CHAPTER II

THE PEOPLE


In the days of Abraham, Chedor-laomer, king of Elam and lord over the
kings of Babylonia, marched westward with his Babylonian allies, in
order to punish his rebellious subjects in Canaan. The invading army
entered Palestine from the eastern side of the Jordan. Instead of
marching along the sea-coast, it took the line of the valley of the
Jordan. It first attacked the plateau of Bashan, and then smote "the
Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in the
plain of Kiriathaim." Then it passed into Mount Seir, and subjugated the
Horites as far as El-Paran "by the wilderness." Thence it turned
northward again through the oasis of En-mishpat or Kadesh-barnea, and
after smiting the Amalekite Beduin, as well as the Amorites in
Hazezon-tamar, made its way into the vale of Siddim. There the battle
took place which ended in the defeat of the king of Sodom and his
allies, who were carried away captive to the north. But at Hobah, "on
the left hand of Damascus," the invaders were overtaken by "Abram the
Hebrew," who dwelt with his Amorite confederates in the plain of Mamre,
and the spoil they had seized was recovered from them.

The narrative gives us a picture of the geography and ethnology of
Palestine as it was at the beginning of the Patriarchal Age. Before that
age was over it had altered very materially; the old cities for the most
part still remained, but new races had taken the place of the older
ones, new kingdoms had arisen, and the earlier landmarks had been