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From Abraham's emigration out of Haran to Jacob's emigration to Egypt was, on the face of the Biblical data, mainly a time of wandering in Palestine, but this was not wholly nomad nor wholly Palestinian. Whether there were libraries in Palestine at this time or not, the patriarchs were all in close personal contact with the library lands of Babylonia and Egypt. Abraham on his first visit to Palestine hardly more than passed through on his way to a long visit in Egypt. Familiar himself with both Mesopotamia and Egypt, his son Ishmael married an Egyptian, his son Isaac a Mesopotamian. His grandson Jacob married two wives from and had himself a twenty years' residence