important. It commanded the ford across the river, and the high-road of
commerce from east to west. Its merchants grew rich, and "the mina of
Carchemish" became a standard of value in the ancient world. Its capture
by Sargon destroyed a rival of Assyrian trade, and opened the road to
the Mediterranean to the armies of Assyria.

The decay of the Hittite and Mitannian power meant the revival of the
older Aramæan population of the country. The foreigner was expelled or
absorbed; Syria and Mesopotamia became more and more Semitic. Aramæan
kingdoms arose on all sides, and a feeling of common kinship and
interests arose among them at the same time. To the north of the Gulf of
Antioch, in the very heart of the Hittite territory, German excavators
have lately found the earliest known monuments of Aramæan art. The art,
as is natural, is based on that of their Hittite predecessors; even the
inscriptions in the alphabet of Phoenicia are cut in relief like the
older hieroglyphs of the Hittites. But they prove that the triumph of
the Aramæan was complete. The foreigner and his works were swept away;
no trace has been discovered of a Hittite text, barely even of a Hittite
name. The gods are all Semitic--Hadad the Sun-god and Shahr the
Moon-god, the Baal of Harran, and Rekeb-el, "the Chariot of God."

Hittite inscriptions have been found at Hamath on the Orontes. But they
must belong to a period earlier than that of David. The rulers of Hamath
who made alliance with David bear Semitic names. The crown-prince came
himself to Jerusalem, bringing with him costly vessels of gold and
silver and bronze. His name was Hadoram, "Hadad is exalted;" but out of
compliment to the Israelitish king, the name of Hadad was changed into
that of the God of Israel, and he became known to history as Joram. A
common enmity united Hamath and Israel. The war with Ammon had brought
David into conflict with Zobah, an Aramaic kingdom which under