This volume deals with secrecy and concealment in the history of Mediterranean and Near Eastern religions as a pattern of social interaction. Secrecy is a powerful means in establishing identity and interaction, as G. Simmel has demonstrated. Using his approach, the scholars of this volume describe and explain the practical meaning of concealment in two different religious systems: in Egyptian and Greek polytheism; and in Jewish, Christian, Gnostic and Shi'i monotheisms. This perspective reveals that all these religions shaped social norms concerning public and private aspects of the human self. The text contains articles by the following authors: Hans G. Kippenberg; Gedaliahu G. Stroumsa; Gerd Theisen; Renate Schlesier; Kurt Rudolph; Birgitta Nedelmann; Luther Martin; Hubert Cancik; Robert Lamberton; Etan Kohlberg; Moshe Idel; Karl Hoheisel; Burkhard Gladigow; Dieter Georgi; Walter Burkert; Jan N. Bremmer; Moshe Barasch; and Jan Assman.