One of the world's foremost experts on Assyriology, Jean Bottero has studied the religion of ancient Mesopotamia for more than fifty years. Building on these many years of research, Bottero 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.