In this book, Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger attempt to “sketch out a general outline of the development of the religious history in Canaan and Israel (including Judah) that will stretch all the way from Middle Bronze Age IIB (from ca. 1800) to the end of Iron Age III (to just before 450)” (5). When trying to reconstruct the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, many scholars turn to a combination of biblical texts and inscriptional/epigraphic evidence from the land of Israel/Palestine, or solely to inscriptional evidence. In contrast, Keel and Uehlinger “focus [their] attention on the generally overlooked iconographic data” from Israel/Palestine (5), specifically the art found on smaller media, such as stamp seals and amulets. An enormous amount of such art has been found in Israel/Palestine over the centuries. For Keel and Uehlinger, trying to understand ancient Israelite religious belief and practice without paying attention to visual remains is like attempting to put together a puzzle but choosing only to use half of the puzzle pieces. By looking at visual remains as well as textual remains, the authors seek to better and more holistically understand the religion of ancient Israel/Judah.

This was a long-overdue work when it first appeared in the 90s and it still proves an invaluable resource for studying and interpreting the visual culture of ancient Israel/Judah, especially for students and scholars of the Bible and ancient Israelite religion. While not perfect, nor entirely complete or comprehensive—and the authors themselves are quick to admit that this is really just the beginning of the work that needs to be done—it is still an important work in the field of biblical studies.