This study examines the relationship between religion and royal authority in three of history's most influential civilizations: Homeric Greece, biblical Israel and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia. Launderville identifies similar, contrasting and analogous ways that piety functioned in these distinct cultures to legitimate the rule of particular kings and promote community well-being. Through ancient texts he explores 'the fundamental human quest for a meaningful home in a world in which kings claimed a privileged relationship with God or the gods'.