Amanda H. Podany & Marni McGee, “The Ancient Near Eastern World”

I read that more relevant chapters, discussing the similarities among ancient faiths but also their differences; for example, non-Jews there saw man’s creation by the gods as motivated by a desire to save the latter from work via  the food sacrifices offered to them by the former.  These people, it should be borne in mind, were not stupid; consider their development of writing and their scientific advances, for example.

(This book is labeled juvenile literature by the library; specifically, it seemed to me to be high-school level.)