Kirjath-sepher we shall doubtless find among its clay records similar
examples of Chaldæan literature. The resemblances between the
cosmogonies of Phoenicia and Babylonia have often been pointed out, and
since the discovery of the Chaldæan account of the Deluge by George
Smith we have learned that between that account and the one which is
preserved in Genesis there is the closest possible likeness, extending
even to words and phrases. The long-continued literary influence of
Babylonia in Palestine in the Patriarchal Age explains all this, and
shows us how the traditions of Chaldæa made their way to the West. When
Abraham entered Canaan, he entered a country whose educated inhabitants
were already familiar with the books, the history, and the traditions of
that in which he had been born. There were doubtless many to whom the
name and history of "Ur of the Chaldees" were already known. It may even
be that copies of the books in its library already existed in the
libraries of Canaan.

There was one Babylonian hero at all events whose name had become so
well known in the West that it had there passed into a proverb. This was
the name of Nimrod, "the mighty hunter before the Lord." As yet the
cuneiform documents are silent about him, but it is probable that he was
one of the early Kassite kings who established their dominion over the
cities of Babylonia. He is called the son of Cush or Kas, and "the
beginning of his kingdom" was Babylon, which had now for six centuries
been the capital of the country. His name, however, was as familiar to
the Canaanite as it was to the inhabitant of Chaldæa, and the god before
whom his exploits were displayed was Yahveh and not Bel.

It was about 1600 B.C. that the Hyksos were finally expelled from Egypt.
They were originally Asiatic hordes who had overrun the valley of the
Nile, and held it in subjection for several centuries. At first they had