Sidney Smith (29 August 1889 – 12 June 1979) was an Assyriologist (both a linguist and archeologist) who has been described as the architect of Mesopotamian studies.

Life

He was born in Leeds, 29 August 1889, studied in

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

, and went to

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

on a Classical Exhibition. During WWI he served as a subaltern in an infantry battalion. In 1955 he retired to Barcombe, near Lewes in Sussex. Smith was married to Mary (née Parker) (born 1904), the daughter of his cousin Henry Wilfred Parker, in 1927. Together they had one son, Harry Smith, an Egyptologist and academic, and one daughter.

Work

His life's work focussed on Semitic philology, political geography and Mesopotamian archaeology. He was appointed to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in 1914, but took up his post in 1919, eventually becoming the Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities (1931–48). He was active in teaching, being a lecturer in Accadian Assyriology (1924–38) at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. This overlapped with appointments at the new Institute of Archaeology (University of London) from 1934. He was the Director of Antiquities and Director of the

Iraq Museum The Iraq Museum () is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq. The Iraq Museum contains precious relics from the Mesopotamian, Abbasid, and Persian civilizations. It was loo ...

(1926–31). While there, he and his wife befriended Smith's colleague

Max Mallowan Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan, (6 May 1904 – 19 August 1978) was a prominent British archaeologist and academic, specializing in the Ancient Near East. Having studied classics at Oxford University, he was trained for archaeology by Leonard W ...

and his wife, the novelist

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

, with Christie dedicating her novel ''

The Moving Finger ''The Moving Finger'' is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the USA by Dodd, Mead and Company in July 1942 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1943. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK e ...

'' (1942) "To my Friends Sydney and Mary Smith". His work was recognised when he was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

in 1941. He retired from British Museum on grounds of ill-health in 1948, but then immediately took up the Chair of Ancient Semitic Languages and Civilization at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Selected publications

* Smith, S. (1924). Babylonian historical texts relating to the capture and downfall of Babylon. London: Methuen. * Smith, S. (1940). Alalakh and Chronology. London: Luzac.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sidney English Assyriologists Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy 1889 births 1979 deaths Academics of King's College London Academics of University College London