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I can watch in alarm as scholarship is inhibited and parochial because even with the best of intentions academics inhabit ghetto worlds. Himmells edited a fine volume but although the ancient religions covered here are all over the earth, including the Middle East, there are no contributors from the Middle East. Wouldn't it stand to reason that an Arab or Middle Eastern expert could be found on Mesopotamian religion? Nonetheless, there is no such person in the work. But, the lack of Arab and Middle Eastern scholarship is typical, not extraordinary.