Following up on his two recent, widely acclaimed studies of ancient Israelite history and society, William Dever here reconstructs the practice of religion in ancient Israel from the bottom up. Archaeological excavations reveal numerous local and family shrines where sacrifices and other rituals were carried out. Intrigued by this "folk religion" in all its variety and vitality, Dever writes about ordinary people in ancient Israel and their everyday...

"The narrative conveys Fletcher's enthusiasm for her work and is supplemented with an excellent bibliography. Highly recommended." - Library Journal "Fascinating...Fletcher picked up on the tiniest of clues to track down what she believes could be the missing queen." - Daily Mail (London) "A learned and intensely personal book... compelling revelations... a thrilling examination." - Publishers Weekly

How did the imperial cult affect Christians in the Roman Empire?     "Jesus is lord, not Caesar." Many scholars and preachers attribute mistreatment of early Christians by Roman authorities to this fundamental confessional conflict. But this mantra relies on a reductive understanding of the imperial cult. D. Clint Burnett examines copious evidence-literary, epigraphic, numismatic, and archaeological-to more accurately reconstruct Christian...