Rassam, Hormuzd (1826–1910)

Turkish Assyriologist. He worked as agent and overseer on excavations at Nineveh 1845–54, initially with the British archaeologist Austen Layard, and discovered the palace of Ashurbanipal. He conducted excavations for the British Museum in Assyria and Babylonia 1876–82.

Rassam was born in Mosul (now in Iraq), opposite the site of Nineveh. After being made a British resident in Aden, he was sent by the British authorities on a mission to King Theodore of Abyssinia 1864, and was held prisoner 1866–68 until released by Field Marshal Robert Napier's expedition. Rassam recorded his experiences in The British Mission to King Theodore 1869, and wrote Asshur and the Land of Nimrod 1897.