simply an archeological accident that only Hittite examples of the forms we are about to discuss, particularly of the suzerainty type, have so far come to light. In any event, many of the Hittite covenants were made with the peoples and nations of Canaan, the land of the patriarchs and their descendants. This fact may help to explain the parallels we will be able to draw later on between the covenants of the Hittites and those of the Old Testament. A parity treaty was the form taken by a covenant