Born in Mosul, Rassam began a distinguished archaeological career as assistant to A. H. Layard during his excavations at Nimrud and Kuyunjik from 1845 to 1847. He again accompanied Layard to Assyria and Babylonia from 1849 to 1852 and when Layard moved into politics continued under the nominal supervision of Henry Rawlinson. His discoveries included Ashurbanipal’s north palace with its lion-hunt sculptures and cuneiform texts. There followed an interlude as Arabic interpreter which included his detention with other hostages by Emperor Theodore of Abyssinia and his rescue by the British Army. He excavated again, particularly in Babylonia, 1878–1882, discovering the Balawat gates, a cylinder fragment recording Cyrus’s capture of Babylon, and a vast cache of inscribed tablets and fragments at Sippar.