Edward Wright traces the origins and development of images of the heavenly realm in the ancient Near East, early Judaism, and Christianity. He begins by examining the beliefs of ancient Israel's neighbors in Egypt and Mesopotamia, reconstructing the intellectual context in which the earliest biblical images of heaven arose. He shows how the biblical authors and editors transformed common Near Eastern images of heaven to conform to their own strictly monotheistic beliefs and their refusal to allow any physical images of God.. "Wright reads between the lines of the Bible, examines several unusual archaeological artifacts, and explores a host of non-traditional Jewish and Christian materials to reconstruct the rich variety of early images of the heavenly realm.