The Assyrian Dictionary gives us the key into the world's first urban civilization. Virtually everything that we take for granted ... has its origins in Mesopotamia, whether it's the origins of cities, of state societies, the invention of the wheel, the way we measure time, and most important the invention of writing. If we ever want to understand our roots, we have to understand this first great civilization.

-- Gil Stein
Director of the Oriental Institute
at the University of Chicago