Investigating therapeutic sites in the Levant from the Biblical through the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and early Muslim times, Dvorjetski (history, Oxford Brookes U.) asks whether they serve as models for social interaction, especially mutual cultural influences between pagans, Christians, and Jews; and whether they served as sacred cult places or popular sites of healing, immorality, and debauchery. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)