Assyriology at the British Museum: Dr. Sidney Smith, F.B.A

Abstract

IT has been announced that Dr. Sidney Smith has retired from the post of keeper of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum, and has been succeeded by Mr. C. J. Gadd, formerly deputy keeper of the Department. Dr. Sidney Smith entered the British Museum in 1914 and has been keeper since 1930. There are probably few living Assyriologists who can speak with authority, as he does, not only on textual and philological matters, but also on every subject connected with Near Eastern and Egyptian archaeology. He was one of the first to correlate the complicated stratigraphical and epigraphical data yielded by recent excavations in Syria and the Hatay, and his new scheme of chronology published in 1940 is being accepted by an increasing number of scholars. He is a controversialist who does not tolerate loose thinking ; but serious students have always had reason to be grateful to him for his constant readiness to place the fruits of his learning at their disposal. It is understood that as professor of ancient Semitic languages and civilizations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, he hopes to have more time in future for his own researches.