The Sumerians

I'm including this book in the Spirituality section since it talks about the Sumerians. They had a version of the Great Flood story long before it appeared in the Bible.

The Sumerians can be traced back to around 4500 BCE. The book is an absolute must if you want to learn about them. They managed to come up with loads of ideas and inventions that we still have versions of today. These include:

The 24 hour day.
The idea of a circle being 360 degrees.
The first written language.
The first libraries.
The first use of irrigation.
The first set of written laws.
A 12-month calendar.
The wheel and the plow.
A postal system.
The early use of glass.
Sailboats.
Paved streets.
Asphalt.
Magnifying lenses.
First flushing toilets and sewer system.
A system of weights and measures.
The first to brew beer.
Urban planning.
Textbooks. (2500 BCE)
First law code.
Perhaps the first to develop astrology.

In addition there is a reference in their writing to a possible asteroid or comet impact about 5000 years ago. The Epic of Gilgamesh (one of their kings) is probably the first actual written story about a great hero. There were 12 city-states, each with their own gods.

They wrote on clay tablets of which many of them have survived. The majority of these writings were about bookkeeping of sales. They wrote about the Great Flood which later became the story of Noah and the Great Flood.

There's just a load of information. In addition, the book is readable, not over-foot-noted academic dryness.