Our ancestors, the Mesopotamians, invented writing and with it a new way of looking at the world. In this collection of essays, the French scholar Jean Bottero attempts to go back to the moment which marks the very beginning of history.
To give the reader some sense of how Mesopotamian civilization has been mediated and interpreted in its transmission through time, Bottero begins with an account of Assyriology, the discipline devoted to the ancient culture. This transmission, compounded with countless discoveries, would not have been possible without the surprising decipherment of the cuneiform writing system. Bottero also focuses on divination in the ancient world, contending that certain modes of worship in Mesopotamia, in their application of causality and proof, prefigure the "scientific mind."
- ISBN10 8437621194
- ISBN13 9788437621197
- Publish Date 1 December 2005 (first published 1 May 1992)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Out of Print 11 April 2012
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Ediciones Catedra S.A.
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Language English