The image of modern or recent historians knelt in the dirt, gently brushing age-old dust from a fragment of skull or a shard of pottery is a familiar one. What I want to know is whether or not this was something that an ancient people like the Romans did. What did they do when they found - if they found - the ruins of an ancient Sumerian city, or other cultures that had risen and then perished before them?
Surprisingly, we do in fact actually have ancient records of ancient people conducting quasi-archaeological research on old ruins, specifically in Mesopotamia. Some of the ancient Mesopotamian rulers dabbled in antiquarianism (the interest in and collection and preservation of old things because they are old, a precursor to the formal field of archaeology), most particularly King Nabopolassar (636-605 BC). According to Nabopolassar himself,
“When I was young, although the son of a nobody, I constantly sought out the temples of Nabu and Marduk, my patrons…shrines, walls and temples… which had weakened and collapsed because of age; whose walls had been taken away because of rain and deluge; whose foundations had heaped up and accumulated into a mound of ruins—I mustered Enlil’s, Shamash, and Marduk’s troops. I had them use the hoe and imposed the basket of conscription on them. From the bank of the Arhtu canal, on the lower side near the Urash gate, I removed its accumulated debris, surveyed and examined its old foundations, and laid its brickwork in the original place. I established its base on the edge of the underworld. I surrounded the east bank with a mighty mountainous belt….I Nabopolassar, the one who discovers (inscribed) bricks from the past, the one who implements the work on the original, eternal foundations, the one who wields the hoe of the Igigi.” (Nabopolassar Cylinder, emphasis mine).
As we can see in this inscription, which is not the only one Nabopolassar wrote about his activities restoring and recovering his civilization's ancient history, Nabopolassar engaged in several activities which are very similar to the things modern archaeologists also try to do.
He observed and noted the fallen condition of the buildings, employed (or conscripted) laborers to unbury the ruins (one of the earliest recorded excavations). Most importantly, he did not merely loot the ancient remains, but surveyed and recorded them, examining the foundations and performed restoration by laying brickwork in the original place. He also discovered ancient inscriptions and other artifacts, and made a note of these as well. All of these tasks are parallels to what modern archaeologists do. Most importantly, he wasn't just looting the ruins for relics a la Indiana Jones, but appears to have approached it with more care for records, given his mentions of recording, surveying, making notes, etc.
Obviously, it wasn't to the standards that we hold modern archaeologists to, but it is often considered the first recorded foray into archaeology proper.
These efforts were undertaken to honor and redisplay the splendor of an earlier time, similar to what modern archaeologists do.
Some sources for further reading, should you desire to do so:
Diana Pickworth. “Excavations at Nineveh: The Halzi Gate.” Iraq [British Institute for the Study of Iraq] 67.1 (2005) 295-316, esp. fig. 1 on 296 and 298.
K. C. Hanson. Nabopolassar Cylinder, 2012. See Dr. K. C. Hanson, Wipf and Stock Publishers,199 W. 8th Ave. Eugene, OR 97401. See http://www.kchanson.com/ancdocs/meso/nabo.html
Here is a good magazine write-up about this:
http://www.electrummagazine.com/2012/01/king-nabopolassar-ancient-babylonian-archaeologist/