"Before abandoning archaeology for politics, Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817–94) carried out major excavations in Mesopotamia between 1845 and 1851, uncovering important evidence of ancient Assyrian civilisation. Although he originally believed that Nimrud was Nineveh, he later confirmed that Kuyunjik was the location of the ancient city. First published in 1849, this two-volume work is a mixture of excavation report, ancient history, anthropology and travel writing. Layard's excitement at t...

"Before abandoning archaeology for politics, Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817–94) carried out major excavations in Mesopotamia between 1845 and 1851, uncovering important evidence of ancient Assyrian civilisation. Although he originally believed that Nimrud was Nineveh, he later confirmed that Kuyunjik was the location of the ancient city. First published in 1849, this two-volume work is a mixture of excavation report, ancient history, anthropology and travel writing. Layard's excitement at t...

Lost Worlds: A Collection of 9 Books on Extinct Cities gathers archaeology, travel writing, historical speculation, antiquarian scholarship, and imaginative literature around the enduring fascination of vanished urban civilizations. Its range extends from dramatic evocations of ruined worlds to documentary accounts of excavation, inscriptions, monuments, and contested sites. Mediterranean, Near Eastern, and Egyptian landscapes emerge alongside literary visions of antiquity, making the volu...

Austen Henry Layard is best known as the excavator of Nimrud and of Nineveh, where he uncovered a large proportion of the Assyrian palace reliefs known, and in 1851 the library of Ashurbanipal. The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of thousands of clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BC. Among its holdings was the famous Epic of Gilgamesh.In this work, he describes hi...

Originally published in 1849, this early work by traveller, archaeologist and collector Sir Austen Henry Layard is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. It details the religion, art and military of the ancient city of Nineveh. This is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of the Neo Assyrian Empire and its culture. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce. We are republishing these classic...

Since the publication of my first work on the discoveries at Nineveh much progress has been made in deciphering the cuneiform character, and the contents of many highly interesting and important inscriptions have been given to the public. For these additions to our knowledge we are mainly indebted to the sagacity and learning of two English scholars, Col. Rawlinson and the Rev. Dr. Hincks. In making use of the results of their researches, I have not omitted to own the sources from which my...

Since the publication of my first work on the discoveries at Nineveh much progress has been made in deciphering the cuneiform character, and the contents of many highly interesting and important inscriptions have been given to the public. Doubts appear to be still entertained by many eminent critics as to the progress actually made in deciphering the cuneiform writing. These doubts may have been confirmed by too hasty theories and conclusions, which, on subsequent investigation, their auth...

Since the publication of my first work on the discoveries at Nineveh much progress has been made in deciphering the cuneiform character, and the contents of many highly interesting and important inscriptions have been given to the public.Doubts appear to be still entertained by many eminent critics as to the progress actually made in deciphering the cuneiform writing. These doubts may have been confirmed by too hasty theories and conclusions, which, on subsequent investigation, the...

In the middle of the nineteenth century, British archeologist Austen Henry Layard uncovered parts of several ancient Assyrian cities buried beneath the earth, including the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Nineveh. Nineveh was one of the greatest cities of its time and was an important religious center around 3000 BC. Commerce and religion thrived in the city, which was decorated with ornate stone carvings and reliefs and boasted well-defended walls and an aqueduct. However, the city wa...

"Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon" by Austen Henry Layard is a captivating account of the author's archaeological explorations in the ancient cities of Nineveh and Babylon. Layard's vivid descriptions bring to life the grandeur of these once-great civilizations, as he uncovers monumental sculptures, intricate bas-reliefs, and the remnants of palatial structures. His work not only sheds light on the history and culture of the Assyrians and Babylonians but also ignites a pa...

In Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (1853), Layard recounts his second expedition to Assyria, describing the excavation of palatial complexes at Nimrud (Calah) and Kuyunjik (Nineveh), the unearthing of lamassu colossi, carved reliefs—lion hunts, campaigns—and cuneiform tablets. Blending empirical reportage with Victorian travel narrative and antiquarian romance, he details methods of trenching, recording, and transport, alongside debates on cuneiform decipherment and the ...

Erased from History gathers eleven writings in which vanished cities become sites of excavation, fantasy, mourning, and intellectual recovery. Its range is unusually capacious: drama and fiction meet psychoanalytic case history, archaeological report, travel narrative, religious antiquarianism, and speculative satire. Classical ruins, biblical landscapes, and buried urban worlds are approached not merely as dead locations but as provocations to memory and imagination. Particularly compelli...