Hormuzd Rassam

Hormuzd Rassam (1826 – 16 September 1910) (Syriac: ܗܪܡܙܕ ܪܣܐܡ), was a native Assyrian Assyriologist, British diplomat and traveller who made a number of important discoveries, including the clay tablets that contained the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest literature. Even though he became a British citizen later in his life he can be accepted to be the first known Assyrian, Ottoman and Middle Eastern archaeologist.