# George Smith · Person

> Assyriologist (British Museum); deciphered the Cypriot syllabary from the Idalion bilingual, 1871. In Eteocretan and Eteocypriot.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/records/FIG0DEDTGQYP980/george-smith  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[People](https://mysteriesdept.com/people)George Smith

Person · in 1 mystery

# George Smith

Assyriologist (British Museum); deciphered the Cypriot syllabary from the Idalion bilingual, 1871 **1840–1876.**

[Eteocretan and Eteocypriot](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot)[1 event][1 source]

George Smith is self-taught British Assyriologist at the British Museum, famous for the Flood tablet; in 1871 he used the Phoenician text of the Idalion bilingual to work out the first values of the Cypriot syllabary and show that its language was Greek. (1840–1876), and appears in the record of Eteocretan and Eteocypriot as assyriologist (British Museum); deciphered the Cypriot syllabary from the Idalion bilingual, 1871.

One event on the site involves Smith: George Smith reads the Cypriot syllabary from the Idalion bilingual and shows its language is Greek (1871).

Written from the site's records. [Improve it](https://mysteriesdept.com/developers)

## In the mysteries

**Eteocretan and Eteocypriot**

1 event

[The mystery ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot)

## What George Smith did 1

1871[George Smith reads the Cypriot syllabary from the Idalion bilingual and shows its language is Greek](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eteocretan-eteocypriot/events/EVT0DEDWPEM9AYA/george-smith-reads-the-cypriot-syllabary-from-the-idalion)

at [British Museum, London](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0DEDSY100SDN/british-museum-london)

## Places 1

[British Museum, London](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0DEDSY100SDN/british-museum-london)

museum

PLC

## Sources 1

[Idalion bilingual](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDRXT4FH18/idalion-bilingual)

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). George Smith [Person FIG0DEDTGQYP980]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/FIG0DEDTGQYP980
```

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Key

**FIG** 0DEDTGQYP980

Record

Person

Born

1840-03-26

Died

1876-08-19

Occupation

First decipherment of the Cypriot syllabary

Identity

Self-taught British Assyriologist at the British Museum, famous for the Flood tablet; in 1871 he used the Phoenician text of the Idalion bilingual to work out the first values of the Cypriot syllabary and show that its language was Greek.

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

[ Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1507486)

**How this page is made.** The dates, occupation and identity line come from Wikidata (CC0), checked 31 Oct 2026; the portrait is a free file from Wikimedia Commons. Everything else is the site's own record of what this person did in the mysteries.

The record

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[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/FIG0DEDTGQYP980)