Unlike works inherited from Greek or Roman Antiquity, no text of Mesopotamian civilization has come down to us directly. The Onsriologist works from texts inscribed in cuneiform characters on clay tablets. He must reconstitute the texts from fragments, put them in chronological and geographical order to gradually develop a history not only political, but also social, economic and cultural of Mesopotamia. The task is immense and involves a multidisciplinary approach combining archeology and epigraphy, philology and history. |