The Master and Margarita also has a lot of details from biblical history that help making sense of it... I read it when I was taking a class from a Dead Sea Scroll archaeologist about how the bible was written and modern interpretations of it. So we read some of Gilgamesh, Old Testament, Dead Sea scrolls, Paradise Lost, and The Master and Margarita, among others (here's some version of the syllabus: http://web-app.usc.edu/soc/syllabus/20111/60056.doc)