The History of the Middle East

The ancient languages of this tradition, arcadian and sumerian, were lost. Their last speakers died in the century or two before the turn of the common era. As far as we can tell, only fragments of the ancient texts survived in a history written by a babylonian priest called berosus. We can only presume that the ancient histories were preserved in some form by the various overlords of the twin rivers. But these were all lost with the arab conquests. The only way to recover the ancient and vast literature of the middle east was for some one to go there and dig it up. No one in the ottoman empire was inclined to undertake the arduous