Divided into five distinctive sections, this book provides an
introductory look at the conceptual world surrounding the Hebrew
Bible. The five sections are Comparative Studies, Literature of
the Ancient Near East, Religion, Cosmos, and People. The section
on Literature of the Ancient Near East is is a good, although
very brief, survey of the literature of the ancient near east
including Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, and Hittite. The author
has included a good cross section of ritual texts, letters,
chronicles, legal collections, hymns, wisdom literature, and
prophecy. The section on Religion is subdivided into The Gods,
Temples and Rituals, and State and Family Religion. Here the
reader is exposed to ancient thought on these subjects with the
intent that they come to understand the common beliefs and
practices well as beliefs and practices that differentiated them
from each other. The section on the Cosmos examines both the
geography of the cosmos and the beliefs surrounding them. The
section on the geography