George Rawlinson (23 November 1812 – 6 October 1902) was a British scholar, historian, and

Christian theologian Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis ...

Life

Rawlinson was born at

Chadlington Chadlington is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode Valley about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village has five neighbourhoods: Brookend, Eastend, Greenend, Millend and Westend. Archaeology There is a bowl barrow about wes ...

, Oxfordshire, the son of Abram Tysack Rawlinson and the younger brother of the famous

Assyriologist Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, sout ...

, Sir Henry Rawlinson. He was educated at Ealing School. Having taken a First in Literae Humaniores at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

) in 1838, he was elected to a fellowship at Exeter College, in 1840, where he was Fellow and tutor from 1842 to 1846. He was ordained in 1841, was curate at

Merton, Oxfordshire Merton is a village and civil parish near the River Ray, about south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 424. Archaeology In 1978 a Middle Bronze Age spearhead was found at West End Far ...

, from 1846 to 1847, was Bampton Lecturer in 1859, and was Camden Professor of Ancient History from 1861 to 1889. In his early days at Oxford, Rawlinson played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

for the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, appearing in five matches between 1836 and 1839 which have since been considered to have been first-class. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1869. In 1872 he was appointed

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

, and after 1888 he was rector of the rich City of London benefice All Hallows, Lombard Street. In 1873, he was appointed

proctor Proctor (a variant of '' procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawy ...

in Convocation for the Chapter of Canterbury. He married in 1846 Louisa Chermside, daughter of Sir Robert Alexander Chermside. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1896. Canon Rawlinson died at his residence in Cathedral precincts, Canterbury, on 6 October 1902.

Publications

His chief publications are his translation of the ''

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

'' of

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

(in collaboration with Sir Henry Rawlinson and Sir

John Gardner Wilkinson Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (5 October 1797 – 29 October 1875) was an English traveller, writer and pioneer Egyptologist of the 19th century. He is often referred to as "the Father of British Egyptology". Childhood and education Wilkinson ...

), 1858–60; ''The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World'', 1862–67; ''The Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy'' (

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...

n), 1873; ''The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy'' (

Sassanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

), 1875; ''Manual of Ancient History'', 1869; ''Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament'', 1871; ''The Origin of Nations'', 1877; ''History of Ancient Egypt'', 1881;Translated into Spanish by Spanish egyptologist Eduardo Toda y Güell in 1894. ''Egypt and Babylon'', 1885; ''History of Phoenicia'', 1889; ''Parthia'', 1893; ''Memoir of Major-General Sir HC Rawlinson'', 1898. His lectures to an audience at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

on the topic of the accuracy of the Bible in 1859 were published in later years as the

apologetic Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

work ''The Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records Stated Anew''. He was also a contributor to the ''

Speaker's Commentary Frederic Charles Cook (1 December 1804– 22 June 1889) was an English churchman, known as a linguist and the editor of the ''Speaker's Commentary'' on the Bible. Life Born at Millbrook, Hampshire, and later moved to Berkshire, he was admitted a ...

'', the ''

Pulpit Commentary The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible created during the nineteenth century under the direction of Rev. Joseph S. Exell and Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones. It consists of 23 volumes with 22,000 pages and 95,000 entri ...

'', Smith's ''Dictionary of the Bible'', and various similar publications. He was the author of the article "Herodotus" in the 9th edition of the

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

References

Sources

External links

* * * *
The History of Herodotus
', translated by George Rawlinson.
Rawlinson, George. ''Historical Evidences of the Scripture Records Stated Anew: With Special Reference to the Doubts and Discoveries of Modern Times''. New York: John B. Alden, 1885.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlinson, George 1812 births 1902 deaths 19th-century English historians Greek–English translators Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford People from West Oxfordshire District English cricketers 19th-century Anglicans Oxford University cricketers Canons of Canterbury English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Camden Professors of Ancient History Presidents of the Oxford Union Governors of Abingdon School Historians of Phoenicia Phoenician-Punic studies