Babylonian generals and officials lived in Palestine and administered its affairs, and an active trade was carried on between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast.

The trade-road ran through Mesopotamia past the city of Harran, and formed a link between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
From an early date libraries had existed in Babylonia stored with the literature of the country.

Similarly, libraries now grew up in "the land of the Amorites," and the clay tablets with which they were filled made known to the west the legends and records of Chaldaea.

Amorite culture was modelled on that of Babylonia.
Babylonian influence lasted for centuries in western Asia.

In the age of Abraham the Amorites still obeyed the suzerainty of the Babylonian kings.