On the physical side, the Semitic race is not so homogeneous as it is on
the linguistic side. But this is due to intermarriage with other races,
and where it is purest it displays the same general characteristics.
Thick and fleshy lips, arched nose, black hair and eyes, and white
complexion, distinguish the pure-blooded Semite. Intellectually he is
clever and able, quick to learn and remember, with an innate capacity
for trade and finance. Morally he is intense but sensuous, strong in his
hate and in his affections, full of a profound belief in a personal God
as well as in himself.

When Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees the power and influence of
Babylonia had been firmly established for centuries throughout the
length and breadth of western Asia. From the mountains of Elam to the
coast of the Mediterranean the Babylonian language was understood, the
Babylonian system of writing was taught and learned, Babylonian
literature was studied, Babylonian trade was carried on, and Babylonian
law was in force. From time to time Syria and Canaan had obeyed the rule
of the Babylonian kings, and been formed into a Babylonian province. In
fact, Babylonian rule did not come to an end in the west till after the
death of Abraham; Khammurabi, the Amraphel of Genesis, entitles himself
king of "the land of the Amorites," as Palestine was called by the
Babylonians, and his fourth successor still gives himself the same
title. The loss of Canaan and the fall of the Babylonian empire seem to
have been due to the conquest of Babylon by a tribe of Elamite
mountaineers.

The Babylonians of Abraham's age were Semites, and the language they
spoke was not more dissimilar from Canaanitish or Hebrew than Italian is
from Spanish. But the population of the country had not always been of