LOFTUS, William Kenneth

(1897–1908)

   British geologist, explorer, and archaeologist. In the 1850s he served as a geologist for the Turco-Persian Boundary Commission, which provided the opportunity to visit mounds in southern Mesopotamia and Persia. He began excavations at Susa (with Hormuzd Rassam), Larsa, and Uruk (1853–1855), where he discovered clay-cone walls and some tablets. He also dug at some of the northern sites, such as Nineveh and Nimrud (Kalhu). His health suffered when he went to India for a geological survey and he died, aged 38, while at sea.