THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 27 



it is ever increasing as the work of the explorer advances, and 

 what is of more importance, the character of the evidence is of 

 the highest order. Three distinct peoples through their literature — 

 a literature written on stone, and secure from the tampering hand of 

 the scribe — tell us of the greatness and glory of the Hittite Empire. 

 And since the literature of stone has risen from the grave of centur- 

 ies, and told the world of the heroic nations of the dead past, 

 a seemingly meaningless passage in the Eleventh Book of the 

 Odyssey of Homer becomes clear and pregnant with meaning. Mr. 

 Gladstone, who was the first to detect the passage and show its 

 bearings on the Hittites, in a letter to Dr. Wright, says : — " Your 

 " account of the local extension of Hittite influence is in complete 

 " conformity with the idea which conceives them as within the circle 

 " of possible Trojan alliances. I may add to the suggestion, which 

 " I first published in fear and trembling, that the manner of the 

 " mention in Homer is completely in accord with your doctrines as 

 "to the greatness of the Hittites. (i) Because the slaughter of their 

 " chief seems to be the crowning exploit that has been performed by 

 "the son of Achilles. ' I will not,' says Odusseus, ' name all that he 

 "slew, but only the hero Eurupulos.' (2) Because the Keteioi are 

 "named without epithet, description, or indication, which accords 

 " with the idea of their being a famous and well known race." Thus 

 we have voices from Egypt, from Assyria, from Palestine, and from 

 Greece, telling us what they know of the Hittites, and all in harmony. 



Look at some of the facts brought to light during the last few 

 years. Listen to Egypt's account of her neighbors and rivals in art, 

 in literature, in statesmanship, and war — the Hittites. She is con- 

 stantly threatened on the north by a people called Amu, which in 

 Egyptian means herdsman. Doubtless the Egyptians used the term 

 to express their contempt for this foe, for we learn from the 

 Good Old Book, that "every shepherd is an abomination unto the 

 Egyptians." Regarding the shepherd's calling as the lowest, the 

 Egyptians would naturally use the word herdsman much in the same 

 way as the Greek spoke of the Barbarian. Among these hordes 

 that were ever hovering around the north of Egypt two nation- 

 alities stand out as the most powerful — the Akharru and the Kheta. 

 The Akharru are the Phoenicians, to whom we owe so many ele- 

 ments of our civilization. The Kheta or Khatti are the Hittites, 

 who cross the path of the Bible student as he reads the story of the 



