Introduction to Bible study Author:Franklin Verzelius Newton Painter Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II BACKGROUND OF HEBREW HISTORY New Sources of Information. — Until a few decades ago the Bible contained the oldest trustworthy records of ancient... more » history. In recent years new and numerous sources of information have been brought to light; and we are now acquainted with great world-empires .that form a vast background for Hebrew history. The people of Israel are antedated by the empires of Mesopotamia and Egypt by thousands of years. Before Moses led his people from Egyptian bondage or Abraham had left the city of Ur in Chaldea, a high degree of civilization existed on the banks of the Nile and the Euphrates. We cannot fully understand the history and the literature of the Hebrew people without a knowledge of these anterior nations, with whom at times the Hebrews stood in close political and commercial relations, and whose culture they inherited and in some particulars developed.1 Explorers and Excavators. — For these new and invaluable sources of information we are indebted to the labors of enthusiastic explorers and excavators. The French- 1" In the age to which the migration of Terah belonged, Canaan and Babylonia were in connection one with the other. Babylonian kings claimed rule over Canaan, and Canaanitish merchants were established in Babylonia. The language of Canaan was heard in the Babylonian cities, and even the rulers of the land were of foreign blood. Between Babylonia and Canaan there was a highway which had been trodden for generations,andalongwhich soldiers and civil officials, merchants, and messengers, passed frequently to and fro." — A. H. SAYCE, " Early History of the Hebrews," p. 134. man Botta in 1842 and the Englishman Layard in 1845 opened the way with excavations at Khorsabad and Nimrud, which brought to light long-buried records a...« less