Henry Creswicke Rawlinson

Henry Creswicke Rawlinson
Henry Wyndham Phillips (1820-1868). Nota: en http://www.livius.org señalan a Tho · Public domain · source
Name	Henry Creswicke Rawlinson
Caption	Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet
Birth date	11 April 1810
Birth place	Chadlington, Oxfordshire, England
Death date	5 March 1895 (aged 84)
Death place	London, England
Nationality	British
Known for	Decipherment of cuneiform; Behistun Inscription
Occupation	Soldier, diplomat, Assyriologist
Title	1st Baronet
Spouse	Louisa Caroline Harcourt Seymour

Henry Creswicke Rawlinson. Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, was a pivotal figure in the decipherment of cuneiform script and the founding of modern Assyriology. His work, particularly on the Behistun Inscription, unlocked the history of Ancient Babylon and the broader Mesopotamian world, providing a critical tool for understanding its languages, politics, and social structures. His efforts transformed the study of the ancient Near East from speculation into a rigorous historical discipline.

Early life and military career

Henry Rawlinson was born in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, and entered the military service of the British East India Company in 1827. He was posted to India and later Persia (modern Iran), where his aptitude for languages became apparent. He quickly mastered Persian and several local dialects, skills that would prove invaluable. His military career with the Bombay Army involved training the Shah of Persia's troops, placing him in a region rich with ancient history. This posting ignited his lifelong fascination with the antiquities of the Achaemenid Empire and the civilizations that preceded it, setting the stage for his monumental epigraphic work.

The Behistun Inscription

While stationed in Kermanshah, Rawlinson learned of the massive Behistun Inscription, a trilingual proclamation carved high on a cliff face by order of Darius the Great. The inscription, like the Rosetta Stone, contained the same text in three cuneiform scripts: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian. Between 1835 and 1847, often at great personal risk, Rawlinson scaled the cliff to meticulously copy the inscriptions. His copies of the Old Persian cuneiform text, which he successfully deciphered first, provided the foundational key. This work was a feat of both physical endurance and intellectual deduction, creating a critical Rosetta Stone-like corpus for unlocking the much more complex Akkadian language of Babylon.

Decipherment of cuneiform

Rawlinson’s decipherment was a watershed moment in historical linguistics and archaeology. Using his Old Persian key, he and other scholars like Edward Hincks independently worked on the Babylonian version. Rawlinson’s 1851 publication of the complete Babylonian text and translation in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society demonstrated the script's syllabic and ideographic nature. This breakthrough allowed for the reading of thousands of clay tablets from sites like Nineveh and Babylon. It proved that cuneiform was not merely decorative but recorded the sophisticated administrative, legal, and literary works of Mesopotamian societies, fundamentally altering the Western understanding of ancient history.

Archaeological and diplomatic work in Mesopotamia

Appointed as the British Consul in Baghdad in 1843, Rawlinson leveraged his diplomatic position to promote and direct archaeological exploration. He provided crucial support and funding for the excavations of Austen Henry Layard at Nimrud and Nineveh, where the great library of Ashurbanipal was discovered. He also conducted his own investigations at Borsippa and Babylon. In his political role, he navigated the complex rivalries of the Great Game, often advocating for policies that, while serving British imperial interests, also facilitated the removal of artifacts to institutions like the British Museum. This practice, controversial from a modern post-colonial perspective, centralized a vast collection of Mesopotamian material in Europe for study.

Contributions to Assyriology and Babylonian studies

Rawlinson’s contributions laid the institutional and intellectual groundwork for Assyriology. He was instrumental in the founding of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq. His scholarly work, including assisting with the publication of the monumental Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, made primary sources accessible. He used deciphered texts to reconstruct Babylonian chronology and identify key rulers like Nabonidus. His analyses provided early insights into the Code of Hammurabi (discovered later) and the socio-economic realities of ancient empires, highlighting themes of centralized power, labor exploitation, and social hierarchy that remain critical to historical analysis.

Later life and legacy

In his later years, Rawlinson served as a Member of Parliament for Reigate and sat on the Council of India. He was awarded a baronetcy and served as President of the Royal Geographical Society. His legacy is profound but complex. He is rightly celebrated as the "Father of Assyriology" for his decipherment, which democratized access to the voices from a