Second Period.
Ethbaal II, contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar,B. C.597-573.
Baal,”573-563.
Ec´niba´al, judge for three months,”563.
Chel´bes, judge ten months,”563-562.
Abba´rus, judge three months,”562.
Mytgon and Gerastar´tus, judges five years,”562-557.
Bala´tor, king,”557-556.
Merbal, king,”556-552.
Hiram, king,”552-532.

SYRIA.

71. Syria Proper was divided between several states, of which the most important in ancient times was Damascus, with its territory, a fertile country between Anti-Lebanon and the Syrian Desert. Beside this were the northern Hittites, whose chief city was Carchemish; the southern Hittites, in the region of the Dead Sea; the Pate´na on the lower, and Hamath on the upper Orontes.

72. Damascus, on the Abana, is among the oldest cities in the world. It resisted the conquering arms of David and Solomon, who, with this exception, reigned over all the land between the Jordan and the Euphrates; and it continued to be a hostile and formidable neighbor to the Hebrew monarchy, until Jews, Israelites, and Syrians were all alike overwhelmed by the growth of the Assyrian Empire.

Kings of Damascus.
Hadad,contemporary withDavid,about B. C.1040.
Rezon,”Solomon,”1000.
Tab-rimmon,”Abijah,”960-950.
Ben-hadad I,”Baasha and Asa,”950-920.
Ben-hadad II,”Ahab,”900.
Hazael,”Jehu and Shalmaneser II,”850.
Ben-hadad III,”Jehoahaz,”840.
Unknown until Rezin,”Ahaz of Judah,”745-732.

JUDÆA.

73. The history of the Hebrew race is better known to us than that of any other people equally ancient, because it has been carefully preserved in the sacred writings. The separation of this race for its peculiar and important part in the world’s history, began with the call of Abraham from his home, near the Euphrates, to the more western country on the Mediterranean, which was promised to himself and his descendants. The story of his sons and grandsons, before and during their residence in Egypt, belongs, however, to family rather than national history. Their numbers increased until they became objects of apprehension to the Egyptians, who tried to break their spirit by servitude. At length, Moses grew up under the fostering care of Pharaoh himself; and after a forty years’ retirement in the deserts of Midian, adding the dignity of age and lonely meditation to the “learning of the Egyptians,” he became the liberator and law-giver of his people.