Yahweh Among the Gods

Book excerpt: "The divine is seemingly ubiquitous in Mesopotamian society, yet despite its all-pervasiveness, it remains conceptually elusive. The divine sphere is vast and complex, such that it is hard to delimit and to distinguish between its various parts. In fact, there is no simple answer to even the most basic question: what is a god? The divine world is also characterized by a fluidity not found in modern western religions. For example, Ištar-of-Arbela, Ištar-of-Nineveh, and Ištar, the-Planet-Venus are all Ištar, yet in different contexts are treated as different Ištars. In addition, although the divine is present seemingly everywhere, Mesopotamians themselves make little attempt to systematically unravel its complexities"--