cities. The Philistines entered the land at a period subsequent to the
other Canaanites, probably after Abram, coming it is supposed
from Crete.

It would appear that Abram was not molested by these various petty
Canaanitish nations, that he was hospitably received by them, that he
had pleasant relations with them, and even entered into their battles as
an ally or protector. Nor did Abram seek to conquer territory. Powerful
as he was, he was still a pilgrim and a wanderer, journeying with his
servants and flocks wherever the Lord called him; and hence he excited
no jealousy and provoked no hostilities. He had not long been settled
quietly with his flocks and herds before a famine arose in the land, and
he was forced to seek subsistence in Egypt, then governed by the
shepherd kings called Hyksos, who had driven the proud native monarch
reigning at Memphis to the southern part of the kingdom, in the vicinity
of Thebes. Abram was well received at the court of the Pharaohs, until
he was detected in a falsehood in regard to his wife, whom he passed as
his sister. He was then sent away with all that he had, together with
his nephew Lot.

Returning to the land of Canaan, Abram came to the place where he had
before pitched his tent, between Bethel and Hai, unto the altar which he
had some time before erected, and called upon the name of the Lord. But
the land was not rich enough to support the flocks and herds of both
Abram and Lot, and there arose a strife between their respective
herdsmen; so the patriarch and his nephew separated, Lot choosing for
his residence the fertile plain of the Jordan, and Abram remaining in
the land of Canaan. It was while sojourning at Bethel that the Lord
appeared again unto Abram, and promised to him the whole land as a
future possession of his posterity. After that he removed his tent to