34 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



have impoverished the Hittites and almost decimated their lands. 

 Crossing the Euphrates he captured Dabigu and the cities depen- 

 dent on it. Learning by defeat one of the sources of their weak- 

 ness, the Hittites enter into a confederacy to oppose the Assyrians. 

 Benhadad, of Damascus, Irkhulina, of Hamatte, and others, join 

 the Hittites, in the hope of crushing the might of Assyria. Shal- 

 maneser declares, " by the command of Assur, the great lord, my 

 " lord, with them I fought A destruction of them I made. Their 

 " chariots, their war carriages, their furniture of battle I took from 

 "them. Twenty thousand five hundred men with arrows I slew." 

 It becomes tiresome to read the accounts of the annual attack and de- 

 feat of the Hittites. 



When Sargon came to the throne in 721 B. C, the Hittite 

 power was in its death throes. In 717 B. C, they make their 

 final stand at Carchemish, and are crushed beyond all hope of recov- 

 ery. Listen to the story of their ruin, as told by their spoiler 

 Sargon : " In the fifth year of my reign, Pisiri of Carchemish sinned 

 "against the great gods, and sent against Mita the Moschian, mes- 

 " sages hostile to Assyria. He took hostages. I lifted my hands to 

 " Assur, my lord. I made him leave the town. I sent away the 

 "holy vases out of his dwelling. I made them throw him into 

 "chains of iron. I took away the gold, silver and treasures of his 

 " palace. The Carchemish rebels who were with him and their prop- 

 erty I transplant d to Assyria, I took among them fifty cars, 

 " two hundred riders, three thousand men on foot, and I augmented 

 " the part of my kingdom. I made the Assyrians to dwell in 

 " Carchemish, and I placed them under the dominion of Assur, my 

 " lord." 



Whatever may be our views as to the part played in the great bat- 

 tle-field of the world by the Hittites, we must admire their valour and 

 be impressed with a sense of their greatness — a greatness that held 

 Egypt at bay on the south and Assyria on the east — a greatness that 

 defied all foes, and manfully maintained a national existence for a 

 longer period than Babylon, Assyria, Greece or Rome. 



This wonderful nation stood in very close relation to the 

 Hebrews. In different ways they pass and repass on the stage of 

 Old Testament history. Does Abraham look for land for himself 

 and for his descendants ? Part of it is in the possession of the 

 Hittites. How does he secure his first possession of this land? 



