A great introduction into the evolution of Mesopotamia as one of the great centers of human development, the first cities of Sumer, the Semitic Conquest of the Amorites over Sumer, the rise of city states of Ur, Erech, and Nippur, the code of Hammurabi, the rise of the Babylon, the invention of cuneiform writing, the writing and survival of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and a lot of other great stuff too. A great book from 1967 Time/Life series "Great Ages of Man", well worth your perusal if interested in the ancient history of the Middle East.