The cruel picture of merciless Assyrian armies and Babylonian despots painted in the Bible was given substance by the discoveries in the nineteenth century in the ancient Assyrian cities and palaces—but a far richer and more varied world was also revealed. Alongside the enthusiastic but often destructive activities of the excavators, whose finds richly furnished the Oriental departments of major museums in Europe and the United States, the painstaking efforts of linguists and epigraphers enabled the writings of the ancient Mesopotamians to be deciphered and read once more. The deeds of kings, the exploits of heroes, and the acts of the gods were now laid bare, alongside the smug achievements of schoolboys, the angry actions of litigants, the careful calculations of engineers, and the devotions of priestesses. The clay that was the medium for writing for most of Mesopotamian history ensured the survival of huge numbers of texts, and the process of reading and publishing them occupies a major part in uncovering the story of Mesopotamia's past, which is still far from complete. Monographs and journals are now being supplemented and will perhaps one day be superseded by the Internet, which offers modern scholars the opportunity to share their discoveries swiftly, universally, and cheaply. The modern world is less helpful in the opportunities it affords for investigation in the field, since most of ancient Mesopotamia lies in Iraq, virtually closed to scholars since 1991, shifting excavations and survey work to adjacent but often still troubled regions like Syria. The Iraq War has made Mesopotamia's past even more inaccessible and has enabled looters to obliterate many of the remaining sites.
Mesopotamian Civilization
World History
