Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural research, aided by linguistics, archaeology, and prehistoric and historic data, provides a view of sacred and secular life in ancient times. In every Near Eastern and Indo-European religion there was a belief in an orderly cosmos and society which could be troubled by an unorderly force. The social and political aspects of a society were organized and maintained by that cosmic order, and interpreted and reinforced by the religious authorities and heads of states. The cosmogonic and eschatological myths are reinforced in a society in the same manner. They...