Historedia
Episode 1 of 1

First Translation Presentation

When
3 December 1872
Where
London
Part of
George Smith presents first translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh

George Smith read his translation of the Chaldaean account of the Great Flood before the Society of Biblical Archaeology in London on 3 December 1872.

Smith achieved worldwide fame through this presentation, which involved reading translated fragments of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The event took place at the Society of Biblical Archaeology, founded in London in 1870. This reading preceded his fuller publications in 1875 and 1876.

Sources

  1. George Smith (Assyriologist) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-05-02
  2. Epic of Gilgamesh Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
  3. Society of Biblical Archaeology Wikipedia, revision of 2025-10-09

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.