...room above the Secretary's Office. Smith took the tablet and began to read over the lines which Ready had brought to light ; and when he saw that they contained...there, he said, " I am the first man to read that after more than two thousand years of oblivion." Setting the tablet on the table, he jumped up and rushed...

...tablet, now beautifully legible: Smith took the tablet and began to read over the lines which Ready had brought to light; and when he saw that they contained...there, he said, "I am the first man to read that after more than two thousand years of oblivion." Setting the tablet on the table, he jumped up and rushed...

...Recognizing the significance of a fragment of the Gilgamesh flood tale, the awestruck Smith exclaimed, "I am the first man to read that after two thousand years of oblivion." EA Wallis Budge tells of Smith's exuberance in that moment of discovery: "Setting the tablet on the...

...for 2,500 years. His labours disclosed the Epic of Gilgamesh. Upon his discovery, Smith proclaimed, "I am the first man to read that after two thousand years of oblivion." A fellow Assyriologist recounted how Smith set a tablet down on the table and "jumped up and rushed...

...and worked his magic, whereupon "Smith took the tablet and began to read over the lines which Ready had brought to light; and when he saw that they contained...there, he said, 'I am the first man to read that after more than two thousand years of oblivion.' Setting the tablet on the table, he jumped up and rushed...