28 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



Hebrews from the days of the founder of the nation, Abraham, to 

 those of the Captivity. The first Pharaoh who ruled Egypt— the 

 Pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty — destroyed Hittite towns and pala- 

 ces which were built on the northern frontier of Egypt, and by their 

 destruction crippled the energies of a dangerous rival daring to come 

 so near. If Mariette Bey is right in his conjectures, one of the early 

 Egyptian dynasties was Hittite. May this not explain why Egypt 

 was so sensitive on the subject of Hittite encroachment ? May this 

 not in part account for the long succession of wars extending over a 

 period of nearly six hundred years — the war begun by Thothmes I., 

 and continued till the days of Rameses III., who defeated the 

 Hittite invaders in the great " naval engagement near Megdol, at the 

 Pelusiac mouth of the Nile." 



When Thothmes III., Egypt's greatest monarch, came to the 

 throne in 1600 B. C, he put forth all his vast powers to crush his 

 north-western rival. But though Thothmes III. made his influence 

 felt to the centre of Africa, where he fought and triumphed ; though 

 able to force the borders of India to bow before him ; though great 

 in his day as Alexander was centuries later, still he was not power- 

 ful enough to crush the Hittites, who stubbornly and successfully 

 resisted him. Indeed, the Hittites had influence with their neigh- 

 bours, and used it to band together the disjointed peoples, and hurl 

 them in compact form against the might of Egypt. Thus the Hittite 

 king of Kadesh called on the kings, and on their subjects " from 

 the water of Egypt to the river land of Mesopotamia," and they an- 

 swered his call, obeying " him as their chief." Taking his stand in 

 the strongly fortified city of Megiddo on the Kishon, he awaits the 

 advance of Thothmes, the powerful champion of Egypt. Arriving at 

 Megiddo at midday, the Egyptian monarch instructs his men to hold 

 themselves in readiness for action, to look after their arms, for early 

 on the following morning they must meet the foe. Thothmes, no 

 doubt, chose this time because it was the twenty-fifth anniversary of 

 his coronation. Confident of victory, he would thus link his coro- 

 nation and Egypt's glory in the web of history. The Hittites, unable 

 to withstand the furious attacks of the Egyptians, reeled, broke their 

 ranks, and fled, leaving their war chariots and their baggage on the 

 field, and taking refuge in Megiddo, as the Russians did in Sebas- 

 topol after their defeat on Alma. And as the allies failed in not fol- 

 lowing up their well fought battle of Alma with the capture of 



