Tow #8 IRB: The Buried Book by David Damrosch (Part 2)

The second half of my independent reading book, The Buried Book by David Damrosch, was centered more around how the Epic of Gilgamesh was found by Hormuzd Rassam and the effect the text had on the world. The part of the book that I found most engaging was how the cuneiform tablets that the epic was written on were found. Rassam was an English citizen that was a victim of harsh racism. Because of this, Rassam recieved little credit for his discoveries and his career became a joke. The purpose of Damrosch including Rassam's story in The Buried Book was to clear Rassam's name and explain to people interested in history and literature about the truth of how the tablets were found. Damrosch, a literature professor at Harvard University, had to do an extensive amount of research in order to clear Rassam's name. I think that Damrosch achieves this purpose more effectively than some of his others throughout the book because this side story is the first one he tells that appeals to pathos. For example after "Rassam had made the discovery of his life" the British press and the British museum "increasingly failed to give him credit for his finds." By using the word "failed" it created a negative emotional reaction because the word fail has such a negative connotation. Also the fact that the word "failed" is preceded by "increasingly" shows that he didn't get credit for his work multiple times. This part of the book was effective because many people can relate to Rassam's story. Because of a negative reputation, someone may discover something amazing, but all the credit is given to someone else. In Rassam's case, his negative reputation wasn't even his fault. Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge, an upperclass collector that worked with the British Museum and a rival of Rassam, received most of the credit for the work that Rassam had done. Because of this Rassam was "long forgotten by everyone" until Damrosch wrote this book to achieve his purpose of recognizing Rassam's discovery of the tablets.