During the past two generations, there have been many studies on the structure, organization, and "function" of the gods of the Levantine and ancient Near Eastern worlds. In this important study, Lowell Handy provides new directions for thinking on this crucial topic, arguing that the structure of the pantheon worshiped in Syria-Palestine mirrored the social structure of the city-states in that region.

While many recent studies have investigated the relations of the gods in both biblical and extra-biblical texts from the area, Handy shows that the pantheon functioned as a bureaucracy. This perspective may well be the primary key for understanding hierarchy among the gods.