Patrick D. Miller’s survey of ancient Israelite religion offers a helpful and informative overview of the subject. While not the most exciting read, this volume contains a treasure trove of information and insights on ancient Israel and its religious beliefs and practices. I especially appreciated Miller’s chapter on sacrifice and offering, in which he catalogues the various types of sacrifices and offerings in ancient Israel, and notes each of their intended goals and purposes.

In my opinion, Miller could have done a better job of incorporating archaeological remains, and specifically iconographical material, into his analysis. While Miller states at the outset that “[t]he responsibility of the student of Israel's religion is not one of choosing or emphasizing one body of evidence over another but the intermixing of data from literary (and epigraphic), iconographic, and artifactual remains that are neither literary nor pictorial” (xvi), Miller still depends primarily on textual remains throughout the book. A possible exception would be in his opening chapter (“God and the Gods”), but even there, many of the iconographic/pictorial remains seem to serve a purely illustrative purpose, rather than actual evidence in support of a larger argument. It is evident that Miller is especially well-versed in biblical texts and other ancient Near Eastern texts, and he leverages these materials well throughout the book. Still, I would’ve liked to see a greater use of iconographical material, especially because he made a point of drawing attention to the need for such “intermixing of data.”