Représenter dieux et hommes dans le Proche Orient ancien et dans la Bible : actes du colloque organisé par le Collège de France Paris les 5 et 6 mai 2015 What was the function of representing deities and also humans in the ancient Near East Which were the different ways of making gods visible and the specific functions of these representations Might these material and visual representations help us to better understand official cults as well as private cults What was the role of images in the royal cult Was the king the only “image” of the gods or could all humans fulfill this role Why were cult images forbidden Does the biblical prohibition have any precedent or parallel in the ancient Near East or elsewhere And how do the ways of representing gods and humans change in the absence of cultic images The conference Representing Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East and in the Bible held at the Collège de France Paris on May 5 6 2015 sought to shed light on these questions surrounding the image a critical issue for our understanding of ancient as well as modern religions