
Dominique Charpin, in his book En quête de Ninive. Des savants français à la découverte de la Mésopotamie (Collège de France/Les Belles Lettres, 2022), takes an in-depth look at Jules Oppert's career and his role in the development of Assyriology. Essential reading to complement or anticipate a visit to the exhibition " Jules Oppert et la découverte de la Mésopotamie (1850-1905) ", presented at the Institute of Civilizations, from June 18 to September 21 2025 !
In the excerpt below (p. 67), Dominique Charpin describes the rivalry between the two great scholars Oppert and Renan, both professors at the Collège de France, over Assyrian, a language that had only just been discovered :