Rich, Claudius James (1787-1820)

British Orientalist and traveller. He wrote memoirs on the ruins of Babylon and a narrative on the site of Nineveh. His collection of Oriental manuscripts, Greek and Oriental coins and gems, and antiquities from Babylon, was purchased by the trustees of the British Museum

Rich was born in Dijon, France, and educated in Bristol, England. At the age of 17 he became a writer to the East India Company and was ultimately appointed their resident in Baghdad, then part of the Ottoman Empire.