that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, and to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh. And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. And the LORD said unto Joshua, be not afraid because of them for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them. And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. And Joshua did unto them as the LORD bade him he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire. And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms. But as for the cities that stood still in their strength,* Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn. Jos. xi. 1-13.

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We see here that "the head of all those kingdoms" was a strong city, seated on a hill, not far from a lake, called the Waters of Merom, and generally considered to be the Lake Semochonitis of Josephus, and the Bahr-el-Houle of modern Palestine. The stronghold was probably situated either to the north or east of the lake.

The Canaanites in this picture are clothed with a corslet, on which are quilted many transverse plates of metal; their arms are a long spear or lance, two

* Or, "that stood upon hills."-LXX. and Vulg.

javelins, and a battle-axe; it is remarkable that this last weapon is identical in form with that in use among the Egyptians, a form which would require considerable artistic skill to render it effective. As we have not observed this weapon in use among any of the other enemies, its presence here adds an item. to the probability that this particular tribe had been in Egypt. Of the two figured in the following engraving, the more lengthened form is that of a specimen in Mr. Salt's late collection; the blade of which was of bronze, thirteen inches and a half long,

by two inches and a half broad, fixed, at the points of contact, into a tube of silver, about two feet long, with pins of the same metal. A wooden handle originally passed through the whole length of the tube, secured by a pin at the bottom. The other semi-circular specimen is from the paintings, and represents the more general form.

We come now to speak of a people who take a very prominent part as the enemies of Egypt, from the reign of Sethos I. to that of Rameses IV., whose repeated struggles with the power of Egypt, which on one occasion they appear to have actually invaded, the magnitude of their armies, and particularly the large bodies of horse and chariots which they could muster, show them to have been a powerful and warlike nation. Sir J. G. Wilkinson observes, that they "had made considerable progress in military tactics, both with regard to manoeuvres in the field, and the art of fortifying towns, some of which they surrounded with a double fosse. Their troops appear to have been disciplined; and the close array of their phalanxes of infantry, the style of their chariots, and the arms they used, indicate a great superiority in military tactics, compared with other eastern nations of that early period."

The name of this people is ye&, or the Shethites. Sir J. G. Wilkinson spells it "Sheta," and supposes the nation to have been the Scythians of profane writers, in which opinion he is joined by Rosellini. There is abundant reason, however, to believe that they were near neighbours of Egypt, inhabiting not the most remote part of Palestine; and Mr. Osburn has shown, by arguments, which to us appear quite conclusive, that they were the descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. "The nation of Sheta," says Sir J. G. Wilkinson,t" seems to have been composed of two distinct tribes, both comprehended under the same name, uniting in one

common cause, and, probably, subject to the same government. They differed in costume and general appearance; they both fought in cars, and used the same weapons; and we even find they lived together, or garrisoned the same towns." The Ammonites and the Moabites appear, from the Sacred Scriptures, to have always been in amity, and very generally in alliance; their relationship seeming to have been invariably recognised, not only by themselves, but also by the surrounding nations.

The Shethites of the Egyptian wars are frequently designated in the hieroglyphic inscriptions, as the people inhabiting De-på&, Khe-R'ba. The phonetic hieroglyphics which stand for the letters Khe, symbolically represent the word "twice;" and hence Mr. Osburn conjectures that the name signifies the two Rabbahs;" the name of Rabbah being given to the capital city of both Ammon and Moab. But Mr. Birch objects to this reading, that the symbols in question never signify two, but twice; and that when so used they are never prefixed to the word or sentence to be doubled, but always placed after it; and that hence the name must be read as a whole, Kherba, and not "Rabba twice." We venture to suggest that it may be Kir-Rabbah. The word P, Kir, in most of the oriental languages signifies a walled city or fortress; as 17, Rab, signifies great. Both those terms were used, as we know on Sacred authority, as designations of the Ammonite and Moabite cities. Thus we find the metropolis of the former called RabbahAmmon, and that of the latter Rabbath-Moab ;

while the terms Kir of Moab, Kir-heres, and Kirharaseth, are applied indiscriminately to the same city. The words Khe-R'ba may not improbably, then, mean "the great walled city."

The appellation of Sheth, as applied to the Moabites, is not unknown to the Sacred Writings; several examples occurring in the quotations we are about to make. Two or three of these are in the plural form, Shittim, the name given to extensive plains on the east of Jordan, apparently equivalent, or nearly so, with the Plains of Moab. The other we find in the celebrated prophecy of Balaam, where, by an apposition extremely common in Hebrew poetry, "the corners [princes, marg.] of Moab" evidently correspond to "the children of Sheth," as "Jacob" does to "Israel," and "Edom" to "Seir," in the same prediction. It may not be out of place to remark, that at the very time of this prophecy, Israel were "abiding in their tents" beneath the Seer's eye, in the Plains of Shittim, It is interesting to observe the light thus cast upon the terms of a prediction, which has hitherto been considered not a little obscure.*

* Should any think that the origin of these nations was too recent to permit their having become formidable by the reign of Sethos I., we would remind them of the recorded increase of the children of Israel. If we place the middle of the reign of Sethos about B. c. 1592, 305 years had elapsed since the birth of Ammon and Moab. Jacob and Esau were born about sixty years later than they. Now after the lapse of 344 years, we know that the descendants of Jacob mustered upwards of 600,000 fighting men; Esau (Edom) also had grown into a powerful nation. If, however, we allow only the same rate of increase to the two Shethite nations together, as to the Israelites alone, we see that the objection is altogether groundless.