''Once Upon a Time in Mesopotamia'' (french: Il était une fois la Mésopotamie; german: Es war einmal in Mesopotamien) is a 1998 documentary film adapted from the nonfiction book of the same name by French

Assyriologist Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , '' -logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...

Jean Bottéro and archaeologist Marie-Joseph Stève. Directed by

Jean-Claude Lubtchansky Jean-Claude Lubtchansky (2 December 1930 – 14 October 2020) was a French film editor, documentary and television director. Career Best known as a documentary filmmaker, Jean-Claude Lubtchansky was the assistant director of two 1958 document ...

, and co-produced by Trans Europe Film, La Sept-Arte, Éditions Gallimard, Louvre Museum and La Cinquième, with voice-over narration by French actors

François Marthouret François Marthouret (born 12 September 1943) is a French actor. Selected filmography Theater References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marthouret, Francois 1943 births Living people Male actors from Paris French male film actors ...

, and the director, the documentary is structured like an adventure film, takes viewers into the world of the first discoverers, epigraphists and Assyriologists who revealed Mesopotamian archaeology to the modern world. The film was broadcast on Arte on 30 May 1998, as part of the channel's television programme ''

The Human Adventure ''The Human Adventure'' is a game written by William F. Denman, Jr. and published by Med Systems Software in 1980 for the TRS-80 and Apple II. Gameplay ''The Human Adventure'' is a game which follows miniaturized scientists traveling through a pe ...

'', and rebroadcast on La Cinquième on 4 and 5 June of the same year. In addition to German dubbing, the documentary has been subtitled into English and Spanish, and released on DVD by

Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

(CNC).

Synopsis

Mesopotamia, the land between two rivers, whose brilliant civilisation began to develop 5000 years ago, apart from the reports of some ancient Greek and Roman chroniclers, it existed only as a biblical legend. It is the oldest and longest civilisation, both for the influence it exerted on the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

and on the

Greek world In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in History of the Mediterranean region, Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as sig ...

as for its contribution to the material and spiritual development of humanity, and oddly the most poorly known to the general public. Today, however, many—albeit scattered—archaeological finds and various sites provide an impressive insight into the richness of this civilisation that invented writing and produced the first scientific systems and literary works. The artefacts kept in various European museums, the archaeological sites and the excavations themselves are documented on the basis of archive material, that is, photos, watercolours, drawings and films. Expedition reports and images of life in Mesopotamia before the

first Iraq war The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

illustrating the human adventure of reconstructing a lost civilisation.

Production

The documentary was partially shot in Iraq, in the land of clay and reed between the Tigris and

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

The book

Gabriel Tranchand – Photo 1852 Khorsabad

The book , on which the film is based, is an illustrated

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

on Mesopotamian archaeology, published in pocket format by Éditions Gallimard on 4 November 1993. Co-written by French

and

biblicist Biblical literalism or biblicism is a term used differently by different authors concerning biblical interpretation. It can equate to the dictionary definition of literalism: "adherence to the exact letter or the literal sense", where literal mea ...

Jean Bottéro, and his research companion—an archaeologist and Dominican monk— Marie-Joseph Stève, the work is the volume in the encyclopaedic

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: * Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department * Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service * Collection agency, agency to collect cash * Collectio ...

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an editorial collection of illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in pocket format. The books are concise introductions to pa ...

', and part of the collection's series. That is to say, here the subject is the rediscovery of Mesopotamian civilisation, the decipherment of cuneiform, and the study of archaeological sites, objects and documents discovered in the region, from the late eighteenth century onwards ( history of Assyriology), but not the history of this civilisation. According to the tradition of 'Découvertes', which is based on an abundant pictorial documentation and a way of bringing together visual documents and texts, enhanced by printing on coated paper; in other words, 'genuine monographs, published like art books'. While many of the French titles from the collection make it into English, this book has never been translated.

References

External links

*
''Il était une fois la Mésopotamie'' (the film)
on CNC Images de la culture
''Il était une fois la Mésopotamie'' (the book)
at Éditions Gallimard {{Portal bar, Civilizations, Iraq, Writing, Television, Literature, France 1998 documentary films 1998 films French documentary television films Documentary films about Iraq Films based on non-fiction books Films shot in Iraq Découvertes Gallimard 1993 non-fiction books Archaeology books Books about the ancient Near East Mesopotamia 1990s French films