(7) Hittites from a Biblical Standpoint. Thus it has been seen that the Biblical state ments are fully confirmed by the curpulative evi dence of modern discovery.
We find this people among the settled inhab itants of Canaan while as yet Abraham was only a wandering sheikh. They lived in and about Hebron, and Abraham, when he abode in that neighborhood, was treated by them with respect and consideration (Gen. xxiii :3-7, 1, 12).
He obtains his first possession in Canaan by pur chasing a grave for Sarah of the sons of Heth (Gen. xxiii). The story as told in Genesis is true in all the formal details v:hich embellish the framework of a shrewd Oriental bargain. "In fact," says Dr. Thomson. "up to the present day, in this very city of Hebron, a purchase thus wit nessed is legal, while the best drawn deeds of a modern lawyer, though signed, sealed and attested, would be of no avail without sucti living wit nesses" (The Land and the Book, p. 249)• In the Book of Exodus the Hittites had grown in importance. The promised land is described by an enumeration of the peoples who inhabit it, and the Hitties, who are never absent from that enumeration, occupy the place of distinction (Exod. iii :8, 17 ; xiii :5 ; xxiii :23).
In the Egyptian hieroglyphics they occupy ex actly the same position which is assigned them in the Book of Exodus. They are first in order and first in importance among the peoples in the prom ised land. (See Rawlinson, History of Ancient Egypt, vol. i., p. tit.) During the weary years spent in Egypt the Israelites were often encouraged by the promise that they should return to the land of the Hit tites. Later Jehovah not only promised to send his angel to lead them there, but also declared he would send before them hornets to drive out the Hittites (Exod. xxiii :28). This promise seems to have been largely fulfilled by the devastating border wars between the Pharaohs and the people of Southern Palestine, who were always the first to feel the shock of Egyptian arms. We can trace the march of Seti I on his first campaign, from Khetam (the Etham of the Bible) past Re hoboth to the fortress of Kanaan, which he stormed, and became the subduer of the whole Edomitish Negeb. On the northern side of the great temple of Karnak this conquest is recorded thus : "In the first year of King Seti there took place. by the strong arm of Pharaoh, the annihila tion of the hostile Shasu, from the fortress of Khetam of the land of Zalu as far as Kanaan; the king was against them like a fierce lion. "I hey were turned into a heap of corpses. They lay there in blood." (Brugsch's Egypt Under the Fharaolzs, vol. p. 14.) In such fierce border encounters the hand of Pharaoh would press heavily upon any Hittite colonies which occupied advance positions. Hence
Joshua found the Anakim at Hebron, and the spies found the Amalekites dwelling in the south and the Hittites driven back to the mountains (Num. xiii :29).
(8) Cities Identified. The remains of the Hittite cities have been long buried ; but the ef forts of Mr. Skene and Mr. George Smith have identified the two chief capitals of the south, Car chemish (to which reference has already been made) and Kadesh; the forme' on the Euphrates, known as Jerablas, the latter on the Orontes (see CARCHEMISH ; KADESH). These two places were 'Holy Cities,' that is, under the protection of a goddess and wholly devoted to her worship. These 'Holy Cities' were a characteristic peculiar to the Hittite people. Besides being devoted to the goddess, they were places of 'refuge.' The homicide could escape to them, and once within the protection of its deity he was safe from his pursuers and could not be injured or slain. The debtor and political outcast were equally safe.
(9) Hebrew Cities of Refuge. Palestine also contained "cities of refuge." These Hebrew cities of refuge were six in number. One of them was Hebron, once occupied by the Hittites and Amor ites. Another was Kedesh, of Galilee, the name of which shows it to have been a 'holy city' like Kadesh. Shechem, too, had been taken from the Amorites by Jacob (Gen. xlviii :22), and the other three cities were in the region long held by the Amorites. These facts might raise the question, as suggested by Mr. Sayce, in The Story of a Forgotten Empire, whether these cities had not already been places of refuge long before God enjoined Moses to make them such for the Israel ites. (Sce Sayce, The Hittites, The Story of a Forgotten Enzpire, 1888; The Mon. and the O. T., Ira NI. Price.) (10) Later Biblical Mention. During the history of Israel from the time of Abraham to the captivity, the Hittites are frequently referred to by the sacred writers. 13ath-shelia, the wife of (Triah the Hittite (2 Sam. xi:3, 6 ; t Kings ix :2o), was the mother of Solomon and a distant ances tress of Christ. In connection with the siege of Samaria, as recorded in 2 Kings vii, WC have an important reference to this people. The Israel ites, under Jehorain, were hard pressed in their capital by Benhadad of Damascus. Then, ac cording to Elisha's prophecy, deliverance came. "For the Lord made the host of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host ; and they said one to another, Lo the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us. \Vherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, even their camp as it was, and fled for their life" (2 Kings vii :6, 7).