39,"body":"Smith's personal notebooks to"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3561.04,"endTime":3565.39,"body":"the Museum. So around eight of"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3565.39,"endTime":3567.88,"body":"Smith's notebooks were sent from"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3565.39,"endTime":3567.88,"body":"Aleppo to the Museum, two of"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3567.88,"endTime":3570.28,"body":"which were private notebooks and"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3567.88,"endTime":3570.28,"body":"returned immediately to Mary"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3570.28,"endTime":3574.3,"body":"Smith, along with Smith's other"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3570.28,"endTime":3574.3,"body":"personal possessions. Despite"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3574.3,"endTime":3577.66,"body":"this, Mary Smith wrote to Birch"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3574.3,"endTime":3577.66,"body":"with her concerns about the"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3577.66,"endTime":3581.08,"body":"arrangement and made a formal"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3577.66,"endTime":3581.08,"body":"request that \"nothing of my"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3581.08,"endTime":3583.81,"body":"husband's papers or notes be"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3581.08,"endTime":3583.81,"body":"made public until I have had the"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3583.81,"endTime":3586.72,"body":"opportunity of agreeing upon"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3583.81,"endTime":3586.72,"body":"what is the property of his"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3586.72,"endTime":3591.58,"body":"family and what the Museum. Then"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3586.72,"endTime":3591.58,"body":"according to the Trustee minutes"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3591.61,"endTime":3596.47,"body":"of 1887, Mary Smith then offered"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3591.61,"endTime":3596.47,"body":"to sell the Museum 22 notebooks"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3596.47,"endTime":3599.95,"body":"that George Smith had kept at"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3596.47,"endTime":3599.95,"body":"home. The Trustees offered to"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3599.95,"endTime":3602.65,"body":"purchase the notebooks for 60"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3599.95,"endTime":3602.65,"body":"pounds, a sum which Mary Smith"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3602.65,"endTime":3606.52,"body":"thought to be too low and the"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3602.65,"endTime":3606.52,"body":"offer was refused. However, in"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3606.52,"endTime":3610.21,"body":"July 1877, Mary Smith finally"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3606.52,"endTime":3610.21,"body":"negotiated the sale of 29"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3610.21,"endTime":3613.15,"body":"notebooks for the sum of 150"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3610.21,"endTime":3613.15,"body":"guineas."},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3614.29,"endTime":3617.89,"body":"In the census records for 1881"},{"speaker":"did leave behind six children","startTime":3614.29,"endTime":3617.89,"body":"only four of the Smith children"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3617.89,"endTime":3622.51,"body":"Charles, Elizabeth,"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3617.89,"endTime":3622.51,"body":"Ethel, and Arthur. Frederick and"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3622.51,"endTime":3626.68,"body":"George presumably died at some"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3622.51,"endTime":3626.68,"body":"point between 1871 and the 1881"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3626.71,"endTime":3631.15,"body":"census. Charles, the eldest son"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3626.71,"endTime":3631.15,"body":"at 17, was employed as a"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3631.15,"endTime":3635.23,"body":"dockyard clerk. Arthur"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3631.15,"endTime":3635.23,"body":"eventually became a compositor,"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3635.41,"endTime":3638.05,"body":"a profession somewhat similar to"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3635.41,"endTime":3638.05,"body":"that undertaken by the young"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3638.08,"endTime":3643.39,"body":"George Smith. Mary Smith died in"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3638.08,"endTime":3643.39,"body":"1883, at the age of 48, only"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3643.39,"endTime":3646.33,"body":"seven years after her husband"},{"speaker":"are listed","startTime":3643.39,"endTime":3646.33,"body":"George passed away."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3647.83,"endTime":3650.68,"body":"I can add a small"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3647.83,"endTime":3650.68,"body":"update here about George's son,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3650.8,"endTime":3655.24,"body":"Arthur. He turns up in Chicago,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3650.8,"endTime":3655.24,"body":"where he was working for the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3655.24,"endTime":3657.79,"body":"South Chicago Trades and Labor"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3655.24,"endTime":3657.79,"body":"Assembly."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3659.2,"endTime":3662.23,"body":"What happened to his belongings"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3659.2,"endTime":3662.23,"body":"and the objects collected by"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3662.23,"endTime":3662.56,"body":"him?"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3663.13,"endTime":3665.47,"body":"So following"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3663.13,"endTime":3665.47,"body":"Smith's tragic death in Aleppo,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3665.53,"endTime":3668.02,"body":"the Museum arranged his personal"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3665.53,"endTime":3668.02,"body":"belongings, papers and any"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3668.02,"endTime":3671.56,"body":"objects he carried to be"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3668.02,"endTime":3671.56,"body":"transferred to London. We know"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3671.56,"endTime":3674.14,"body":"that three cases of tablets that"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3671.56,"endTime":3674.14,"body":"he acquired in Baghdad were sent"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3674.14,"endTime":3678.07,"body":"directly by Smith to the Museum"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3674.14,"endTime":3678.07,"body":"from Basra. Whereas Smith's"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3678.07,"endTime":3680.68,"body":"papers, personal effects,"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3678.07,"endTime":3680.68,"body":"miscellaneous antiquities were"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3680.68,"endTime":3683.74,"body":"sent in five packages from"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3680.68,"endTime":3683.74,"body":"Aleppo to London by the British"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3683.74,"endTime":3686.53,"body":"Consul in Aleppo. It was"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3683.74,"endTime":3686.53,"body":"received by the British Museum"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3686.56,"endTime":3688.51,"body":"in November 1876."},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3689.41,"endTime":3691.57,"body":"The transfer of Smith's"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3689.41,"endTime":3691.57,"body":"belongings to the British Museum"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3691.63,"endTime":3693.79,"body":"are also recording in a series"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3691.63,"endTime":3693.79,"body":"of reports to the Principal"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3693.79,"endTime":3696.94,"body":"Librarian and to the Trustees"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3693.79,"endTime":3696.94,"body":"made by William Boscawen and"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3696.94,"endTime":3700.75,"body":"Samuel Birch. Notably a report"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3696.94,"endTime":3700.75,"body":"by Boscawen describes the"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3700.75,"endTime":3703.33,"body":"collection of objects carried by"},{"speaker":"Gareth Brereton","startTime":3700.75,"endTime":3703.33,"body":"Smith on his fateful journey to"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3703.33,"endTime":3707.11,"body":"\"There are also among"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3703.33,"endTime":3707.11,"body":"the objects of the collection"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3707.11,"endTime":3709.63,"body":"some tablets and inscribed"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3707.11,"endTime":3709.63,"body":"bricks bearing inscriptions of"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3709.63,"endTime":3712.93,"body":"early Babylonian kings, and two"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3709.63,"endTime":3712.93,"body":"curious bronze statues of"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3712.93,"endTime":3716.68,"body":"divinities bearing inscribed"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3712.93,"endTime":3716.68,"body":"cones. These last are of great"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3716.68,"endTime":3719.47,"body":"importance as with the exception"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3716.68,"endTime":3719.47,"body":"of a statue now in the Louvre,"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3720.07,"endTime":3723.07,"body":"they are the only remains of"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3720.07,"endTime":3723.07,"body":"early Babylonian bronze statuary"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3723.1,"endTime":3724.15,"body":"in existence.\""},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3725.26,"endTime":3728.53,"body":"The report made by Samuel Birch"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3725.26,"endTime":3728.53,"body":"also lists Smith's possessions"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3728.74,"endTime":3732.16,"body":"which included, \"the hand of a"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3728.74,"endTime":3732.16,"body":"statue of a stone and two"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3732.16,"endTime":3735.67,"body":"Babylonian bronze figures.\""},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3732.16,"endTime":3735.67,"body":"These objects can now be"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3735.67,"endTime":3738.49,"body":"correlated with two foundation"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3735.67,"endTime":3738.49,"body":"figurines of Gudea from Tello"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3738.52,"endTime":3740.65,"body":"that are now in the British"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3738.52,"endTime":3740.65,"body":"Museum collections, and the"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3740.65,"endTime":3743.26,"body":"hands of a colossal stone statue"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3740.65,"endTime":3743.26,"body":"of Gudea that was later"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3743.26,"endTime":3747.52,"body":"deaccessioned and transferred to"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3743.26,"endTime":3747.52,"body":"the Louvre. As for the"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3747.52,"endTime":3750.43,"body":"notebooks, the Museum purchased"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3747.52,"endTime":3750.43,"body":"29 notebooks from Mary Smith,"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3750.88,"endTime":3753.34,"body":"including the eight that Smith"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3750.88,"endTime":3753.34,"body":"carried with him on his fateful"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3753.34,"endTime":3756.79,"body":"mission of 1876. They are now"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3753.34,"endTime":3756.79,"body":"held in the British Library."},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3758.08,"endTime":3761.17,"body":"Smith's letter of instruction"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3758.08,"endTime":3761.17,"body":"from the Museum, official travel"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3761.17,"endTime":3763.81,"body":"documents and permits and"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3761.17,"endTime":3763.81,"body":"letters to his wife and children"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3764.14,"endTime":3766.27,"body":"are all held in the Middle East"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3764.14,"endTime":3766.27,"body":"department archive at the"},{"speaker":"Aleppo","startTime":3766.27,"endTime":3766.99,"body":"British Museum."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3768.1,"endTime":3770.23,"body":"It was perhaps"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3768.1,"endTime":3770.23,"body":"inevitable that Smith would"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3770.23,"endTime":3774.31,"body":"continue to exert a presence"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":3770.23,"endTime":3774.31,"body":"even after his death. Budge"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3774.34,"endTime":3778.84,"body":"\"all the"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3774.34,"endTime":3778.84,"body":"students (i.e. scholars), who"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3778.84,"endTime":3783.55,"body":"came to copy (that is, study) in"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3778.84,"endTime":3783.55,"body":"the museum in the '80s and '90s,"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3783.88,"endTime":3786.94,"body":"were convinced that the"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3783.88,"endTime":3786.94,"body":"collections of tablets contained"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3786.94,"endTime":3790.45,"body":"a number of important texts"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3786.94,"endTime":3790.45,"body":"belonging to the Gilgamesh"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3790.45,"endTime":3795.13,"body":"legend. And they employed much"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3790.45,"endTime":3795.13,"body":"guile and flattery in trying to"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3795.13,"endTime":3798.19,"body":"persuade the officials to let"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3795.13,"endTime":3798.19,"body":"them have these hypothetical"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3798.19,"endTime":3802.57,"body":"documents to copy. When asked"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3798.19,"endTime":3802.57,"body":"if, supposing the collections"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3802.57,"endTime":3806.65,"body":"contained such texts, they would"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3802.57,"endTime":3806.65,"body":"be kept locked up in cupboards"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3806.83,"endTime":3811.12,"body":"and not published by the museum,"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3806.83,"endTime":3811.12,"body":"each would answer almost in the"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3811.12,"endTime":3814.93,"body":"same words, 'yes, because you"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3811.12,"endTime":3814.93,"body":"have no-one here who can read"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3814.93,"endTime":3819.52,"body":"them, for George Smith is"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3814.93,"endTime":3819.52,"body":"dead'\". Nothing would persuade"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3819.52,"endTime":3823.15,"body":"them that such tablets did not"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3819.52,"endTime":3823.15,"body":"exist, and some of them spent"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3823.15,"endTime":3826.99,"body":"much time in peering through the"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3823.15,"endTime":3826.99,"body":"glass doors of the presses to"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3826.99,"endTime":3828.58,"body":"try and read the tablets in"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3826.99,"endTime":3828.58,"body":"them."},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3830.23,"endTime":3834.31,"body":"In another anecdote, Smith is"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3830.23,"endTime":3834.31,"body":"not just a metaphorical ghost,"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3834.55,"endTime":3838.6,"body":"but a real one. This story"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3834.55,"endTime":3838.6,"body":"involves the eminent German"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3838.63,"endTime":3842.65,"body":"assyriologist, Friedrich"},{"speaker":"tells the story that","startTime":3838.63,"endTime":3842.65,"body":"Delitzsch, who at this time had"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3842.65,"endTime":3847.75,"body":"\"On"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3842.65,"endTime":3847.75,"body":"another occasion, Dr. Delitzsch"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3847.78,"endTime":3852.22,"body":"afforded his great amusement."},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3847.78,"endTime":3852.22,"body":"One morning, soon after the"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3852.22,"endTime":3855.64,"body":"lamented death of Smith, a"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3852.22,"endTime":3855.64,"body":"gentleman from the Principal"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3855.64,"endTime":3859.57,"body":"Librarian's office came in to"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3855.64,"endTime":3859.57,"body":"discuss with Birch the choice of"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3859.57,"endTime":3863.56,"body":"a successor and all present in"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3859.57,"endTime":3863.56,"body":"the room could hear their"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3863.56,"endTime":3868.51,"body":"conversation. In the afternoon,"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3863.56,"endTime":3868.51,"body":"when Dr. Delitzsch returned from"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3868.51,"endTime":3872.47,"body":"his lunch, he walked over to"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3868.51,"endTime":3872.47,"body":"BIrch, who was standing by the"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3872.47,"endTime":3876.31,"body":"fire, and told him that in"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3872.47,"endTime":3876.31,"body":"passing through Russell Square"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3876.79,"endTime":3880.39,"body":"[the green space adjacent to the"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3876.79,"endTime":3880.39,"body":"museum], he had seen the ghost"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3880.39,"endTime":3884.35,"body":"of George Smith, and that it"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3880.39,"endTime":3884.35,"body":"told him he was to succeed him"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3884.35,"endTime":3887.77,"body":"in the British Museum. Whether"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3884.35,"endTime":3887.77,"body":"Birch did not believe in the"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3887.77,"endTime":3892.21,"body":"wisdom of Smith's ghost or in"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3887.77,"endTime":3892.21,"body":"the story is not clear. But he"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3892.21,"endTime":3895.81,"body":"did not recommend the Trustees"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3892.21,"endTime":3895.81,"body":"to make his assistant, a young"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3895.81,"endTime":3899.74,"body":"man who had never edited a"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3895.81,"endTime":3899.74,"body":"single text of his own copying"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3899.92,"endTime":3901.15,"body":"in all his life!\""},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3902.62,"endTime":3906.01,"body":"These stories are probably more"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3902.62,"endTime":3906.01,"body":"about Budge poking fun at his"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3906.01,"endTime":3911.41,"body":"rivals than about Smith. We can"},{"speaker":"recently earned his PhD","startTime":3906.01,"endTime":3911.41,"body":"see that in an anecdote about"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3911.41,"endTime":3916.93,"body":"\"Once, when discussing Smith's"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3916.93,"endTime":3922.3,"body":"work with Birch, he said, 'Smith"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3916.93,"endTime":3922.3,"body":"is a great excavator,' and then"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3922.3,"endTime":3926.05,"body":"with scathing emphasis added,"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3922.3,"endTime":3926.05,"body":"'and he writes like one!'\""},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3927.4,"endTime":3931.42,"body":"That was not an opinion Budge"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3927.4,"endTime":3931.42,"body":"himself shared. He did criticise"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3931.42,"endTime":3935.38,"body":"Smith's curatorial work"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3931.42,"endTime":3935.38,"body":"severely: \"He took no part in"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3935.38,"endTime":3938.41,"body":"the routine work of the"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3935.38,"endTime":3938.41,"body":"department. He had not even"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3938.41,"endTime":3941.53,"body":"attempted to make available for"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3938.41,"endTime":3941.53,"body":"examination and study by the"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3941.53,"endTime":3945.73,"body":"public the bricks, tablets, etc,"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3941.53,"endTime":3945.73,"body":"from which he had derived his"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3945.73,"endTime":3949.54,"body":"information about Assyria. And I"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3945.73,"endTime":3949.54,"body":"never heard of his writing"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3949.54,"endTime":3952.96,"body":"labels for the objects exhibited"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3949.54,"endTime":3952.96,"body":"in the cases. ... He could"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3952.96,"endTime":3956.95,"body":"easily find almost any tablet"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3952.96,"endTime":3956.95,"body":"that was asked for, because he"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3956.95,"endTime":3959.74,"body":"carried the arrangement of the"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3956.95,"endTime":3959.74,"body":"collections, such that there"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3959.74,"endTime":3965.08,"body":"was, in his mind, but at that"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3959.74,"endTime":3965.08,"body":"time, no-one else could. His"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3965.08,"endTime":3968.47,"body":"want of system in dealing with"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3965.08,"endTime":3968.47,"body":"the mass of cuneiform material"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3968.47,"endTime":3972.61,"body":"under his charge, seriously"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3968.47,"endTime":3972.61,"body":"delayed the progress of"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3972.61,"endTime":3973.48,"body":"assyriology.\""},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3974.71,"endTime":3977.92,"body":"But his opinion of Smith's"},{"speaker":"Smith's old rival, Jules Oppert","startTime":3974.71,"endTime":3977.92,"body":"cuneiform skills was very"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3977.92,"endTime":3982.21,"body":"\"Smith was the"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3977.92,"endTime":3982.21,"body":"greatest copyist and the"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3982.21,"endTime":3986.53,"body":"readiest decipher of cuneiform"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3982.21,"endTime":3986.53,"body":"that the Trustees ever had in"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3986.53,"endTime":3990.79,"body":"their service. And the instinct"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3986.53,"endTime":3990.79,"body":"which enabled him to divine the"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3990.79,"endTime":3995.26,"body":"meaning of unknown words, and"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3990.79,"endTime":3995.26,"body":"obscure passages was almost"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3995.26,"endTime":3995.92,"body":"uncanny.\""},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3997.15,"endTime":4000.15,"body":"Gareth mentioned that Smith's"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":3997.15,"endTime":4000.15,"body":"notebooks were bought by the"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":4000.15,"endTime":4004.38,"body":"British Museum. They're now in"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":4000.15,"endTime":4004.38,"body":"the British Library. You've been"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":4004.38,"endTime":4007.32,"body":"working with them. Could you"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":4004.38,"endTime":4007.32,"body":"tell us more about Smith's"},{"speaker":"different","startTime":4007.32,"endTime":4008.85,"body":"notebooks, please, Enrique?"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4009.54,"endTime":4012.51,"body":"So there is a"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4009.54,"endTime":4012.51,"body":"total of 31 notebooks in the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4012.51,"endTime":4015.9,"body":"British Library, and they are"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4012.51,"endTime":4015.9,"body":"very miscellaneous. Some of them"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4015.9,"endTime":4019.59,"body":"contain the notes George Smith"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4015.9,"endTime":4019.59,"body":"made as he was teaching himself"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4019.59,"endTime":4023.73,"body":"Akkadian or cuneiform. And some"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4019.59,"endTime":4023.73,"body":"of them contain the beginnings"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4023.76,"endTime":4028.65,"body":"of large projects that he never"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4023.76,"endTime":4028.65,"body":"completed. There is a sign list,"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4028.89,"endTime":4032.28,"body":"or a book of names, and a"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4028.89,"endTime":4032.28,"body":"Babylonian calendar, an Assyrian"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4032.28,"endTime":4035.85,"body":"dictionary, and also a"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4032.28,"endTime":4035.85,"body":"chronological list. Some of the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4035.85,"endTime":4038.85,"body":"notebooks contain very"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4035.85,"endTime":4038.85,"body":"attractive drawings, for"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4038.85,"endTime":4043.02,"body":"instance of Mosul or of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4038.85,"endTime":4043.02,"body":"Ctesiphon, or Erbil. Some of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4043.02,"endTime":4046.5,"body":"them are diaries, in which he"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4043.02,"endTime":4046.5,"body":"tells about his travels in the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4046.5,"endTime":4049.26,"body":"Middle East. But for"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4046.5,"endTime":4049.26,"body":"assyriologist, the most"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4049.26,"endTime":4051.96,"body":"interesting notebooks are those"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4049.26,"endTime":4051.96,"body":"that contain copies of cuneiform"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4051.96,"endTime":4052.65,"body":"tablets."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4053.88,"endTime":4056.37,"body":"What's in them"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4053.88,"endTime":4056.37,"body":"that's still interesting after"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4056.37,"endTime":4057.87,"body":"so many years?"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4058.56,"endTime":4061.53,"body":"Two parts of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4058.56,"endTime":4061.53,"body":"them are interesting. On the one"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4061.53,"endTime":4063.72,"body":"hand, the notes that he made"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4061.53,"endTime":4063.72,"body":"while working in the British"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4063.72,"endTime":4066.42,"body":"Museum. He classified the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4063.72,"endTime":4066.42,"body":"collection in the British Museum"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4066.42,"endTime":4069.81,"body":"very early on. And he"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4066.42,"endTime":4069.81,"body":"established his own system of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4069.81,"endTime":4073.08,"body":"classification. So for instance,"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4069.81,"endTime":4073.08,"body":"he will classify tablets that"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4073.08,"endTime":4079.29,"body":"contain historical text as \"H\""},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4073.08,"endTime":4079.29,"body":"mythology as \"M\", bilinguals as"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4079.59,"endTime":4083.16,"body":"\"B\", and so on and so forth."},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4079.59,"endTime":4083.16,"body":"What is even more interesting"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4083.16,"endTime":4087.0,"body":"that the notebooks in which he"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4083.16,"endTime":4087.0,"body":"copied tablets from his"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4087.03,"endTime":4090.21,"body":"excavation in Assyria,"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4087.03,"endTime":4090.21,"body":"especially those that have to do"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4090.21,"endTime":4093.66,"body":"with the Daily Telegraph"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4090.21,"endTime":4093.66,"body":"expedition. Unfortunately, the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4093.66,"endTime":4096.75,"body":"excavation methods back then"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4093.66,"endTime":4096.75,"body":"were too primitive to allow us"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4096.75,"endTime":4099.06,"body":"to reconstruct the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4096.75,"endTime":4099.06,"body":"archaeological context just with"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4099.36,"endTime":4103.65,"body":"notebooks. But we do have"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4099.36,"endTime":4103.65,"body":"Smith's copies of many of the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4103.65,"endTime":4106.83,"body":"tablets as they came out of the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4103.65,"endTime":4106.83,"body":"ground. The interesting thing is"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4106.83,"endTime":4109.56,"body":"that many of them were back then"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4106.83,"endTime":4109.56,"body":"in better shape than they were"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4109.56,"endTime":4111.03,"body":"when they arrived in the British"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4109.56,"endTime":4111.03,"body":"Museum."},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4111.63,"endTime":4116.64,"body":"In one of his notebooks a couple"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4111.63,"endTime":4116.64,"body":"of days before he died. He says:"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4117.27,"endTime":4120.75,"body":"\"I intended to work it out\"--to"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4117.27,"endTime":4120.75,"body":"work out all these dictionaries"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4120.75,"endTime":4124.38,"body":"and texts that he had been"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4120.75,"endTime":4124.38,"body":"discovered--but desire now that"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4124.38,"endTime":4128.55,"body":"my antiquities and notes may be"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4124.38,"endTime":4128.55,"body":"thrown open to all students. I"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4128.55,"endTime":4133.53,"body":"have done my duty thoroughly.\""},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4128.55,"endTime":4133.53,"body":"We have digitised several"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4133.53,"endTime":4136.62,"body":"notebooks in the British"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4133.53,"endTime":4136.62,"body":"Library, particularly those that"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4136.62,"endTime":4140.31,"body":"contain copies of cuneiform"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4136.62,"endTime":4140.31,"body":"tablets, and we have catalogued"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4140.31,"endTime":4144.66,"body":"them. Cataloging them is a"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4140.31,"endTime":4144.66,"body":"challenging thing, because,"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4144.96,"endTime":4147.51,"body":"well, at the time when Smith"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4144.96,"endTime":4147.51,"body":"made his copies of his"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4147.51,"endTime":4152.22,"body":"transliterations, there weren't"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4147.51,"endTime":4152.22,"body":"any museum numbers. So each copy"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4152.22,"endTime":4154.83,"body":"has to be identified with the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4152.22,"endTime":4154.83,"body":"tablet at the moment."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4155.85,"endTime":4159.39,"body":"Over his three trips"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4155.85,"endTime":4159.39,"body":"to Iraq, Smith excavated many"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4159.39,"endTime":4162.81,"body":"tablets, and bought many more"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4159.39,"endTime":4162.81,"body":"from the merchants in Baghdad."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4163.5,"endTime":4165.75,"body":"How significant are these texts?"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4166.17,"endTime":4169.86,"body":"The tablets"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4166.17,"endTime":4169.86,"body":"that Smith excavated or bought"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4169.95,"endTime":4173.85,"body":"are very significant. First, of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4169.95,"endTime":4173.85,"body":"course, the tablets that he"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4173.85,"endTime":4177.3,"body":"found himself in Nineveh, and"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4173.85,"endTime":4177.3,"body":"it's almost miraculous, he"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4177.3,"endTime":4179.88,"body":"should have found a piece of the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4177.3,"endTime":4179.88,"body":"Flood story in the very first"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4179.88,"endTime":4183.6,"body":"stage of this campaign. But"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4179.88,"endTime":4183.6,"body":"there are many other spectacular"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4183.6,"endTime":4186.96,"body":"tablets that he found with this"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4183.6,"endTime":4186.96,"body":"expedition. They are now part of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4186.96,"endTime":4191.37,"body":"the so-called DT collection in"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4186.96,"endTime":4191.37,"body":"the British Museum. Some of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4191.37,"endTime":4194.94,"body":"these tablets are very"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4191.37,"endTime":4194.94,"body":"important. For instance, DT 1 is"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4194.94,"endTime":4197.7,"body":"the so-called Advice to a"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4194.94,"endTime":4197.7,"body":"Prince, which is a series of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4197.7,"endTime":4201.48,"body":"instructions that tell a prince"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4197.7,"endTime":4201.48,"body":"how he should behave. And in"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4201.48,"endTime":4204.54,"body":"particular, it tells him to"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4201.48,"endTime":4204.54,"body":"respect the special status of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4204.54,"endTime":4207.99,"body":"some Babylonian cities. Another"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4204.54,"endTime":4207.99,"body":"tablet that comes from the DT"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4207.99,"endTime":4211.38,"body":"collection is a very large"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4207.99,"endTime":4211.38,"body":"manuscript of a lexical series"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4211.38,"endTime":4214.89,"body":"called Idu, which is basically"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4211.38,"endTime":4214.89,"body":"known only in this manuscript."},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4216.03,"endTime":4219.15,"body":"In addition to the tablets that"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4216.03,"endTime":4219.15,"body":"he excavated himself, he also"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4219.15,"endTime":4222.51,"body":"acquired many tablets from"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4219.15,"endTime":4222.51,"body":"antiquities dealers. In"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4222.51,"endTime":4225.84,"body":"particular, he bought from the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4222.51,"endTime":4225.84,"body":"French consul a small collection"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4225.87,"endTime":4230.19,"body":"of very late tablets from around"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4225.87,"endTime":4230.19,"body":"the second century BC, which are"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4230.52,"endTime":4233.04,"body":"still among the latest tablets"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4230.52,"endTime":4233.04,"body":"that we know today."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4234.06,"endTime":4236.64,"body":"Smith is a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4234.06,"endTime":4236.64,"body":"fascinating character, who"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4236.64,"endTime":4240.48,"body":"became famous. How important"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4236.64,"endTime":4240.48,"body":"really was his brief"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4240.51,"endTime":4243.39,"body":"assyriological career in the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4240.51,"endTime":4243.39,"body":"history of the field?"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4244.2,"endTime":4246.51,"body":"In my view, the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4244.2,"endTime":4246.51,"body":"main contribution that Smith"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4246.51,"endTime":4250.59,"body":"made to the field were the many"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4246.51,"endTime":4250.59,"body":"texts that he discovered; that"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4250.59,"endTime":4253.92,"body":"he read for the first time. And"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4250.59,"endTime":4253.92,"body":"they include not only the Flood"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4253.92,"endTime":4257.22,"body":"story, but include many of the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4253.92,"endTime":4257.22,"body":"texts that he discovered for the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4257.22,"endTime":4260.55,"body":"first time. For instance, the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4257.22,"endTime":4260.55,"body":"Gilgamesh Epic or this Advice to"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4260.55,"endTime":4265.23,"body":"a Prince or the Descent of"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4260.55,"endTime":4265.23,"body":"Ishtar. All these texts are now"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4265.29,"endTime":4268.47,"body":"household names, but they were"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4265.29,"endTime":4268.47,"body":"all discovered and deciphered"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4268.5,"endTime":4272.79,"body":"and translated for the first"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4268.5,"endTime":4272.79,"body":"time by Smith. Of course, many"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4272.79,"endTime":4276.45,"body":"of these texts we now have in a"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4272.79,"endTime":4276.45,"body":"much better shape. We have a"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4276.45,"endTime":4279.36,"body":"much more complete"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4276.45,"endTime":4279.36,"body":"reconstruction, but many of them"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4279.36,"endTime":4283.2,"body":"are still essentially in the"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4279.36,"endTime":4283.2,"body":"same form as Smith discovered"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4283.2,"endTime":4288.09,"body":"them. The Descent of Ishtar is"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4283.2,"endTime":4288.09,"body":"essentially the same text. The"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4288.09,"endTime":4291.6,"body":"Advice to a Prince is"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4288.09,"endTime":4291.6,"body":"essentially the same text, and"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4291.63,"endTime":4295.17,"body":"several others. For instance,"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4291.63,"endTime":4295.17,"body":"this dialogue between Ox and"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4295.2,"endTime":4299.64,"body":"Horse is essentially the same"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4295.2,"endTime":4299.64,"body":"text Smith discovered and"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4299.64,"endTime":4303.9,"body":"translated for the first time."},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4299.64,"endTime":4303.9,"body":"Of course, one wonders what he"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4303.9,"endTime":4305.91,"body":"could have done had he lived"},{"speaker":"Enrique Jimenez","startTime":4303.9,"endTime":4305.91,"body":"longer."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4306.75,"endTime":4309.45,"body":"I should add here"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4306.75,"endTime":4309.45,"body":"that Smith also identified the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4309.45,"endTime":4314.13,"body":"eclipse of 763 BC, which"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4309.45,"endTime":4314.13,"body":"provided an anchor point to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4314.13,"endTime":4318.3,"body":"establish an absolute chronology"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4314.13,"endTime":4318.3,"body":"for the first millennium BC."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4319.98,"endTime":4322.98,"body":"Smith's contribution to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4319.98,"endTime":4322.98,"body":"cuneiform extends beyond his own"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4322.98,"endTime":4327.09,"body":"publications. As noted in a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4322.98,"endTime":4327.09,"body":"backhanded compliment from"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4327.09,"endTime":4331.2,"body":"Budge, \"Thanks to the large"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4327.09,"endTime":4331.2,"body":"amount of work helpful to"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4331.2,"endTime":4335.43,"body":"students that Smith had done."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4331.2,"endTime":4335.43,"body":"his untimely death at the age of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4335.43,"endTime":4340.35,"body":"36 did not greatly delay the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4335.43,"endTime":4340.35,"body":"progress of assyriology, for"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4340.35,"endTime":4343.8,"body":"several young men in England and"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4340.35,"endTime":4343.8,"body":"began to work at the subject.\""},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4344.49,"endTime":4348.33,"body":"One such person referred to here"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4344.49,"endTime":4348.33,"body":"is someone whose story was more"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4348.33,"endTime":4353.01,"body":"tragic even than Smith. You can"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4348.33,"endTime":4353.01,"body":"read it in detail through the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4353.01,"endTime":4356.19,"body":"work of Ruth Horry. See the show"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4353.01,"endTime":4356.19,"body":"notes for details."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4357.42,"endTime":4360.51,"body":"Budge tells us that the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4357.42,"endTime":4360.51,"body":"immediate result of Smith's"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4360.51,"endTime":4365.1,"body":"paper, which marks an epoch in"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4360.51,"endTime":4365.1,"body":"the annals of assyriology, was a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4365.1,"endTime":4368.55,"body":"rush to the British Museum by"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4365.1,"endTime":4368.55,"body":"the public to see the baked clay"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4368.55,"endTime":4372.12,"body":"tablets from Nineveh, from which"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4368.55,"endTime":4372.12,"body":"the legend had been recovered."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4373.23,"endTime":4376.92,"body":"To assist Budge in coping with"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4373.23,"endTime":4376.92,"body":"the stream of visitors and the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4376.92,"endTime":4379.77,"body":"mass of letters which were"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4376.92,"endTime":4379.77,"body":"addressed to the department"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4379.83,"endTime":4383.82,"body":"after the publication of the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4379.83,"endTime":4383.82,"body":"deluge tablet, the Trustees"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4383.88,"endTime":4387.9,"body":"during Smith's absence in the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4383.88,"endTime":4387.9,"body":"East appointed as assistant a"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4387.9,"endTime":4392.64,"body":"very capable and rising"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4387.9,"endTime":4392.64,"body":"assyriologist Mr. W. St. Chad"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4392.73,"endTime":4397.92,"body":"Boscawen. After Smith's death,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4392.73,"endTime":4397.92,"body":"young Boscawen was given"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4397.92,"endTime":4401.43,"body":"responsibility for publishing"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4397.92,"endTime":4401.43,"body":"the tablets bought in Baghdad,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4401.97,"endTime":4403.41,"body":"as Cornelia explains,"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4404.46,"endTime":4408.27,"body":"When Boscawen"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4404.46,"endTime":4408.27,"body":"got hold of this, he started"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4408.27,"endTime":4414.75,"body":"then to work out Smith's ideas."},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4408.27,"endTime":4414.75,"body":"He realised that Smith had"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4414.75,"endTime":4417.96,"body":"already done an enormous amount"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4414.75,"endTime":4417.96,"body":"of work during the time he was"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4417.96,"endTime":4424.2,"body":"in Iraq and Syria. And he had"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4417.96,"endTime":4424.2,"body":"already sorted these tablets,"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4424.32,"endTime":4427.98,"body":"according to kings, and"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4424.32,"endTime":4427.98,"body":"according to events in the"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4427.98,"endTime":4433.14,"body":"family of this family archive."},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4427.98,"endTime":4433.14,"body":"What is not apparent today"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4433.14,"endTime":4436.41,"body":"anymore is the fact that we"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4433.14,"endTime":4436.41,"body":"didn't have a proper chronology"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4436.44,"endTime":4440.25,"body":"of the neo-Babylonian empire"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4436.44,"endTime":4440.25,"body":"back then. There was still the"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4440.25,"endTime":4444.66,"body":"discussion how the kings fitted"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4440.25,"endTime":4444.66,"body":"one after the other. And there"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4444.66,"endTime":4449.52,"body":"was a problem of co-reigning of"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4444.66,"endTime":4449.52,"body":"some of the kings. What George"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4449.52,"endTime":4453.78,"body":"Smith had done was that he"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4449.52,"endTime":4453.78,"body":"sorted out the chronology not by"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4453.78,"endTime":4457.71,"body":"kings, but rather with the help"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4453.78,"endTime":4457.71,"body":"of the family documents because"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4457.71,"endTime":4462.18,"body":"he realised that one of the"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4457.71,"endTime":4462.18,"body":"kings was associated with a"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4462.18,"endTime":4466.86,"body":"certain family member. And"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4462.18,"endTime":4466.86,"body":"luckily, the break was exactly"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4466.89,"endTime":4470.7,"body":"to the next generation when the"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4466.89,"endTime":4470.7,"body":"next king came in. So he was"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4470.73,"endTime":4475.53,"body":"able to establish on the basis"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4470.73,"endTime":4475.53,"body":"of these tablets, a chronology"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4475.53,"endTime":4478.77,"body":"which was much safer and founder"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4475.53,"endTime":4478.77,"body":"than before."},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4479.55,"endTime":4484.56,"body":"And apart from that, of course,"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4479.55,"endTime":4484.56,"body":"he also recognised the potential"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4484.59,"endTime":4489.06,"body":"in terms of the contents of"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4484.59,"endTime":4489.06,"body":"these tablets. Smith luckily was"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4489.09,"endTime":4493.29,"body":"self-assured about the fact that"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4489.09,"endTime":4493.29,"body":"these records were important."},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4493.59,"endTime":4497.43,"body":"Despite that they are small,"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4493.59,"endTime":4497.43,"body":"repeat the verbal forms, and"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4497.43,"endTime":4502.92,"body":"only differ in the date and a"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4497.43,"endTime":4502.92,"body":"few transactions, but within a"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4502.92,"endTime":4508.35,"body":"very short time, they became"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4502.92,"endTime":4508.35,"body":"very much studied. The studies"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4508.35,"endTime":4512.79,"body":"included not only assyriologists"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4508.35,"endTime":4512.79,"body":"or Old Testament people, but"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4512.79,"endTime":4519.3,"body":"also legal historians. Boscawen"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4512.79,"endTime":4519.3,"body":"apparently saw the chance to use"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4519.36,"endTime":4524.22,"body":"Smith's investigations and"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4519.36,"endTime":4524.22,"body":"studies in order to present them"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4524.25,"endTime":4528.48,"body":"at the British Museum and to a"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4524.25,"endTime":4528.48,"body":"wider audience. In a way, it's a"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4528.48,"endTime":4532.44,"body":"great pity that one of these"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4528.48,"endTime":4532.44,"body":"first pioneers had such a short"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4532.44,"endTime":4538.26,"body":"lifespan when he would have been"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4532.44,"endTime":4538.26,"body":"able and willing and determined"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4538.26,"endTime":4544.62,"body":"to do this work on the Egibi"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4538.26,"endTime":4544.62,"body":"tablets. Instead, Strassmeier"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4544.65,"endTime":4549.36,"body":"came to the Museum and started"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4544.65,"endTime":4549.36,"body":"studying these tablets. So in"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4549.36,"endTime":4554.04,"body":"the end, these tablets got"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4549.36,"endTime":4554.04,"body":"published by someone else, and"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4554.04,"endTime":4557.64,"body":"helped enormously to trigger"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4554.04,"endTime":4557.64,"body":"these new Babylonian studies by"},{"speaker":"Cornelia Wunsch","startTime":4557.64,"endTime":4558.96,"body":"the turn of the century."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4560.28,"endTime":4563.13,"body":"But Smith's legacy"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4560.28,"endTime":4563.13,"body":"was not confined to just"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4563.13,"endTime":4568.74,"body":"cuneiform. In 1876, en route for"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4563.13,"endTime":4568.74,"body":"Nineveh, he had visited"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4568.74,"endTime":4572.19,"body":"Carchemish. What happened at"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4568.74,"endTime":4572.19,"body":"Carchemish, Mark?"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4573.3,"endTime":4577.44,"body":"Carchemish was"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4573.3,"endTime":4577.44,"body":"known from Assyrian annals and"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4577.44,"endTime":4580.65,"body":"various other types of texts, as"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4577.44,"endTime":4580.65,"body":"somewhere that must have been"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4580.65,"endTime":4586.2,"body":"very important for the Hittite"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4580.65,"endTime":4586.2,"body":"empire. But then also the states"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4586.23,"endTime":4589.32,"body":"that were around after the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4586.23,"endTime":4589.32,"body":"Hittite empire came to an end,"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4589.32,"endTime":4593.07,"body":"at the end of the Bronze Age. No"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4589.32,"endTime":4593.07,"body":"one knew where it was, this"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4593.07,"endTime":4598.44,"body":"place. This site must be so big,"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4593.07,"endTime":4598.44,"body":"and in such a promising location"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4598.44,"endTime":4602.82,"body":"that it should be this place,"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4598.44,"endTime":4602.82,"body":"Carchemish. They asked local"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4602.82,"endTime":4606.63,"body":"people if there were any"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4602.82,"endTime":4606.63,"body":"inscriptions, and local people"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4606.63,"endTime":4611.22,"body":"said, yeah, there is this big"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4606.63,"endTime":4611.22,"body":"statue. And Smith was able to"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4611.22,"endTime":4615.33,"body":"recognise immediately that the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4611.22,"endTime":4615.33,"body":"script that was written on the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4615.36,"endTime":4620.85,"body":"back of this statue was what was"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4615.36,"endTime":4620.85,"body":"referred to then as the Hittite"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4620.85,"endTime":4622.29,"body":"hieroglyphic script."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4623.55,"endTime":4627.75,"body":"So this script was only known"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4623.55,"endTime":4627.75,"body":"from a few stones from Hama. And"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4627.75,"endTime":4630.6,"body":"then there was the Karabel"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4627.75,"endTime":4630.6,"body":"inscription as well in Turkey"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4630.6,"endTime":4633.78,"body":"that had been brought into"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4630.6,"endTime":4633.78,"body":"connection with it. So only"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4633.78,"endTime":4636.72,"body":"really at that time, there were"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4633.78,"endTime":4636.72,"body":"three or four inscriptions that"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4636.72,"endTime":4641.1,"body":"were known. Smith made a drawing"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4636.72,"endTime":4641.1,"body":"of the inscription on the back"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4641.1,"endTime":4644.64,"body":"of this statue. And he wrote on"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4641.1,"endTime":4644.64,"body":"the top of the drawing in"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4644.64,"endTime":4649.83,"body":"cuneiform GAR GA MIS, which"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4644.64,"endTime":4649.83,"body":"shows that he had obviously"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4649.83,"endTime":4653.88,"body":"identified the place as"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4649.83,"endTime":4653.88,"body":"Carchemish, on the basis of this"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4653.91,"endTime":4658.89,"body":"inscription, and its similarity"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4653.91,"endTime":4658.89,"body":"to other so-called Hittite"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4658.92,"endTime":4663.78,"body":"hieroglyphic monuments. So this"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4658.92,"endTime":4663.78,"body":"was really, really early in the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4663.78,"endTime":4666.63,"body":"process of the identification of"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4663.78,"endTime":4666.63,"body":"the Hittites in the first place,"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4666.63,"endTime":4671.37,"body":"because the Hittite civilisation"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4666.63,"endTime":4671.37,"body":"had been lost to historical"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4671.37,"endTime":4676.65,"body":"knowledge for 1000s of years."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4671.37,"endTime":4676.65,"body":"Smith apparently was convinced"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4676.68,"endTime":4680.22,"body":"that he would be able to"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4676.68,"endTime":4680.22,"body":"decipher the script on the basis"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4680.22,"endTime":4684.63,"body":"of this inscription, because it"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4680.22,"endTime":4684.63,"body":"must be from the city of"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4684.63,"endTime":4687.51,"body":"Carchemish, he thought. And the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4684.63,"endTime":4687.51,"body":"name of Carchemish would have to"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4687.51,"endTime":4689.31,"body":"be on the inscription."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4689.85,"endTime":4695.43,"body":"He was right. It was only a few"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4689.85,"endTime":4695.43,"body":"years later, in 1894, that"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4695.43,"endTime":4698.46,"body":"someone was able to"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4695.43,"endTime":4698.46,"body":"identify--Jensen it was--was"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4698.94,"endTime":4704.22,"body":"able to identify the writing of"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4698.94,"endTime":4704.22,"body":"the place name Carchemish on"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4704.25,"endTime":4709.02,"body":"that very statue. That was a big"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4704.25,"endTime":4709.02,"body":"step forward with the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4709.02,"endTime":4712.35,"body":"decipherment. It wasn't a step"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4709.02,"endTime":4712.35,"body":"forward that Smith was actually"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4712.35,"endTime":4717.0,"body":"able to make himself, but he was"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4712.35,"endTime":4717.0,"body":"able to lay the groundwork"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4717.0,"endTime":4720.48,"body":"through his incredibly intuitive"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4717.0,"endTime":4720.48,"body":"approach for other people to"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4720.48,"endTime":4724.26,"body":"make it after he'd gone."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4720.48,"endTime":4724.26,"body":"Decipherment of the script was a"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4724.26,"endTime":4729.39,"body":"very, very long drawn out"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4724.26,"endTime":4729.39,"body":"process. It was certainly a"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4729.45,"endTime":4733.59,"body":"important stepping stone in the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4729.45,"endTime":4733.59,"body":"process of decipherment. But"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4733.59,"endTime":4736.47,"body":"this process of decipherment"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4733.59,"endTime":4736.47,"body":"really went on and is still"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4736.47,"endTime":4740.7,"body":"going on today. And it wasn't"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4736.47,"endTime":4740.7,"body":"until the 1970s, for example,"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4740.7,"endTime":4744.57,"body":"that we actually recognised that"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4740.7,"endTime":4744.57,"body":"this hieroglyphic script was"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4744.57,"endTime":4746.91,"body":"writing a language called"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4744.57,"endTime":4746.91,"body":"Luwian."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4748.14,"endTime":4753.06,"body":"There's an interesting coda to"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4748.14,"endTime":4753.06,"body":"the story. So this statue, it"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4753.06,"endTime":4757.62,"body":"was a statue of the goddess"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4753.06,"endTime":4757.62,"body":"Kubaba, and it was headless. Now"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4757.62,"endTime":4760.68,"body":"Smith wanted to have it cut up"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4757.62,"endTime":4760.68,"body":"into pieces, because it was very"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4760.68,"endTime":4763.86,"body":"heavy and transported back to"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4760.68,"endTime":4763.86,"body":"the British Museum immediately."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4764.61,"endTime":4769.26,"body":"Luckily, he didn't manage to do"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4764.61,"endTime":4769.26,"body":"that. And it was transported"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4769.29,"endTime":4775.5,"body":"later on. But very recently,"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4769.29,"endTime":4775.5,"body":"during the renewed Turkish and"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4775.5,"endTime":4779.67,"body":"Italian excavations at"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4775.5,"endTime":4779.67,"body":"Carchemish, the head of this"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4779.67,"endTime":4783.72,"body":"statue was actually found. It"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4779.67,"endTime":4783.72,"body":"wasn't found at Carchemish. It"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4783.72,"endTime":4787.77,"body":"was actually found several 100"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4783.72,"endTime":4787.77,"body":"kilometers away in Avshin. For"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4787.77,"endTime":4791.16,"body":"some reason it had been"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4787.77,"endTime":4791.16,"body":"transported to an electricity"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4791.19,"endTime":4794.82,"body":"station where it was being used"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4791.19,"endTime":4794.82,"body":"as an ornament in the garden, I"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4794.82,"endTime":4798.72,"body":"think. The Carchemish team were"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4794.82,"endTime":4798.72,"body":"alerted to this fact and"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4798.75,"endTime":4801.81,"body":"particularly Carchemish"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4798.75,"endTime":4801.81,"body":"philologist, Hasan Pekker, was"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4801.84,"endTime":4805.68,"body":"able to identify that this was"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4801.84,"endTime":4805.68,"body":"the head of the Kubaba statue."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4806.19,"endTime":4808.44,"body":"And that was only in 2016."},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4809.19,"endTime":4812.64,"body":"This was really extremely"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4809.19,"endTime":4812.64,"body":"important from a historical"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4812.64,"endTime":4815.46,"body":"perspective, because the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4812.64,"endTime":4815.46,"body":"inscription on the back of the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4815.49,"endTime":4818.91,"body":"Kubaba statue belongs to a king"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4815.49,"endTime":4818.91,"body":"called Kamani. We can"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4818.91,"endTime":4822.21,"body":"reconstruct his genealogy all"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4818.91,"endTime":4822.21,"body":"the way back to the ninth"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4822.21,"endTime":4828.39,"body":"century BC. He lived in the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4822.21,"endTime":4828.39,"body":"eighth century BC. And a figure"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4828.39,"endTime":4833.28,"body":"particularly Sangara, who is"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4828.39,"endTime":4833.28,"body":"mentioned in Assyrian annals. So"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4833.31,"endTime":4837.0,"body":"George Smith's clues about"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4833.31,"endTime":4837.0,"body":"Carchemish started with Assyrian"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4837.0,"endTime":4843.0,"body":"annals. Then the finding of the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4837.0,"endTime":4843.0,"body":"head of Kubaba has meant that"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4843.03,"endTime":4846.39,"body":"we're back again where we"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4843.03,"endTime":4846.39,"body":"started with the Assyrian annals"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4846.54,"endTime":4850.62,"body":"and this character Sangara, who"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4846.54,"endTime":4850.62,"body":"is now attested as one of the"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4850.68,"endTime":4855.42,"body":"ancestors of Kamani, the king"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4850.68,"endTime":4855.42,"body":"who commissioned the Kubaba"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4855.42,"endTime":4859.92,"body":"statue. Clearly the head was"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4855.42,"endTime":4859.92,"body":"missing when George Smith found"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4859.92,"endTime":4862.95,"body":"it, but it closes the circle"},{"speaker":"Mark Weeden","startTime":4859.92,"endTime":4862.95,"body":"very nicely."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4864.0,"endTime":4868.2,"body":"Smith also made an"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4864.0,"endTime":4868.2,"body":"impact on Cypriot studies. What"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4868.2,"endTime":4870.3,"body":"was his contribution to that"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":4868.2,"endTime":4870.3,"body":"field, Pippa?"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4871.32,"endTime":4873.87,"body":"Although it's not"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4871.32,"endTime":4873.87,"body":"what he was most famous for,"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4874.11,"endTime":4877.5,"body":"George Smith made a significant"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4874.11,"endTime":4877.5,"body":"breakthrough in the decipherment"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4877.5,"endTime":4882.39,"body":"of Cypriot syllabic writing. So"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4877.5,"endTime":4882.39,"body":"Cyprus is unusual amongst"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4882.42,"endTime":4885.99,"body":"Mediterranean islands. It's"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4882.42,"endTime":4885.99,"body":"situated very close to the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4885.99,"endTime":4890.46,"body":"Levantine and Anatolian coast"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4885.99,"endTime":4890.46,"body":"and rather a long way from the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4890.46,"endTime":4894.87,"body":"majority of the Greek islands."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4890.46,"endTime":4894.87,"body":"By the early part of the late"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4894.87,"endTime":4899.73,"body":"bronze age, a syllabic writing"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4894.87,"endTime":4899.73,"body":"system was developed there. It"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4899.73,"endTime":4903.63,"body":"was adapted probably directly"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4899.73,"endTime":4903.63,"body":"from Linear A. We now call this"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4903.63,"endTime":4908.28,"body":"system Cypro-Minoan, harking"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4903.63,"endTime":4908.28,"body":"back to some Minoan origin."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4909.63,"endTime":4913.89,"body":"Although Cypro-Minoan is closely"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4909.63,"endTime":4913.89,"body":"related to Linear A and B, it"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4913.89,"endTime":4918.51,"body":"has relatively few attestations."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4913.89,"endTime":4918.51,"body":"There are only around 250. And"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4918.51,"endTime":4920.49,"body":"we don't understand the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4918.51,"endTime":4920.49,"body":"underlying language or"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4920.49,"endTime":4925.89,"body":"languages. But by the beginning"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4920.49,"endTime":4925.89,"body":"of the first millennium BC, we"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4925.89,"endTime":4997.8,"body":"start to get Greek attested on"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4925.89,"endTime":4997.8,"body":"Cyprus, and it's written in an"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4952.24,"endTime":4967.689,"body":"Now, the 18th and 19th centuries"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4952.24,"endTime":4967.689,"body":"were a fruitful time for"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4967.96,"endTime":4982.055,"body":"deciphering ancient writing"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4967.96,"endTime":4982.055,"body":"systems. And the Cypriot"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4982.326,"endTime":4998.86,"body":"syllabary was one more mystery"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4982.326,"endTime":4998.86,"body":"to be cracked. Most crucially,"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4997.8,"endTime":5017.03,"body":"adapted form of the Cypro-Minoan"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4997.8,"endTime":5017.03,"body":"script, usually referred to by"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4999.131,"endTime":5014.852,"body":"there are a few surviving"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":4999.131,"endTime":5014.852,"body":"bilingual inscriptions, of which"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5015.123,"endTime":5032.2,"body":"the Idalion bilingual from the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5015.123,"endTime":5032.2,"body":"site that is now Dali in Cyprus,"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5017.09,"endTime":5020.63,"body":"modern scholars as the Cypriot"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5017.09,"endTime":5020.63,"body":"syllabary or Cypriot syllabic"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5021.86,"endTime":5025.55,"body":"writing. So the Cypriot"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5021.86,"endTime":5025.55,"body":"syllabary was used to write the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5025.55,"endTime":5039.98,"body":"Cypriot dialect of Greek for"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5025.55,"endTime":5039.98,"body":"hundreds of years during the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5032.471,"endTime":5046.565,"body":"that's most famous precisely"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5032.471,"endTime":5046.565,"body":"because this was a very"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5040.16,"endTime":5061.07,"body":"first millennium BC, and it"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5040.16,"endTime":5061.07,"body":"didn't die out until the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5046.836,"endTime":5062.828,"body":"inscription that George Smith"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5046.836,"endTime":5062.828,"body":"studied and based his initial"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5063.099,"endTime":5079.905,"body":"decipherment on. So this stone"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5063.099,"endTime":5079.905,"body":"has text in both Phoenician and"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5063.38,"endTime":5065.24,"body":"Hellenistic period."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5068.51,"endTime":5072.08,"body":"Although Smith's decipherment"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5068.51,"endTime":5072.08,"body":"was only partial, he revealed"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5072.08,"endTime":5075.41,"body":"some crucial details of the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5072.08,"endTime":5075.41,"body":"Cypriot syllabic script,"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5075.62,"endTime":5078.83,"body":"counting 54 separate"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5075.62,"endTime":5078.83,"body":"signs--nearly the whole"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5078.83,"endTime":5083.51,"body":"repertoire--and commenting in"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5078.83,"endTime":5083.51,"body":"his own words, that \"each"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5080.176,"endTime":5095.084,"body":"Cypriot syllabic Greek."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5080.176,"endTime":5095.084,"body":"Phoenician itself had only been"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5083.51,"endTime":5087.32,"body":"consonant sign represents the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5083.51,"endTime":5087.32,"body":"sound of its particular"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5087.32,"endTime":5092.3,"body":"consonant in connection with a"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5087.32,"endTime":5092.3,"body":"vowel following it.\" So he had"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5092.3,"endTime":5096.2,"body":"recognised importantly, that"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5092.3,"endTime":5096.2,"body":"this was a syllabic writing"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5095.355,"endTime":5112.16,"body":"read relatively recently at this"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5095.355,"endTime":5112.16,"body":"time. By Smith's time, it was"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5096.2,"endTime":5101.3,"body":"system. So every sign stands"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5096.2,"endTime":5101.3,"body":"either for a vowel on its own or"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5101.3,"endTime":5105.5,"body":"for a combination of consonant"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5101.3,"endTime":5105.5,"body":"plus vowel. Strangely, he was"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5105.5,"endTime":5108.5,"body":"reluctant to conclude that the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5105.5,"endTime":5108.5,"body":"language written in Cypriot"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5108.5,"endTime":5112.34,"body":"syllabic was Greek despite"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5108.5,"endTime":5112.34,"body":"historical evidence that Cyprus"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5112.34,"endTime":5115.82,"body":"was home to Greek-speaking"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5112.34,"endTime":5115.82,"body":"kingdoms at this time, and"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5112.431,"endTime":5128.965,"body":"relatively well understood. So"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5112.431,"endTime":5128.965,"body":"when the Idalion bilingual was"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5115.82,"endTime":5119.72,"body":"despite recognising occasional"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5115.82,"endTime":5119.72,"body":"Greek words such as basileus for"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5119.75,"endTime":5123.29,"body":"\"king\". He observed some"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5119.75,"endTime":5123.29,"body":"inflectional endings, and"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5123.29,"endTime":5127.67,"body":"concluded that the language was"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5123.29,"endTime":5127.67,"body":"allied to, although not the same"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5127.67,"endTime":5132.56,"body":"as, Greek. We now know that it"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5127.67,"endTime":5132.56,"body":"was Greek, albeit a dialect with"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5129.236,"endTime":5145.499,"body":"discovered in 1869, actually,"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5129.236,"endTime":5145.499,"body":"its discoverer Robert Hamilton"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5132.56,"endTime":5135.5,"body":"some slightly odd features in"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5132.56,"endTime":5135.5,"body":"comparison with other known"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5135.5,"endTime":5136.43,"body":"varieties."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5137.21,"endTime":5140.27,"body":"Although Smith is often credited"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5137.21,"endTime":5140.27,"body":"with deciphering the Cypriot"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5140.27,"endTime":5143.57,"body":"syllabary, he was not the only"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5140.27,"endTime":5143.57,"body":"person to contribute to our"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5143.57,"endTime":5147.59,"body":"understanding of this writing"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5143.57,"endTime":5147.59,"body":"system. Several others took the"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5145.77,"endTime":5160.949,"body":"Lang already recognised that it"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5145.77,"endTime":5160.949,"body":"might just be the key to"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5147.59,"endTime":5151.4,"body":"decipherment further shortly"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5147.59,"endTime":5151.4,"body":"after his work on it, and"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5151.4,"endTime":5154.04,"body":"further discoveries in the 20th"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5151.4,"endTime":5154.04,"body":"century have helped us to"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5154.04,"endTime":5157.7,"body":"understand the script better."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5154.04,"endTime":5157.7,"body":"And also to recognise that as"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5157.7,"endTime":5160.79,"body":"well as the many Greek"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5157.7,"endTime":5160.79,"body":"inscriptions, there are also"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5160.79,"endTime":5165.29,"body":"some non-Greek inscriptions"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5160.79,"endTime":5165.29,"body":"written in it as well. But it"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5161.22,"endTime":5168.81,"body":"cracking the Cypriot script."},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5165.29,"endTime":5168.8,"body":"was George Smith, who laid that"},{"speaker":"Pippa Steele","startTime":5165.29,"endTime":5168.8,"body":"important first groundwork."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5169.77,"endTime":5172.74,"body":"And so ends our"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5169.77,"endTime":5172.74,"body":"story of a man who was perhaps"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5172.74,"endTime":5178.47,"body":"both the luckiest and unluckiest"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5172.74,"endTime":5178.47,"body":"assyriologist in history. He was"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5178.47,"endTime":5182.22,"body":"clearly a loving family man,"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5178.47,"endTime":5182.22,"body":"with an unusual talent for"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5182.22,"endTime":5186.42,"body":"reading cuneiform. Despite the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5182.22,"endTime":5186.42,"body":"brevity of his career, he has"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5186.42,"endTime":5190.08,"body":"left a lasting impact on the"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5186.42,"endTime":5190.08,"body":"field and fostered an interest"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5190.08,"endTime":5194.01,"body":"in ancient Iraq that endures"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5190.08,"endTime":5194.01,"body":"today. So on the third of"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5194.01,"endTime":5197.91,"body":"December, why not take a moment"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5194.01,"endTime":5197.91,"body":"to remember the remarkable man"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5197.94,"endTime":5200.49,"body":"who was George Smith."},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5202.29,"endTime":5206.46,"body":"It just remains to say thank you"},{"speaker":"Jon Taylor","startTime":5202.29,"endTime":5206.46,"body":"to all of my guests. I’d also"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5206.46,"endTime":5211.26,"body":"Tyler"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5206.46,"endTime":5211.26,"body":"Russell, Enrique Jimenez, Jana"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5211.26,"endTime":5217.14,"body":"Matuszak, Nancy Highcock, Jay C,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5211.26,"endTime":5217.14,"body":"Rune Rattenborg, Woodthrush,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5217.74,"endTime":5223.08,"body":"Elisa Rossberger, Mark Weeden,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5217.74,"endTime":5223.08,"body":"Jordi Mon Companys, Thomas"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5223.08,"endTime":5229.17,"body":"Bolin, Joan Porter MacIver, John"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5223.08,"endTime":5229.17,"body":"MacGinnis, Andrew George, Yelena"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5229.17,"endTime":5235.44,"body":"Rakic, Michael Katsevman, Mend"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5229.17,"endTime":5235.44,"body":"Mariwany, Kathryn Topper, Zach"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5235.44,"endTime":5242.61,"body":"Rubin, Sabina Franke, Shai"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5235.44,"endTime":5242.61,"body":"Gordin, Aaron Macks, Jonathan"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5242.61,"endTime":5248.55,"body":"Stökl, Maarja Seire, Jaafar"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5242.61,"endTime":5248.55,"body":"Jotheri, Morgan Hite, Chikako"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5248.55,"endTime":5255.6,"body":"Watanabe, Mark McElwaine,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5248.55,"endTime":5255.6,"body":"Heather Baker, Laura Battini,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5256.44,"endTime":5262.17,"body":"Jonathan Blanchard Smith,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5256.44,"endTime":5262.17,"body":"Kliment Ohr, Christina"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5262.17,"endTime":5264.12,"body":"Tsouparopoulou, Melanie Gross,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5262.17,"endTime":5264.12,"body":"Adam, Claire Weir, Marc Veldman,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5264.12,"endTime":5266.1,"body":"Bruno Biermann, Faimon Roberts,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5264.12,"endTime":5266.1,"body":"Kim Benzel, Maggie Justice,"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5266.1,"endTime":5268.83,"body":"Maggie, Jason Moser, as well as"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5266.1,"endTime":5268.83,"body":"those who prefer to remain"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5268.83,"endTime":5269.55,"body":"anonymous."},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5270.36,"endTime":5272.97,"body":"I really appreciate your"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5270.36,"endTime":5272.97,"body":"support. It makes a big"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5272.97,"endTime":5277.47,"body":"difference. Every penny received"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5272.97,"endTime":5277.47,"body":"has contributed towards"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5277.47,"endTime":5280.92,"body":"translations. Thanks of course"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5277.47,"endTime":5280.92,"body":"to the lovely people who have"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5280.92,"endTime":5284.34,"body":"worked on the translations on a"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5280.92,"endTime":5284.34,"body":"voluntary basis or for well"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5284.34,"endTime":5288.57,"body":"below the market rate. For"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5284.34,"endTime":5288.57,"body":"Arabic, thanks in particular to"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5288.57,"endTime":5293.31,"body":"Zainab Mizyidawi, as well as"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5288.57,"endTime":5293.31,"body":"Lina Meerchyad and May Al-Aseel."},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5294.15,"endTime":5300.15,"body":"For Turkish, thank you to Pinar"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5294.15,"endTime":5300.15,"body":"Durgun and Nesrin Akan. TEW is"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5300.15,"endTime":5303.66,"body":"still young, but I want to reach"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5300.15,"endTime":5303.66,"body":"a sustainable level, where"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5303.66,"endTime":5306.84,"body":"translators are given proper"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5303.66,"endTime":5306.84,"body":"compensation for their hard"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5306.84,"endTime":5307.29,"body":"work."},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5308.55,"endTime":5311.85,"body":"And thank you for listening to"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5308.55,"endTime":5311.85,"body":"Thin End of the Wedge. If you"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5311.85,"endTime":5315.12,"body":"enjoy what we do, and you would"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5311.85,"endTime":5315.12,"body":"like to help make these podcasts"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5315.12,"endTime":5318.21,"body":"available in Middle Eastern"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5315.12,"endTime":5318.21,"body":"languages, please consider"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5318.21,"endTime":5322.02,"body":"joining our Patreon family. You"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5318.21,"endTime":5322.02,"body":"can find us at"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5322.08,"endTime":5328.41,"body":"patreon.com/wedgepod. You can"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5322.08,"endTime":5328.41,"body":"also support us in other ways:"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5329.07,"endTime":5332.91,"body":"simply subscribe to the podcast;"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5329.07,"endTime":5332.91,"body":"leave us a five star review on"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5332.91,"endTime":5336.21,"body":"Apple Music or your favourite"},{"speaker":"like to thank our patrons","startTime":5332.91,"endTime":5336.21,"body":"podcatcher; recommend us to your"},{"speaker":"friends; follow us on Twitter","startTime":5336.21,"endTime":5342.39,"body":"@wedge_pod. If you want the"},{"speaker":"friends; follow us on Twitter","startTime":5342.39,"endTime":5345.96,"body":"latest podcast news, you can"},{"speaker":"friends; follow us on Twitter","startTime":5342.39,"endTime":5345.96,"body":"sign up for our newsletter. You"},{"speaker":"friends; follow us on Twitter","startTime":5345.96,"endTime":5349.74,"body":"can find all the links in the"},{"speaker":"friends; follow us on Twitter","startTime":5345.96,"endTime":5349.74,"body":"show notes and on our website at"},{"speaker":"friends; follow us on Twitter","startTime":5352.44,"endTime":5358.65,"body":"wedgepod.org. Thanks, and I hope"},{"speaker":"friends; follow us on Twitter","startTime":5352.44,"endTime":5358.65,"body":"you’ll join us next time."}]}