=Different Types of Civilization in Palestine.= The excavations in the old Canaanite city of Jericho, in contrast to those on the borders of the Philistine Plain, have disclosed only a few indications of Egyptian influence there at this early period. Evidently the natural barriers which separated the different parts of Palestine from each other were asserting themselves, with the result that the life and civilization of the various cities throughout the land already presented wide variations. Along the coast were strong Semitic cities, surrounded by thick walls and possessed of all that the mingled culture of ancient Amurru, Babylonia, and Egypt could give. Traces of the influence of Mycenæan and Ægean civilization are also found in the strata which come from this early period. In the north the Phœnician cities were approaching the zenith of their power. Up among the hills of the central plateau, however, the Shashu, or Bedouin, still pastured their flocks undisturbed, except near the large cities, where they were probably obliged to pay tribute. =Conditions Leading to the Hyksos Invasion of Egypt.= About 1700 B.C. there came a marked change in the political situation in southwestern Asia. In Babylon the Kassites came down from the mountains to the northeast and conquered the valleys of the lower Tigris and Euphrates. About the same time Assyria asserted its independence and began to lay the foundations for its future greatness. Somewhat later an Aryan race, known as the Mitanni, descended from the north, seized the plains of Mesopotamia, and established there a strong kingdom. This new kingdom, as well as the weakness of Babylon itself, delivered Palestine from eastern invasions. Egypt was also torn by civil wars and dissensions between the nobles. Under these favoring conditions the Semitic peoples of Palestine, Syria, and probably also of Arabia, united for the invasion of Egypt. =Fortunes of the Invaders.= The Egyptian records unfortunately give little information concerning this so-called Hyksos invasion. The fact, however, is established that northern Egypt, for about a century, until the earlier part of the sixteenth century B.C., was held by Asiatic conquerors bearing Semitic names. When finally expelled from Egypt by the Theban kings in the south, these foreign conquerors retired to Palestine and Syria. Thither they were pursued by the energetic warrior kings who arose at this critical period in Egypt's history. At first the Hyksos leaders made their stand at Sharuhen, a city probably situated somewhere in southern Judah. Later the Egyptian kings conquered the cities of Palestine, and finally, after a prolonged struggle, succeeded in capturing the powerful city of Kadesh on the Orontes, which was apparently the centre of the confederacy of Syrian states.