=9. This was the name= of the land which the Israelites were now to conquer. The name was well known to the Egyptians, and we find it upon the monuments in Egypt and in Assyria. A description of this land occurs in Egyptian records as early as the time of Thothmes III. (1600 B. C., Brugsch), also in the reign of Rameses II., “the Pharaoh of the oppression” (1350 B. C., Brugsch), and from these descriptions it is plain that the land was settled by numerous tribes who were well provided with the comforts of living. They were not only numerous, but many of their cities were strongly defended by fortresses. The list of articles recovered by Rameses II. after his battles in Canaan bore testimony to the wealth of the people and to the luxuries of their times, for among many other articles were ivory, ebony, chariots inlaid with gold and silver, suits of armor, fragrant woods, gold dishes with handles, collars and ornaments of _lapis lazuli_, silver dishes, vases of silver, precious stones, brazen spears, etc., “the plunder in fact of a rich and civilized country.”[67] THE AMORITES. =10. The land of Canaan at the time of Joshua= was no barbarous or ill-defended region. In the assault upon the Canaanitish city of Dapur[68] by Rameses II. the standard of the Amorites appears hoisted on the highest tower of its citadel.[69] From the pictures of the Amorites upon the monuments in Egypt they were armed with the bow and the oblong shield, and used chariots of solid construction fit for rough ground, and it is probable that the “sons of Anak,” Num. 13:33, were a distinguished clan among the Amorites and not a distinct people.[70] They were selected for their size and strength. THE HITTITES. =11.= It has been only recently that the history of the Hittites has come to light. =The earliest references= to this people in secular history are those which are found in the history of Assyria. They are first mentioned in Scripture as the sons of Heth, Gen. 23:3, in connection with the purchase by Abraham of the cave of Machpelah at Hebron. But fifty-three years before that event the Amorites seem to have been an important tribe, and fought under the direction of Abraham the first battle recorded in Scripture, Gen. 14. The tribe of Hittites grew to be a strong and remarkable nation of warriors, extending their conquests into Assyria and far into Asia Minor. Their name occurs in Homer[71] under the form of “Ketaioi” and in the Egyptian annals in the time of the great conqueror, Thothmes III., B. C. 1600, wherein it is recorded that he received the tribute from the “chief of the great Kheta,” or Hittites, which tribute consisted in gold, slaves, and cattle. Thus it appears that in a few centuries after the time when Abram bought the cave of Machpelah of the sons of Heth, B. C. 1860, they had become a great people. Before the Exodus they were the powerful rivals of Egypt.