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. Bottero focuses on divination in the ancient world, contending that certain modes of worship in Mesopotamia, in their application of casuality and proof, prefigure the "scientific mind."

Translated by: Zainab Bahrani, Marc Van De Mieroop