Western Asia : The Hebrews 103 The situation of Palestine, with Egypt on one side and Assyria Rise of the and Babylonia on the other, was a dangerous one. These great kingcTom powers would not allow another strong nation to grow up in (^^^ut 1025 Palestine. Fortunately for the Hebrews, Egypt, as we have learned, fell into a state of feebleness by 1 150 B.C. (p. 53) ; and, on the other side, the Aramean kingdom of Damascus was a protection against the advance of Assyria (p. 71). Thus the Saul and the Hebrews were permitted to grow into a nation, and before 1000 B.C. we find them under their first king, Saul. But immi- grants from Crete in the Mediterranean — a people called Fig. sS' The Long Mound of the Ancient City of Jericho The walls of the city and the ruins of the houses (Fig. 56) are buried under the rubbish which makes up this mound. Many of the ancient cities of Palestine are now such mounds as this "Philistines" (Fig. 70) — had recently settled on the coast of Palestine (see map, p. 102). From their new home they greatly troubled the Hebrews. They slew Saul and in one war after another they nearly destroyed the young Hebrew nation. The old nomad customs were still strong, for Saul, the first David king, had no fixed home but dwelt in a tent. His successor, David, saw the importance of a strong castle as the king's permanent home. He therefore seized the old Canaanite for- tress of Jerusalem. The Hebrews had been dwelling under its shadow for centuries, unable to take it from the Canaanites. From Jerusalem, as his residence, David extended his -power far and wide and made the Hebrews a strong nation. His people never forgot his heroic deeds as a warrior nor his skill as a poet and singer, and centuries later they revered him as the author of many of their religious songs or " psalms."
