British Museum Assyriologist George Smith died in Aleppo on 19 August 1876 while returning to England from an archaeological expedition. He was 36.

Smith had taken an unusual route into scholarship. Born in Chelsea in 1840, he left formal education early and, at 14, was apprenticed to the London publishing firm Bradbury & Evans to learn banknote engraving. He spent much of his spare time at the nearby British Museum studying Assyrian antiquities.

Samuel Birch, the museum’s Keeper of Oriental Antiquities, noticed his ability. Smith began working with cuneiform tablets, sorting fragments, making copies and learning to read the inscriptions.

His best-known discovery came while examining tablets excavated at Nineveh. Smith recognised part of a Babylonian narrative describing a great flood. Its similarities to the biblical story of Noah attracted considerable public attention.

The Daily Telegraph sponsored Smith to travel to Nineveh in search of further fragments. He excavated there in 1873 and returned to the region for further work.

Smith undertook a third expedition in 1876. On his journey back to England, he became ill and died at Aleppo on 19 August. The investigations from his final expedition remained unpublished.