Civil was born in 1926 in Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain. He studied Sumerology in Paris and was associate researcher at the University of Pennsylvania from 1958 to 1963. From 1964 until 2001, he was Professor of Sumerology at the Oriental Institute in the University of Chicago. He was also associate director of studies of the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, epigraphist of the , a member of the editorial board of the , and main editor of the series Materials for the Sumerian Lexicon. He is widely considered the world expert in the use of the cuneiform script to write down the Sumerian language ; Rykle Borger called him der beste Kenner der sumerischen Schrift. He devoted his scholarship to achieve a better understanding of the Sumerian language and its textual corpus, publishing extensively on Sumerian literary and lexical texts, as well as many contributions that illuminate diverse aspects of the Sumerian writing system, language, literature, and culture, from phonology to agriculture. Civil also published several contributions on the texts from Ebla. His main monographs include: The Farmer's Instructions: A Sumerian Agricultural Manual ; The Early Dynastic Practical Vocabulary A ; and The Lexical texts in the Schøyen Collection.
1984. “On some terms for “bat” in Mesopotamia.” Aula Orientalis 2: 5–9.
1984. “Bilingualism in logographically written languages: Sumerian in Ebla.” In Il bilinguismo a Ebla, ed. Luigi Cagni. pp. 75–97. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale.
1984. “Notes to the ‘Instructions of Šuruppak.’” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 43: 281–298.
1985. “On some texts mentioning Ur-Namma.” Orientalia nova series, 54: 27–45.
1985. “Sur les “livres d’écolier” à l’époque paléo-babylonienne.” pp. 67–78 in Miscellanea babylonica: Mélanges offerts à Maurice Birot, eds. J.-M. Durand and J.-R. Kupper. Paris: ÉRC.
1987. “Feeding Dumuzi’s sheep: The lexicon as a source of literary inspiration.” In Language, literature, and history: Philological and historical studies presented to Erica Reiner, ed. Francesca Rochberg-Halton. AOS 67. pp. 37–55. New Haven: American Oriental Society.
1987. “The early history of HAR-ra: The Ebla link.” In Ebla 1975-1985, ed. Luigi Cagni. pp. 131–158. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale.
1987.“Sumerian riddles: A corpus.” Aula Orientalis 5: 17–37.
1993. “On Mesopotamian jails and their lady warden.” In The tablet and the scroll: Near Eastern studies in honor of William W. Hallo, ed. Mark E. Cohen et al. pp. 72–78. Bethesda, Maryland: CDL Press.
1994. The Farmer’s Instructions. Sabadell: Ausa.
1996. “Literary text about Ur-Namma.” Aula Orientalis 14: 163–67.
1997. “The Instructions of king Ur-Ninurta: A new fragment.” Aula Orientalis 15: 43–53.
1999–2000. “Reading Gilgameš.” Aula Orientalis 17-18: 179–189.
2002. “The forerunners of marû and hamtu in Old Babylonian.” In Riches hidden in secret places: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in memory of Thorkild Jacobsen, ed. Tzvi Abusch. pp. 63–71. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns.
2008. The Early Dynastic Practical Vocabulary A . Rome: La Sapienza.
2010. The Lexical texts in the Schøyen Collection''. Bethesda, Md.: CDL Press.
