{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.05820503191888847, 'fraction_numerical': 0.00488171235448742, 'mean_word_length': 5.195348837209302, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Book Review: Myth and Mystery: An Introduction to the Pagan Religions of the Biblical World

MYTH AND MYSTERY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PAGAN RELIGIONS OF THE BIBLICAL WORLD. By Jack Finegan. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989. Pp. 335. Finegan, well known for his illuminating books on the world in which the Bible took shape, presents here the beliefs of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Zoroastrian, Canaanite, Greek, Roman, Gnostic, Mandaean, and Manichaean religions, describing our sources of knowledge about each, its geographical spread, its tenets, the factors that influenced it, and its relation to biblical writings. Under Mesopotamian religion F. describes the beliefs of non-Semitic Sumerians, which were eventually adopted by Semitic Assyrians and Bablyonians. These peoples venerated deified cosmic powers An (lord of the sky), Enlil (lord of the atmosphere), Enki (lord of the earth and waters below), Inanna (Venus), Nanna (moon), Utu (sun); and other deities: Beletili (mistress of the god), Ninurta (lord of earth), Nergal (god of underworld). Among these, two emerged as prominent national gods, Marduk (calf of Utu) in Babylonia, and Asshur (god of the fathers) in Assyria. The temples of these gods are located and described; the mythologies associated with them are set forth. The Egyptians too venerated deified cosmic powers; Hapi (Nile-god), Re (sun-god), Osiris (constellation Orion), Isis (dog-star Sirius). Gods were associated with animals: Hathor (cow), Anubis (jackal), Bastet (cat), Horus (falcon); or with plants: Nefertem (lotus), Isched (willow). Egyptian belief distinguished aspects of the human person: its kha (mortal body), ba (soul), ka (double), and akh (spirit). Mythologies about the gods, especially Osiris and Isis, developed at various places (Heliopolis, Thebes, Memphis), where their temples were built. Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and the Book of the Dead contain literature about the afterlife. Religious belief also ruled human life and society: maat (truth, righteousness, justice) was its ethical norm. Wisdom literature and prophetic literature flourished. Zoroastrian religion grew up in central Asia, where it is known principally from the Avesta and Zand-Avesta. According to it two beings rule world history, Ahura Mazda (the good lord of Wisdom, dwelling in light) and Angra Mainyu (the evil spirit, dwelling in darkness). History is the record of the strife between them, which lasts for thousands of years until the final battle, in which three helpers born of Zarathustra will conquer evil, conduct the judgment, and renew the universe. Though the Avestan literature dates Zarathustra to 630-536 B.C., Greek tradition