The materials for this study are very authen tic, and though fragmentary, they are contempo rary, and, rightly understood, they are conclusive. consist : first, in the names of towns in Palestine and Syria; second, in the names of Syrian chiefs with whom the Egyptians came in contact ; third, in the names of Syrian chiefs en countered by the Assyrians; fourth, in the hiero glyphic texts of Syria and Asia Minor; fifth, in the non-Semitic element in Phoenicia; sixth, in the engraved signets and amulets of Pha:nicia and Asia Minor, as compared with those of Chaldea.
All these materials yield important results, but only when they are treated by a comparative method, and on the basis of the supposition which is clearly pointed out in Genesis,—that there was in Palestine from the earliest period a non Semitic as well as a Semitic population,—that is to say, a population speaking a language, pos sessing a physiognomy, a religion, and customs quite distinct from those of the group of nations called Semitic, by which we understand the He brews, the Arabs, and the Assyrians.
The northern part of the list of towns con quered by Thothmes I! I in Syria contains many names which arc not Semitic, and apparently not Aryan. No one, as far as Mr. Rassam knows, has made any serious effort to translate them. Professor Sayce believed that Georgian might furnish the key, but though lie has studied Georg ian as have Mr. Hyde Clark, Mr. Berlin, and others, the Georgian vocabularies have not been found to throw any light upon the subject.
Mr. Rassam also inspected these vocabularies with the came result. Georgian is a modern lan guage, which, according to Itrosset. who has written the best grammar on the subject, is a mixed language.
The Hittites, as represented on the monuments at Karnak have. however, long been rccogni7cd by Dr. Birch, Mr. II G Tomkins and Mr. Ras sam as being of the Mongolian type, Summary. Mr. Rassam thus sums up the re sults he has attained : (i) That the monumental nomenclature of the Hittite country and of the Hittite chiefs is Tartar; (2) That the sounds of the Hittite language on the Syrian monuments arc Tartar ; (3) That the only known bilingual gives a Tartar-Ugrig language; (4) That the old languages of Caria and Lydia are 1 artar L'grig.
Comparing the results obtained from the monu ments with the Old Testament, we know the fol lowing facts: (i) The Hittites lived in walled towns; (2) They had carved representations of the gods; (3) They adored Tammuz, and Ash toreth, and Set; (4) They could write on stone and on metal; (5) They had chariots and horses; (6) They married out of their own tribe; (7) They entered into an alliance with Egypt ; (8) They were of Turanian race, and probably, there fore, not circumcised, as that is not a common Turanian custom; (9) They had riches of gold, silver and bronze.
From the Old Testament, on the other hand, we learn that : (1) The Canaanitcs lived in cities "walled up to heaven ;" (2) They made such likenesses of idols, which Israel was to destroy, and no such sculptures have been found between Dan and Beersheba. though they occur in Phrrni cia and northern Syria; (3) The Canaanites adored Tammuz and Ashtoreth ; (4) Letters are mentioned in David's time, and writing in the time of Moses, but nothing, about the Canaanite litera ture, except that some think Kirjath Sepher means "Book town" (Josh. xv :15, i6; Judg. i :it, t2) . (5) The Canaanitcs had horses, and chariots of iron. (Note that the Canaanite chariots are said by Thothmes I11 to have been plated with silver, as were Roman chariots). (6) Esau married Hittite wives; David and Solomon (lid the same; co did Rarneses H. (7) Egypt was the enemy of Israel, and Israel was the enemy of the Canaanites; (8) The Canaanites were the sons of Ham, and they were uncircumcised; (9) Great riches are mentioned as found by the Hebrews when they attacked the Canaanites. (Transactions of the Victoria Institute). (See Hi 171TES.)