1-155-199 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Excavating a low-relief carving of the Fish god Dagon, Nineveh, 1853. Between 1845 and 1851 British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894) excavated the remains of the ancient Assyrian capitals of Nimrud and Nineveh and revealed the reliefs that decorated the royal palaces. These and other objects recovered from Mesopotamia astonished Europe and Layard's account of his discoveries became a best-seller. In 1851 he retired from excavation to take up a life in politics. From Discoveries in the Ruins of Ninevah and Babylon by Austen Layard. (London, 1853).