Abstract
In the autumn of 1851, when Victor Place was in charge of resuming Paul-Emile Botta's excavations in Khorsabad, the French government decided to send a major scientific expedition to Mesopotamia. Headed by Fulgence Fresnel, former French consul and Orientalist, the mission included a brilliant architect, Félix Thomas, and a young epigraphist, Jules Oppert, already well known for his work on Persian writing. This expedition, which concentrated its research on the site of Babylon, was a failure. The only concrete result was Oppert's publication, which, between 1859 and 1863, publicized the mission's journey, field research and, above all, the epigraphic work of the Scientific Expedition to Mesopotamia.
