Hermann Vollrat Hilprecht (1859-1925) was a leading German-American archaeologist and Assyriologist. He emigrated to America in 1886 and was appointed Professor of Assyriology at the University of Pennsylvania. He was Director of the fourth American archaeological expedition to Nippur between 1898 and 1900 and served as editor of the publications resulting from the expeditions until his retirement in 1911. This book first published in 1904 as part of the Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania publications series contains accounts of earlier nineteenth-century archaeological excavations in Assyria. Hilprecht describes the earliest British and French excavations in Nineveh and other major sites together with the early American expeditions and assesses the significance of their findings and their place in the history of Assyriology. This generously illustrated volume provides a valuable account of the archaeological beginnings of Assyriology.