Henry Layard: The Man Who Rocked the Cradle of Civilization

Austen Henry Layard (5th March 1817 – 5th July 1894) was one of Victorian Britain’s greatest and most dramatic explorers, finding enough time in his life to work as an archaeologist, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, author, diplomat and politician. He made some of the most fascinating archaeological discoveries of the era – including the excavation of the famous ancient Assyrian cities Nimrud and Nineveh. He would later become a celebrated author, as he chronicled his many travels in a popular book. Yet he would face criticism for the way he appropriated so many of Mesopotamia’s shining treasures for his home nation – censure which has gathered pace with the growing issue of repatriation. Still, Layard’s life makes for fascinating reading, and not a moment went by without his dedicating it to discovery and adventure.

Shaping the Star

The youthful Layard was never really going to be a shrinking violet. Born into a stunningly wealthy and powerful family – which included his father, Henry PJ Layard, a respected head of the civil service in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka); his grandfather, Charles Peter Layard, dean of Bristol; and his uncle, Benjamin Austen – a pre-eminent London solicitor and close friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli – Layard was never likely to want for anything. And he spent many of his early days studying in Italy, France, England and Switzerland – where he must have no doubt been infected with the flecks of his affection for travel. He held particular fondness for his time in Florence, where he could marvel at the artistic musings of the past on a daily basis.

However, Layard’s mind was so preoccupied with his love of ancient history and the arts that he struggled to excel at school, having to wait until 1839 to get a qualification as an attorney. However Layard was itching to spread his wings eastwards, and resolved to travel across land to Ceylon – where he could employ the aid of his father and nail down a job working for the civil service. However, once again his intrepid mind got the better of his plans, and he spent several years exploring the Middle East with his long-term companion Edward Mitford. By 1840 the pair had reached the city of Mosul, outside which Layard noticed a suspicious-looking tell, or mound, with what appeared to be mad-made objects protruding from it. And despite subsequent journeys to Baghdad and Luristan (alone; Mitford continued east – and Layard’s ensuing year with the native Bakhtiyari tribe would form the basis of his book Early Adventures in Persia, Susiania and Babylonia (1887)) Layard’s meeting with the mound would form the incendiary backbone of his career.

The Mesopotamian Treasure Chest

Layard finally settled in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1842, where the British ambassador, Sir Stratford Canning, gave him a job working on diplomatic missions to European Turkey.Yet Layard could not take his mind off Mosul, and by 1845 he had persuaded Canning to fund an excavation project at the site. It would prove a more than sound investment for Canning, who watched as Layard hauled hundreds of Assyrian treasures from the Mesopotamian landscape, at the site which he would soon realise as the ancient city of Nimrud. Layard’s booty was monumental: statues, bas-reliefs, foundations and cuneiform tablets all confirmed that this was the site of the ancient city.

Later expeditions saw Layard locate his most famous find - the magnificent ancient capital city of Nineveh. Layard chronicled his discoveries extensively, and would later publish the achievements in Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (1853). Fatefully, Canning turned Layard’s adventures over to the British Museum – who took away many of the prized artefacts to be displayed to the British public. There is still a comprehensive section of the museum dedicated to Layard’s finds today.

Cuneiform, later days and Legacy

Following his monumental discoveries of the mid-1840s, Layard returned to London in 1847 after an eight-year absence. He then focused his efforts on deciphering the myriad cuneiform tablets he had extracted from the empires, and expressed his findings in 1851’s Inscriptions of the Cuneiform Character, from Assyrian Monuments. Many of Layard’s assumptions were totally inaccurate, but he did manage to lay the groundwork on which much subsequent successful work would be based. It was around this time that Layard began work on his famous illustrations would give the public a hook to swell interest in Layard’s work, and the ancient civilizations of the Near East were brought into vogue.

Layard never returned to Nineveh, for reasons unknown, yet his two major excavation projects would be the area’s most explosive ever. His work was unscientific and he was certainly no archaeology scholar; yet the simple and concise way in which he presented his work, alongside the large number of entertaining pictures he added to his books, brought the architecture and anthropology of the Near East into the zeitgeist of Victorian British culture. Layard’s later life would see him typically glide into another field of expertise, and he spent his old age promoting Liberal politics as a member of parliament for Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. Layard died one of Britain’s most celebrated public figures in 1894 – yet it would be those golden few days in the sands of Assyria would prove to be the crowning glory of his life’s considerable achievements.
 

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About The Author

Sean Williams

Last three pieces by this author:

Join Heritage Key Live from Stonehenge Spring Equinox | Celebrate St. Patrick's by Visiting Loughcrew for Spring Equinox | What can you Expect from Stonehenge Spring Equinox 2010?

Sean is an English Literature graduate, who currently works as a writer and journalist in London. He enjoys ancient history, theatre and sport. He does not enjoy Big Brother.