Everyone knows the Bible has Ten Commandments, but there are, in fact, more than 2000 additional rules and laws in its pages. These rules govern almost every sphere of human activity, from love and war to food and drink and from how to pray to what to wear. Yet they are also a portal to the ancient world, opening a window on civilizations that vanished thousands of years ago, whether Rome, Egypt or Mesopotamia. Each rule launches an investigation into a lost landscape of history, shining a light on the way peoples in distant times lived, loved, thought and fought. For instance, if a rule warns people that
