A 19th century BC cuneiform tablet from the city of Sippar in the Babylon region had been carefully placed on a cot awaiting its turn to be relieved of salt damage. Its dark brown clay was infused with a white mineral attesting to the saline soil from which it was composed. It was a priceless treasure left by our Bronze Age ancestors as evidence that they had created a written language. It has become their gift, a seed to strengthen civilization, a way to record even the most mundane events, and now it lies on this table awaiting desalination: a conservation process designed to harden its structure and give it a much-needed bath. Removing the salt would prevent it from becoming too brittle to move. And this was just one of a collection of 130,000 cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia here at the Metropolitan Museum in London. His cousins ​​and brothers could be found in trays placed in the stainless steel sink across the room, with a constant stream of cold water dousing them. The electric furnace, used to harden these artifacts, was again losing heat at an alarming rate, causing the air conditioner to run at maximum speed. This always happens when Dr. Milton Schwab was in the middle of a firing cycle; otherwise it was stiflingly hot in the Desalination Laboratory and that would be his home for the next ten hours. He set a timer, then turned around to focus on a more pressing problem with the air conditioner. A contaminating substance had begun to appear on the surface of these artefacts and it wasn't just one; all the Sippar cuneiform tablets had stains. It's an epidemic, Dr. Schwab thought as he looked down at a tray of tablets he'd left to air dry on the counter. He ran his fingers over the hardened crystals. H...half of the paper..."Laundry soap?""Yes, you know...Calgon. The name comes from the disappearance of calcium, because that's what it does." "It's brilliant." Dr. Fielder smiled. "Yes... Calgon, take me awayyyy!" SCHWAB.» Larkin shouted. "I arrive. Right." Schwab followed Dr. Polley as they headed for the door. He was still shaking. Losing his job would be the worst thing that could happen to him. He loved this place. He never married, never had kids. His work was his home. No one, he could never let anyone take his job away and for what? "Oh wait." He took the headphones off his neck and handed them to Doctor Fielder. "You're going to need these. friend." He glanced at the girls and then ran out the door to join Dr. Larkin. Works Cited Report No 1998/10, The British Museum, Department of Conservation Research Group