* Cf. the meeting with Melchizedek after the victory over the Elamites (_Gen_. xiv. 18-20) and the agreement with Abîmelech about the well (Gen. xxi. 22-34). The mention of the covenant of Abraham with Abîmelech belongs to the oldest part of the national tradition, and is given to us in the Jehovistic narrative. Many critics have questioned the historical existence of Melchizedek, and believed that the passage in which he is mentioned is merely a kind of parable intended to show the head of the race paying tithe of the spoil to the priest of the supreme God residing at Jerusalem; the information, however, furnished by the Tel- el-Amarna tablets about the ancient city of Jerusalem and the character of its early kings have determined Sayce to pronounce Melchizedek to be an historical personage.
** _Gen._ xiii. 1-13. Lot has been sometimes connected of late with the people called on the Egyptian monuments Rotanu, or Lotanu, whom we shall have occasion to mention frequently further on: he is supposed to have been their eponymous hero. Lôtan, which is the name of an Edomite clan, (_Gen_. xxxvi. 20, 29), is a racial adjective, derived from Lot.
*** _Gen._ xii. 9-20, xiii. 1. Abrahams visit to Egypt reproduces the principal events of that of Jacob.
[Illustration: 093.jpg THE TRADITIONAL OAK OF ABRAHAM AT HEBRON]
Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph brought home by Lortet.
On his return he purchased the field of Ephron, near Kirjath-Arba, and the cave of Machpelah, of which he made a burying-place for his family* Kirjath-Arba, the Hebron of subsequent times, became from henceforward his favourite dwelling-place, and he was residing there when the Elamites invaded the valley of Siddîm, and carried off Lot among their prisoners.
* _Gen_. xiii. 18, xxiii. (Elohistic narrative). The tombs of the patriarchs are believed by the Mohammedans to exist to the present day in the cave which is situated within the enclosure of the mosque at Hebron, and the tradition on which this belief is based goes back to early Christian times.
Abraham set out in pursuit of them, and succeeded in delivering his nephew.* God (Jahveh) not only favoured him on every occasion, but expressed His will to extend over Abrahams descendants His sheltering protection. He made a covenant with him, enjoining the use on the occasion of the mysterious rites employed among the nations when effecting a treaty of peace. Abraham offered up as victims a heifer, a goat, and a three-year-old ram, together with a turtle-dove and a young pigeon; he cut the animals into pieces, and piling them in two heaps, waited till the evening. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham; and lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him, and a voice from on high said to him: Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.... And it came to pass, that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. Jahveh sealed the covenant by consuming the offering.