Giorgio Buccellati is Research Professor in the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and in the Department of History at UCLA. He founded the Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, of which he served as first director from 1973 until 1983 and is now Director of the Mesopotamian Lab. He is currently Director of IIMAS – the International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies and of AVASA – Associazione per la Valorizzazione dell'Archeologia e della Storia Antica.

• Introduction 1. Religion and spirituality; 2. Mesopotamia and the Bible; PART 1: The divine element; 3. The concept of the divine; 4. The encounter with the divine; 5. Structure of the divine; 6. Diachronic developments; PART 2: The human element in his relationship with the divine; 7. The "affecting presence"; SECTION ONE: The individual; A. The divine manifestation at the individual level; 8. Morality; 9. Divination; 10. Prophetism; 11. Apparitions; B. The search for the divine at an individual level; 12. Meditation; 13. Magic and rituals for the individual; 14. Individual prayer; 15. Materializations; SECTION TWO. The community; A. The divine manifestation at the community level; 16. Politics; 17. Narrative; 18. Representations; 19. History; B. The search for the divine at the community level; 20. The temple; 21. Proclamation; 22. Worship; 23. The ruin of the sacred; Conclusion; 24. Them and us; 25. Fatigue and catharsis; 26. Afterword.

Giorgio Buccellati is Research Professor in the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and in the Department of History at UCLA. He founded the Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, of which he served as first director from 1973 until 1983 and is now Director of the Mesopotamian Lab. He is currently Director of IIMAS – the International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies and of AVASA – Associazione per la Valorizzazione dell'Archeologia e della Storia Antica.

• Introduction 1. Religion and spirituality; 2. Mesopotamia and the Bible; PART 1: The divine element; 3. The concept of the divine; 4. The encounter with the divine; 5. Structure of the divine; 6. Diachronic developments; PART 2: The human element in his relationship with the divine; 7. The "affecting presence"; SECTION ONE: The individual; A. The divine manifestation at the individual level; 8. Morality; 9. Divination; 10. Prophetism; 11. Apparitions; B. The search for the divine at an individual level; 12. Meditation; 13. Magic and rituals for the individual; 14. Individual prayer; 15. Materializations; SECTION TWO. The community; A. The divine manifestation at the community level; 16. Politics; 17. Narrative; 18. Representations; 19. History; B. The search for the divine at the community level; 20. The temple; 21. Proclamation; 22. Worship; 23. The ruin of the sacred; Conclusion; 24. Them and us; 25. Fatigue and catharsis; 26. Afterword.