36 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



and are to be ranked among the Hamite race. In the narratives of the 

 purchase of the cave of Machpelah the Hittites are called, in the orig- 

 inal Hebrew, <J Bene-Cheth," sons of Heth. This explains the language 

 of Abraham in relation to those dwelling in Canaan in his day — the 

 Canaanites and the Hittites. He speaks of them as neither of his coun- 

 try nor of his kindred. How natural in case the Hittites are descen- 

 ded from Ham ! The names of the Hittites found in the monuments 

 might point to a Semitic origin. The same might be said of Hittite 

 names found in the Bible. Thus the names of Esau's wives are 

 Hebrew. Genesis, xxvi, 35, represents Esau as taking to wife Judith, 

 the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath, the daughter of 

 Elon the Hittite. Here the nationality is Hittite, and the names in 

 every instance Semitic. Judith means " the praised," Beeri " the 

 fountains," Bashemath "the fragrant," and Elon "the strong hero." 

 But in Genesis, xxxvi, 2, Judith is called Aholibamah and her father 

 Anah. Dr. Wright suggests an idea which seems to me the right ex- 

 planation of those double names — the idea that Aholibamah and Anah 

 are the Hittite names. What can be more natural than that the 

 Hebrews should give Hebrew names to their Hittite friends and 

 relations ? The fact of having a Semitic name does not warrant the 

 conclusion that the bearer is of Semitic nationality. Besides most 

 of the Hittite names are not Semitic. We have the high authority 

 of Professor Sayce for saying that " the Hittite proper names pre- 

 " served on the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments show that the 

 " Hittites did not speak a Semitic language." As an evidence of 

 this the Hittite proper names, used to define some quality in those 

 bearing them, have the defining word first, whereas the Hebrews 

 place it last. The term Melchisedek means king of righteousness — 

 the Melchi meaning king and the sedek righteousness. Here the 

 Hebrew method is followed by the placing of the qualifying word 

 last — a method reversed by the Hittites. But the fact of the Hittite 

 mode of using grammatical suffixes is even more significant. Instead 

 of using both suffixes and affixes, as in the case of the Semitic lan- 

 guages, the Hittites used affixes, and affixes alone. 



The Hittite sculptures show that they are not to be ranked in 

 the list of Semitic peoples. In type and feature they are the chil- 

 dren of the north ; in the moccasin sandals with upturned toes, 

 such as are worn by the mountaineers of Asia Minor and Greece at 

 present, and in the fingerless glove worn only in cold countries, we 



