The first book to explore the religious dimensions of the family and the household in ancient Mediterranean and West Asian antiquity. Advances our understanding of household and familial religion, as opposed to state-sponsored or civic temple cultsReconstructs domestic and family religious practices in Egypt, Greece, Rome, Israel, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, Emar, and PhilistiaExplores many household rituals, such as providing for ancestral spirits, and petitioning of a household's patron deities or of spirits associated with the house itselfExamines lifecycle rituals – from pregnancy and birth to maturity, old age, death, and beyondLooks at religious practices relating to the household both within the home itself and other spaces, such as at extramural tombs and local sanctuaries