Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

792 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
confirm certain traditions of antiquity according to which the
Armenians originally came from Phrygia, their speech resembling
that of the Phrygians.
in
Such traditions, however,
themselves are not too worthy of credence, and this coincidence
is
scarcely required.
A word may be expected as to the Hittites of Palestine
mentioned in the Bible. This is a difficult question, and
its solution is still to be sought. We know that according
to the Old Testament Abraham found Hittites in Hebron,
Hittites being counted among the original inhabitants of
Palestine, while Ezekiel refers to the father of Jerusalem as
an Amorite but to its mother as a Hittite. The Egyptian
and cuneiform inscriptions give us no commentary upon
this, unless it be the circumstance that a Philistine king's
name is
perhaps identical with a name found in North Syria,
and the fact that the Philistines are perhaps descended
from a pirate people mentioned in the Egyptian inscriptions
as coming from the north.
This, however, is not sufficient to enable us definitely to
pronounce upon the problem raised by these Hittites, viz.,
did a section of the inhabitants of Khate in North Syria
really at any time settle in Palestine? Or, what is still more
doubtful, are we to understand by the Hittites of Palestine
merely a particular race cognate with the people of our
inscriptions ? As stated above, the mere name tells us
nothing as to the nationality of the people. This much we
may venture to say, that we find in Palestine, about the
year 1400 b. c, people with names which to all appearance
are Indogermanic, and therefore may possibly be ancient
Armenians.
But that they and their countrymen were ever
settled there in great close corporations is a supposition
which lacks proof. So much for the primitive history of
the Hittite-Armenians.
The deciphering of the so-called Hittite inscriptions thus
opens to us the archives of an ancient people, giving us