Legends of Babylon and Egypt in relation to Hebrew tradition | Page 7

for the whole stretch of
country between the sea and the Euphrates is hardly probable. For the
geographical references need not be treated as exhaustive, but as
confined to the more important districts through which the expedition
passed. The district of Ibla which is also mentioned by Narâm-Sin and
Gudea, lay probably to the north of Iarmuti, perhaps on the southern
slopes of Taurus. It, too, we may regard as a district of restricted extent
rather than as a general geographical term for the extreme north of
Syria.
(1) Thureau-Dangin, Les inscriptions de Sumer de d'Akkad, p. 108 f.,
Statue B, col. v. 1. 28; Germ. ed., p. 68 f.
It is significant that Sargon does not allude to any battle when
describing this expedition, nor does he claim to have devastated the
western countries.(1) Indeed, most of these early expeditions to the
west appear to have been inspired by motives of commercial enterprise
rather than of conquest. But increase of wealth was naturally followed

by political expansion, and Egypt's dream of an Asiatic empire was
realized by Pharaohs of the XVIIIth Dynasty. The fact that Babylonian
should then have been adopted as the medium of official intercourse in
Syria points to the closeness of the commercial ties which had already
united the Euphrates Valley with the west. Egyptian control had passed
from Canaan at the time of the Hebrew settlement, which was indeed a
comparatively late episode in the early history of Syria. Whether or not
we identify the Khabiri with the Hebrews, the character of the latter's
incursion is strikingly illustrated by some of the Tell el-Amarna letters.
We see a nomad folk pressing in upon settled peoples and gaining a
foothold here and there.(2)
(1) In some versions of his new records Sargon states that "5,400 men
daily eat bread before him" (see Poebel, op. cit., p. 178); though the
figure may be intended to convey an idea of the size of Sargon's court,
we may perhaps see in it a not inaccurate estimate of the total strength
of his armed forces.
(2) See especially Professor Burney's forthcoming commentary on
Judges (passim), and his forthcoming Schweich Lectures (now
delivered, in 1917).
The great change from desert life consists in the adoption of agriculture,
and when once that was made by the Hebrews any further advance in
economic development was dictated by their new surroundings. The
same process had been going on, as we have seen, in Syria since the
dawn of history, the Semitic nomad passing gradually through the
stages of agricultural and village life into that of the city. The country
favoured the retention of tribal exclusiveness, but ultimate survival
could only be purchased at the cost of some amalgamation with their
new neighbours. Below the surface of Hebrew history these two
tendencies may be traced in varying action and reaction. Some sections
of the race engaged readily in the social and commercial life of
Canaanite civilization with its rich inheritance from the past. Others,
especially in the highlands of Judah and the south, at first succeeded in
keeping themselves remote from foreign influence. During the later
periods of the national life the country was again subjected, and in an

intensified degree, to those forces of political aggression from
Mesopotamia and Egypt which we have already noted as operating in
Canaan. But throughout the settled Hebrew community as a whole the
spark of desert fire was not extinguished, and by kindling the zeal of
the Prophets it eventually affected nearly all the white races of
mankind.
In his Presidential Address before the British Association at
Newcastle,(1) Sir Arthur Evans emphasized the part which recent
archaeology has played in proving the continuity of human culture
from the most remote periods. He showed how gaps in our knowledge
had been bridged, and he traced the part which each great race had
taken in increasing its inheritance. We have, in fact, ample grounds for
assuming an interchange, not only of commercial products, but, in a
minor degree, of ideas within areas geographically connected; and it is
surely not derogatory to any Hebrew writer to suggest that he may have
adopted, and used for his own purposes, conceptions current among his
contemporaries. In other words, the vehicle of religious ideas may well
be of composite origin; and, in the course of our study of early Hebrew
tradition, I suggest that we hold ourselves justified in applying the
comparative method to some at any rate of the ingredients which went
to form the finished product. The process is purely literary, but it finds
an analogy in the study of Semitic art, especially in the later periods.
And I think it will make my meaning clearer if we consider for a
moment a few examples of sculpture produced by races of Semitic
origin. I