On the head is a crested helmet like that of the Greeks, on the feet the Hittite boot with upturned end; the body is clad in a tunic which reaches to the knee, and a small round target is used in battle.
For many centuries the Semites and the people of the north contended for the possession of the Syrian plains.

Horde after horde descended from the northern mountains, capturing the Aramaean cities and setting up kingdoms in their midst.

At one time it seemed as if the Semites of the east and west were to be permanently sundered from one another.

The decay of Babylonia and Egypt enabled the Mitannians and Hittites to establish themselves in Mesopotamia and Syria, and to gain possession of the fords of the Euphrates and the great lines of trade.

But the northerner was not suited by nature for the hot and enervating climate of the south.