Synopses & Reviews
One of the world's foremost experts on Assyriology, Jean Bottandeacute;ro has studied the religion of ancient Mesopotamia for more than fifty years. Building on these many years of research, Bottandeacute;ro here presents the definitive account of one of the world's oldest known religions. He shows how ancient Mesopotamian religion was practiced both in the public and private spheres, how it developed over the three millennia of its active existence, and how it profoundly influenced Western civilization, including the Hebrew Bible.
About the Author
Jean Bottandeacute;ro is the emeritus director of l'andEacute;cole Pratique des Hautes andEacute;tudes, quatriandegrave;me section, Paris. He is the author of The Oldest Cuisine in the World: Cooking in Mesopotamia; Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods, and coauthor of Ancestor of the West: Writing, Reasoning, and Religion in the Ancient Near East, all published by the University of Chicago Press. Teresa Lavender Fagan has translated more than a dozen books for the University of Chicago Press.
Table of Contents
Preface
Translator's Note
1. Religion and Religions
2. Mesopotamia and Its History
Prehistory
History
Historical Overview
3. The Sources: What We Can Expect from Them
4. Religious Sentiment
Sources
Reverence
Henotheism?
5. Religious Representations
The Gods
The Mythology of the Divine
The Mythology of the World
The Mythology of Man
6. Religious Behavior
The Theocentric Cult
The "Sacramental" Cult
7. Influence and Survivals
Influence
Survivals
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index