'Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-94) was one of the leading British archaeologists of the Victorian period. His excavations at Nimrud and Nineveh led to important discoveries about ancient Mesopotamia, particularly about the Assyrian civilisation, and his popular books such as Nineveh and its Remains (1849) brought archaeology to a wide audience. .... He learnt Arabic and Persian and travelled widely, even among tribal peoples notorious for their lawlessness. ...
Unmentioned above is his founding, with John Ruskin, of the Arundel Society, in 1848, the purpose of which was the reproduction of paintings by Giotto and other Italian artists. The intent of these thinkers was to improve the level of public taste in art.
Now though, we go back to an earlier time in Austen Layard's career and quote from:
his Autobiography and Letters from His Childhood Until His Appointment as H. M. Ambassador at Madrid (1903). In this next sketch we see his curiosity, attention to detail and descriptive prose powers. We are now at about 1842:
'At that time Mount Athos was little known to travellers. It is indeed rarely visited even now. Yet it contains some of the most beautiful and varied scenery in the world—a combination of architecture, forest, mountain and sea, unequalled. Its numerous convents, constructed during the period of the Byzantine Empire, are, for the most part, grand and picturesque structures, perched upon rocks overlooking the sea, or rising in the midst of magnificent forests. .... I spent my time in conversing with, and obtaining information from, the monks, and in visiting the libraries and examining the interesting monuments and mural paintings which abound in the monasteries. The weather was perfect, and our enjoyment very great .
'....I remember being struck with the fact that the huge, fat, overfed cats, which I saw in the convents, were shorn of their tails. On asking for an explanation of it, I was informed by the monks that as their meals were served to them..., from trays placed, Turkish fashion, on low stools, round which squatted those who ate, the cats, who were constant guests at dinner and breakfast, were in the habit of sweeping off the viands and the wineglasses with their tails, which were consequently docked.
'From Mount Athos [we] ... ultimately reached Smyrna, where I ... returned by steamer to Constantinople.... During the winter of 1843-44 I passed most of my time at the Embassy—working for Sir Stratford Canning and obtaining political information for him, corresponding with the Morning Chronicle, and continuing my studies in the Turkish, Hebrew, and Chaldean languages.
'I was anxious to promote the establishment of schools amongst the indigent Christian and Jewish populations of the Turkish capital—a matter in which Lady Canning took a very lively interest. We were able to open some schools in the poorest quarters of the city, and eventually one was founded for the education of children of the better classes without distinction of faith, it being meant for Christians and Mohammedans alike...'
All this before he discovered the Library of Ashurbanipal, from the 5th century BCE.
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