George Rawlinson (23 November 1812 – 6 October 1902) was a British scholar, historian and Christian theologian.
In his early days at Oxford, Rawlinson played cricket for the University, appearing in five matches between 1836 and 1839 which have since been considered to have been first-class.
He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1869.
In 1872, he was appointed canon of Canterbury, and after 1888 he was rector of the rich City of London benefice All Hallows, Lombard Street. In 1873, he was appointed proctor in Convocation for the Chapter of Canterbury.
He married in 1846 Louisa Chermside, daughter of Sir Robert Alexander Chermside. The couple had 13 children. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1896.
Canon Rawlinson died at his residence in Cathedral precincts, Canterbury, on 6 October 1902.
His lectures to an audience at Oxford University on the topic of the accuracy of the Bible in 1859 were published in later years as the apologetic work The Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records Stated Anew.
He was also a contributor to the Speaker's Commentary, the Pulpit Commentary, Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, and various similar publications. He was the author of the article "Herodotus" in the 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
In his 1881 book, a History of Ancient Egypt, George Rawlinson wrote that in form the Egyptian most resembled the Arabs. They were amongst the darkest of races that the Ancient Greece came into contact with, but considered Herodotus to have made extreme exaggerations. Based on his viewing of monuments, he asserted the real complexion of the ordinary Egyptian man was brown-with a tinge of red, which he observed was not very different from the Copts. In another publication entitled Ancient Egypt released in 1887, Rawlinson would state the Egyptian people were of a "mixed-race", derived by movements of Ethiopians from the south, Libyans from the west, and Semitic peoples coming from the north-east of the continent.
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