Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/48

 tion may yield solid historical results: first, through the retention in the popular memory of the impression caused by real events and personalities; secondly, by the recovery of historic (mainly ethnographic) material from the biographic form of the tradition; and thirdly, through the confirmation of contemporary 'archæological' evidence. It will be convenient to start with the last of these, and consider what is known about—

1. The historical background of the patriarchal traditions.—The period covered by the patriarchal narratives may be defined very roughly as the first half of the second millennium (2000-1500) The upper limit depends on the generally accepted assumption, based (somewhat insecurely, as it seems to us) on ch. 14, that Abraham was contemporary with Ḫammurabi, the 6th king of the first Babylonian dynasty. The date of Ḫammurabi is probably c. 2100