Review by Choice Review
Echoing elements of the author's Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning and the Gods (CH, Dec'92), this largely successful English translation on religion maintains Bottero's often-noted accessible style. Bottero paints an introduction to the shared and enduring culture of the ancient Mesopotamians, distinguishing it from earlier works (e.g., Oppenheim's Ancient Mesopotamia, CH, Jun'65, rev. ed. 1977) too often weighted down with extensive argumentative footnotes directed toward specialists. This effort is notable because of its commitment to offer the voice of the Mesopotamians themselves, and thereby let readers imagine the religious world of their cultural founders. Refreshingly, this text is not an encyclopedia of gods and goddesses. Rather, following the opening discussion of the nature of sources, its tour of Mesopotamian religion is organized by three standard categories in the history of religions: religious sentiment, religious symbolism, and ritual behavior. For some, the abundant textual examples illustrating Mesopotamian religious feelings may prove less than convincing. Historians of religion should find even more troublesome the rather uncritically eclectic mixture of theoretical perspectives, especially in the opening section (a range of approaches--from Durkheim's to Otto's--are juxtaposed either explicitly or by allusion). Nevertheless, this work should become a valuable introduction to Mesopotamia for students at all levels and for general readers. J. C. Hanges Miami University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
