Every payment which is not prescribed in this table shall be made according to the regulations which [the superintendents of the dues fixed in the time of Khalasbaal, son of Bodtani]th, and Khalasbaal, son of Bodeshmun, and their colleagues. Every priest who shall accept payment beyond what is prescribed in this table shall be fi[ned] ............ Every person who sacrifices, who shall not give ............ for the fee which .............. =2. Comparison with the Levitical Law.= This document is not earlier than the fourth or fifth century B. C. The Carthaginians, from whom it comes, were an offshoot of the Phœnicians, who were, in turn, descended from the Canaanites. They were accordingly of kindred race to the Hebrews. One can, therefore, see from this document something of how the Levitical institutions of Israel resembled and how they differed from those of their kinsmen. It will be seen that the main sacrifices bore the same names among both peoples. We find the “whole burnt-offering,” the “peace-offering,” and the “meal-offering.” The Carthaginians had no “sin-offering,” while among the Hebrews we find no “prayer-offering.” The ways of rewarding the priests also differed with the two peoples. The Hebrews had no such regular tariff of priests’ dues as the Carthaginians, but parts of certain offerings and all of others belonged to them. Leviticus assigns from the peace-offering the “heave-thigh” and the “wave-breast” to the priests (Lev. 7:14, 34; Num. 5:9, 10; 31:29, 41). Meal- or flour-offerings belonged to the priests (Lev. 5:13; 7:9, 10), as did the sin- and trespass-offerings (Lev. 6:18, 29; 7:9, 10). Of the burnt-offerings the priests had the skin (Lev. 7:8). The interesting thing is that in the ritual, as in the social laws, we find that the heathen Semites had a considerable number of regulations similar to those of the Hebrews. CHAPTER XV SOME LETTERS FROM PALESTINE LETTERS OF RIB-ADDA OF GEBAL. OF EBED-HEPA OF JERUSALEM. THEIR LIGHT ON CONDITIONS IN THE PERIOD OF THE EGYPTIAN DOMINATION OF PALESTINE. Many of the El-Amarna[475] Letters were written from Palestine and Phœnicia. Some scholars think these letters come from the Patriarchal period; others hold that they are contemporary with the Hebrew conquest, and give us additional information concerning it. Some of those who hold this last view believe that the conquest of Palestine by the Hebrews was not made all at once. They think that the tribes descended from Leah entered the land before those descended from Rachel. Such scholars hold that these letters give us contemporary evidence of the wars of the Leah tribes. Whichever view one takes, the letters are most interesting, as they open to us a previously unknown chapter in the history of Jerusalem. =1. Some Letters of Rib-Adda of Gebal.=[476] I[477]