Political theology is one of the key concepts that determined thinking about the state in the 20th century. How far can its historical roots be traced? Defining political theology as a description of the relationship between problems of domination and salvation, the most prominent Egyptologist of our time, Jan Assman, finds its foundations in ancient Egyptian and Hebrew political cultures. These two cultures form two opposing types of political theology: in the first case we are talking about the deification of the king, in the second - about the replacement of the royal figure by the deity himself. In the proposed book, Assman analyzes these political theologies in detail, and also substantiates his ideas through an appeal to the specific religious ideas and political practices of ancient Egypt and Israel.