Your focus is way wider than mine! I do have an interest on a few non-IE languages (mostly Guaraní; it would be actually useful in my case), but my current focus is on Sanskrit.

The thing with Maltese vs. other Arabic varieties reminds me a lot Sardinian vs. other Romance varieties - insular leftovers from a branch of the family that is gone elsewhere (Siculo-Arabic for Maltese, African Romance for Sardinian), with people arguing if they should lump it together a nearby variety (Tunsi for one, Italian for another). But sorry, I digress.

It’s interesting to see how these people are human like us and had day to day lives and are not some ancient alien race we treat them as.

Exactly! Specially in the Romance cultures, people see them as some sort of “ultra-civilised ancestors, with a refinement that was lost over time”, just like aliens. But once you dig through their texts and lives they become more and more relatable, you know? (Just like that Sumerian fart joke. Or Aristophanes foul wordplay.)