Since
early modern times, a number of biblical
ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and us ...
s from the
Table of Nations
The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known soci ...
in
Genesis 10
The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known socie ...
have been used as a basis for
classifying human racial (cosmetic phenotypes) and national (ethnolinguistic cultural) identities. The connection between Genesis 10 and contemporary ethnic groups began during
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
, when authors such as
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
,
Hippolytus and
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
analyzed the biblical list.
The
early modern equation of the biblical
Semites
Semites, Semitic peoples or Semitic cultures is an obsolete term for an ethnic, cultural or racial group.[Hamites
Hamites is the name formerly used for some Northern and Horn of Africa peoples in the context of a now-outdated model of dividing humanity into different races which was developed originally by Europeans in support of colonialism and slavery ...]
and
Japhetites
The term Japhetites (in adjective form Japhethitic or Japhetic) refers to the descendents of Japheth, one of the three sons of Noah in the Bible. The term has been adopted in ethnological and linguistic writing from the 18th to the 20th centu ...
with "racial" phenotypes was coined at the
Göttingen School of History
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The or ...
in the late 18th century – in parallel with other, more secular terminologies for race, such as Blumenbach's fivefold
color scheme
In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in various artistic and design contexts. For example, the "Achromatic" use of a white background with black text is an example of a basic and commonly default color scheme in web de ...
.
Classical analyses of Genesis 10
The following sources attempted to equate the biblical Table of Nations with contemporary identities:
Flavius Josephus
The 1st-century Jewish-Roman historian
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
, in ''
Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the ...
'' Book 1, chapter 6, was the first known author who assigned known ethnicities to some of the names listed in Genesis chapter 10. His assignments became the basis for most later authors, and were as follows:
*Gomer: "those whom the Greeks now call
Galatia
Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace ...
ns,
alls,but were then called Gomerites".
**Aschanax (Ashkenaz): "Aschanaxians, who are now called by the Greeks Rheginians".
**Riphath: "Ripheans, now called
Paphlagonia
Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus t ...
ns".
**Thrugramma (Togarmah): "Thrugrammeans, who, as the Greeks resolved, were named
Phrygians
The Phrygians ( Greek: Φρύγες, ''Phruges'' or ''Phryges'') were an ancient Indo-European speaking people, who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity. They were related to the Greeks.
Ancient Greek authors use ...
".
*Magog: "Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called
Scythians
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
".
*Madai: "the Madeans, who are called
Medes
The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...
, by the Greeks".
*Javan: "Ionia, and all the
Grecians
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, othe ...
".
**Elisa: "Eliseans... they are now the
Aeolians
The Aeolians (; el, Αἰολεῖς) were one of the four major tribes in which Greeks divided themselves in the ancient period (along with the Achaeans, Dorians and Ionians)..
Name
Their name mythologically derives from Aeolus, the mythical a ...
".
**Tharsus (Tarshish): "Tharsians, for so was
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern co ...
of old called". He also derives the name of their city Tarsus from Tharsus.
**Cethimus (Kittim): "The island Cethima: it is now called
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
". He also derives the Greek name of their city, which he spells ''
Citius'', from Cethimus.
*Thobel (Tubal): "Thobelites, who are now called Iberes".
*Mosoch (Meshech): "Mosocheni... now they are
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...
ns." He also derives the name of their capital
Mazaca
Caesarea ( /ˌsɛzəˈriːə, ˌsɛsəˈriːə, ˌsiːzəˈriːə/; el, Καισάρεια, Kaisareia) also known historically as Mazaca ( el, Μάζακα) was an ancient city in what is now Kayseri, Turkey. In Hellenistic and Roman times, the ...
from Mosoch.
*Thiras (Tiras): "Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into
Thracians
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
".
*Chus (Cush): "Ethiopians... even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia, called
Chusites".
**Sabas (Seba): Sabeans
**Evilas (Havilah): "Evileans, who are called
Getuli".
**Sabathes (Sabta): "Sabathens, they are now called by the Greeks
Astaborans".
**Sabactas (Sabteca): Sabactens
**Ragmus (Raamah): Ragmeans
***Judadas (Dedan): "Judadeans, a nation of the western Ethiopians".
***Sabas (Sheba): Sabeans
*Mesraim (Misraim):
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
, which he says is called ''Mestre'' in his country.
**"Now all the children of Mesraim, being eight in number, possessed the country from Gaza to Egypt, though it retained the name of one only, the Philistim; for the Greeks call part of that country ''Palestine''. As for the rest, Ludieim, and Enemim, and Labim, who alone inhabited in Libya, and called the country from himself, Nedim, and Phethrosim, and Chesloim, and Cephthorim, we know nothing of them besides their names; for the Ethiopic war which we shall describe hereafter, was the cause that those cities were overthrown."
*Phut:
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
. He states that a river and region "in the country of Moors" was still called ''Phut'' by the Greeks, but that it had been renamed "from one of the sons of Mesraim, who was called Lybyos".
*Canaan:
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous so ...
, which he called "from his own name Canaan".
**Sidonius (Sidon): The city of Sidonius, "called by the Greeks ''Sidon''".
**Amathus (Hamathite): "Amathine, which is even now called Amathe by the inhabitants, although the Macedonians named it Epiphania, from one of his posterity."
**Arudeus (Arvadite): "the island Aradus".
**Arucas (Arkite): "Arce, which is in Libanus".
**"But for the seven others
ons of Canaan Chetteus, Jebuseus, Amorreus, Gergesus, Eudeus, Sineus, Samareus, we have nothing in the sacred books but their names, for the Hebrews overthrew their cities".
*Elam: "
Elamites, the ancestors of the Persians".
*Ashur: "
Assyrians, and their city
Niniveh
Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...
built by Ashur.
*Arphaxad: "Arphaxadites, who are now called
Chaldea
Chaldea () was a small country that existed between the late 10th or early 9th and mid-6th centuries BCE, after which the country and its people were absorbed and assimilated into the indigenous population of Babylonia. Semitic-speaking, it was ...
ns".
** Sala
***Heber (Eber): "from whom they originally called the Jews
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still ...
".
****Phaleg (Peleg): He notes that he was so named "because he was born at the dispersion of the nations to their several countries; for ''Phaleg'' among the Hebrews signifies division".
****Joctan
*****"Elmodad, Saleph, Asermoth, Jera, Adoram, Aizel, Decla, Ebal, Abimael, Sabeus, Ophir, Euilat, and Jobab. These inhabited from
Cophen, an Indian river, and in part of Asia adjoining to it."
*Aram: "Aramites, which the Greeks called
Syrians
Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both ind ...
".
**Uz: "Uz founded
Trachonitis and
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
: this country lies between Palestine and
Celesyria".
**Ul (Hul):
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
**Gather (Gether):
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, sou ...
ns
**Mesa (Mesh): "Mesaneans; it is now called
Charax Spasinu".
*Laud (Lud): "Laudites, which are now called
Lydians
The Lydians (known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an Indo-European language of th ...
".
Hippolytus
Hippolytus of Rome
Hippolytus of Rome (, ; c. 170 – c. 235 AD) was one of the most important second-third century Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities include Rome, Palestin ...
, in his ''Diamerismos'' (c. 234, existing in numerous Latin and Greek copies), made another attempt to assign ethnicities to the names in Genesis 10. It is thought to have been based on the
Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...
.
Its differences versus that of Josephus are shown below:
*Gomer – Cappadocians
**Ashkenaz – Sarmatians
**Riphath – Sauromatians
**Togarmah – Armenians
*Magog – Galatians,
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
*Javan
**Elishah –
Sicels
The Sicels (; la, Siculi; grc, Σικελοί ''Sikeloi'') were an Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the name it has held since antiquity, b ...
(''Chron Pasc'': Trojans and Phrygians)
**Tarshish – Iberians, Tyrrhenians
**Kittim – Macedonians, Romans, Latins
*Tubal – "Hettali" (?)
*Meshech – Illyrians
*Misraim
**Ludim – Lydians
**Anamim –
Pamphylia
Pamphylia (; grc, Παμφυλία, ''Pamphylía'') was a region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus (all in modern-day Antalya province, Turkey). It was bounded on the north b ...
ns
**Pathrusim –
Lycia
Lycia ( Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is ...
ns (var.: Cretans)
**Caphtorim – Cilicians
*Put –
Troglodytes
*Canaan –
Afri and Phoenicians
**Arkite –
Tripolitania
Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
ns
*Lud –
Halizones
The Halizones (Greek Ἁλιζῶνες, also Halizonians, Alizones or Alazones) are an obscure people who appear in Homer's ''Iliad'' as allies of Troy during the Trojan War. Their leaders were Odius and Epistrophus, said in the '' Bibliotheca'' ...
*Arpachshad
**Cainan – "those east of the Sarmatians" (one variant)
***Joktan
****Elmodad – Indians
****Saleph – Bactrians
****Hazamaveth, Sheba – Arabs
****Adoram –
Carmanians
****Uzal –
Aria
In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...
ns (var.:
Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...
ns)
****Abimael –
Hyrcania
Hyrcania () ( el, ''Hyrkania'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian ...
ns
****Obal – Scythians
****Ophir – Armenians
****Deklah –
Gedrosians
*Aram – "Etes" ?
**Hul – Lydians (var:
Colchians
In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia.
Its population, the Colchians are generally thoug ...
)
**Gether – "Gaspeni" ?
**Mash –
Mossynoeci
Mossynoeci (Georgian language, Georgian: მოსინიკები, grc, Μοσσύνοικοι, , modern Greek ', "dwellers in wooden towers") is a name that the Greeks of the Euxine Sea (Black Sea) applied to the peoples of Pontus (region ...
(var: Mosocheni)
The ''
Chronography of 354
The ''Chronograph of 354'' (or "Chronography"), also known as the ''Calendar of 354'', is a compilation of chronological and calendrical texts produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrator ...
'', the ''
Panarion'' by
Epiphanius of Salamis
Epiphanius of Salamis ( grc-gre, Ἐπιφάνιος; c. 310–320 – 403) was the bishop of Salamis, Cyprus, at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He ...
(c. 375), the ''
Chronicon Paschale
''Chronicon Paschale'' (the ''Paschal'' or ''Easter Chronicle''), also called ''Chronicum Alexandrinum'', ''Constantinopolitanum'' or ''Fasti Siculi'', is the conventional name of a 7th-century Greek Christian chronicle of the world. Its name com ...
'' (c. 627), the ''History of Albania'' by the Georgian historian
Movses Kaghankatvatsi Movses Kaghankatvatsi ( hy, Մովսէս Կաղանկատուացի ''Movses Kaġankatvac’i''), or Movses Daskhurantsi ( ''Movses Dasxuranc’i'') is the reputed author (or authors) of a tenth-century Classical Armenian historiographical work on C ...
(7th century), and the ''Synopsis of Histories'' by
John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...
(c. 1057) follow the identifications of Hippolytus.
Jerome
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
, writing c. 390, provided an 'updated' version of Josephus' identifications in his ''Hebrew Questions on Genesis''. His list is substantially identical to that of Josephus in almost all respects, but with the following notable differences:
*Thubal, son of Japheth: "
Iberians
The Iberians ( la, Hibērī, from el, Ἴβηρες, ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (amon ...
, who are also the
Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...
from whom derive the
Celtiberians
The Celtiberians were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries BCE. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strab ...
, although certain people suppose them to be the Italians."
*Gether, son of Aram: "
Acarnanii or
Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joine ...
ns"
*Mash, son of Aram:
Maeones
Isidore
The scholar
Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...
, in his ''
Etymologiae
''Etymologiae'' (Latin for "The Etymologies"), also known as the ''Origines'' ("Origins") and usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) towards the end of his life. Isidore was ...
'' (c. 600), repeats all of Jerome's identifications, but with these minor changes:
*Joktan, son of Eber:
Indians
*Saleph, son of Joktan:
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, sou ...
ns
*Magog, son of Japheth: "Scythians and
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...
"
*Ashkenaz, son of Gomer: "
Sarmatians
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...
, whom the Greeks call Rheginians".
Isidore's identifications for Japheth's sons were repeated in the ''
Historia Brittonum
''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia B ...
'' attributed to
Nennius
Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the '' Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considere ...
. Isidore's identifications also became the basis for numerous later mediaeval scholars, remaining so until the
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafa ...
prompted newer theories, such as that of
Benito Arias Montano (1571), who proposed connecting Meshech with
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, and Ophir with
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
.
Samuel Bochart
Published in 1646,
Samuel Bochart
Samuel Bochart (30 May 1599 – 16 May 1667) was a French Protestant biblical scholar, a student of Thomas Erpenius and the teacher of Pierre Daniel Huet. His two-volume '' Geographia Sacra seu Phaleg et Canaan'' (Caen 1646) exerted a profound in ...
's ''
Geographia Sacra seu Phaleg et Canaan'' was the first detailed analysis of the
Generations of Noah
The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known socie ...
since classical times, becoming – and remaining – the
locus classicus for such scholarship.
Early modern use of racial terminology
Göttingen school of history
Scholars at the
Göttingen School of History
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The or ...
, which played an important role in creating a "scientific" basis for historical research,
coined the modern racial definitions of the terms
Semitic,
Hamitic and
Japhetic
The term Japhetites (in adjective form Japhethitic or Japhetic) refers to the descendents of Japheth, one of the three sons of Noah in the Bible. The term has been adopted in ethnological and linguistic writing from the 18th to the 20th century ...
. The primary scholars were
Johann Christoph Gatterer,
August Ludwig von Schlözer
August Ludwig von Schlözer (5 July 1735, in Gaggstatt – 9 September 1809, in Göttingen) was a German historian and pedagogist who laid foundations for the critical study of Russian medieval history. He was a member of the Göttingen Scho ...
and
Johann Gottfried Eichhorn
Johann Gottfried Eichhorn (16 October 1752, in Dörrenzimmern – 27 June 1827, in Göttingen) was a German Protestant theologian of the Enlightenment and an early orientalist. He was a member of the Göttingen School of History.
Education and ...
.
Gatterer's 1771 ''Einleitung in die Synchronistische Universalhistorie'' ("Introduction to the Universal Synchronistic History") was the first publication to use these terms in an ethnic sense.
[ Gatterer's description was as follows:
]
Other interpretations
Descendants of Japheth
The Greek Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...
(LXX) text of Genesis includes an additional son of Japheth, "Elisa", between Javan and Tubal; however, as this name is found in no other ancient source, nor in I Chronicles, he is almost universally agreed to be a duplicate of Elisha, son of Javan. The presence of Elisa and of Cainan son of Arpachshad (below) in the Greek Bible accounts for the traditional enumeration among early Christian sources of 72 names, as opposed to the 70 names found in Jewish sources and Western Christian sources.
* Gomer
Gomer ( he, ''Gōmer'', ; el, Γαμὲρ, translit=Gamér) was the eldest son of Japheth (and of the Japhetic line), and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the "Table of Nations" in the Hebrew Bible ( Genesis 10).
The ...
: the Cimmerians
The Cimmerians (Akkadian: , romanized: ; Hebrew: , romanized: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into Wes ...
, a people from the northern Black Sea, made incursions into Anatolia in the eighth and early seventh centuries BCE before being confined to Cappadocia.
**Ashkenaz
Ashkenaz ( he, ''ʾAškənāz'') in the Hebrew Bible is one of the descendants of Noah.
Ashkenaz is the first son of Gomer, and a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. In rabbinic literature, the descendants of Ashkenaz were first associa ...
: A people of the Black and Caspian sea areas, much later associated with German and East European Jews. The Ashkuza, who lived on the upper Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
in Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
expelled the Cimmerians from their territory, and in Jeremiah 51:27 were said to march against Babylon along with two other northern kingdoms.
** Riphath Riphath (Hebrew: ריפת) was great-grandson of Noah, grandson of Japheth, son of Gomer (Japheth's eldest), younger brother of Ashkenaz, and older brother of Togarmah according to the Table of Nations in the Hebrew Bible (, ). The name appears in ...
(''Diphath'' in Chronicles): Josephus identification Riphath with the Paphlagonia
Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus t ...
ns of later antiquity, but this appears to have been no more than a guess; the Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...
identifies the name with the "Riphean Mountains
In Greco-Roman geography, the Riphean Mountains (also Riphaean; , or ; '' grc, Ῥιπαῖα ὄρη''; Latin: ''Rhipaei'' or ''Riphaei montes'') were a supposed mountain range located in the far north of Eurasia. The name of the mountains i ...
", equated with the Causcasus in Classical sources, and the general understanding seems to have been invaders from the Causcuses who were settled in Armenia or Cappadocia.
** Togarmah
Togarmah (Hebrew: ''Tōgarmā'') is a figure in the "table of nations" in Genesis 10, the list of descendants of Noah that represents the peoples known to the ancient Hebrews. Togarmah is among the descendants of Japheth and is thought to repre ...
: Associated with Anatolia in Ezekiel. Later Armenian historians claimed Togarmah as an ancestor.
* Magog: Associated in Ezekiel with Gog, a king of Lydia
Lydia ( Lydian: 𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish pro ...
, and thereby with Anatolia. The first century CE Jewish historian Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
stated that Magog was identical with the Scythians
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
, but modern scholars are sceptical of this and place Magog simply somewhere in Anatolia.
* Madai
Madai (, ; el, Μηδος, ) is a son of Japheth and one of the 16 grandsons of Noah in the ''Book of Genesis'' of the Hebrew Bible.
Associated nations
Medes and related Iranian nations
Biblical scholars have generally identified Madai wit ...
: The Medes
The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...
, from an area now in northwest Iran.
* Javan
Javan () was the fourth son of Noah's son Japheth according to the "Generations of Noah" (Book of Genesis, chapter 10) in the Hebrew Bible. Josephus states the traditional belief that this individual was the ancestor of the Greeks.
Also servin ...
: This name is universally agreed to refer to the Ionia
Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionia ...
ns (Greeks) of the western and southern coast of Anatolia.
** Elishah
Elishah or Eliseus ( ''’Ĕlīšā'') was the son of Javan according to the Book of Genesis (10:4) in the Masoretic Text. The Greek Septuagint of Genesis 10 lists ''Elisa'' not only as the son of Javan, but also a grandson of Japheth. His name ...
: Possibly Elaioussa, an island off the coast of Cilicia, or an old name for the island of Cyprus.
** Tarshish
Tarshish ( Phoenician: ''TRŠŠ'', he, תַּרְשִׁישׁ ''Taršīš'', , ''Tharseis'') occurs in the Hebrew Bible with several uncertain meanings, most frequently as a place (probably a large city or region) far across the sea from Phoen ...
(''Tarshishah'' in Chronicles): Candidates include (Tartessos
Tartessos ( es, Tarteso) is, as defined by archaeological discoveries, a historical civilization settled in the region of Southern Spain characterized by its mixture of local Paleohispanic and Phoenician traits. It had a proper writing system ...
) in Spain and Tharros in Sardinia, both of which appear unlikely, and Tarsus in Cilicia, which appears more likely despite some linguistic difficulties.
** Kittim: Originally the inhabitants of Kition in Cyprus, later the entire island; in the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...
the Kittim appear to be the Romans.
** Dodanim
Dodanim ( ''Dōḏānīm'') or Rodanim, ( ''Rōḏānīm'', el, Ρόδιοι, ''Ródioi'') was, in the Book of Genesis, a son of Javan (thus, a great-grandson of Noah). Dodanim's brothers, according to Genesis 10:4, were Elishah, Tarshish and Ch ...
(''Rodanim'' in Chronicles): Inhabitants of Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
.
* Tubal
Tubal ( he, תֻבָל, ''Ṯuḇāl'', ), in Genesis 10 (the "Table of Nations"), was the name of a son of Japheth, son of Noah. He is known to be the father of the Caucasian Iberians (ancestors of the Georgians) according to primary sources. ...
: Tubal and Meshech always appear as a pair in the Old Testament. The name Tubal is connected with Tabal and Greek Tipaprivoi, a people of Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...
, in the north-east of Anatolia.
* Meshech: Mushki/Muski had its capital at Gordium
Gordion ( Phrygian: ; el, Γόρδιον, translit=Górdion; tr, Gordion or ; la, Gordium) was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about southwest of Ankara (capital of Turkey), in the ...
and fused with the kingdom of Phrygia
In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empir ...
by the 8th century.
* Tiras Tiras ( he, ''Ṯīrās'') is, according to the Book of Genesis () and 1 Chronicles, the seventh and youngest son of Japheth in the Hebrew Bible. A brother of biblical Javan (associated with the Greek people), its geographical locale is sometim ...
: Josephus and late Rabbinical writers associated Tiras with Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...
, the part of Europe opposite Anatolia, but all the other sons of Japheth are located in Anatolia itself and it is possible that Tiras may refer to Thracians inhabiting westernmost Anatolia; it has also been associated with some of the Sea Peoples
The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 BCE).. Quote: "First coined in 1881 by the Fren ...
such as Tursha and Tyrrhenians
Tyrrhenians (Attic Greek: ''Turrhēnoi'') or Tyrsenians ( Ionic: ''Tursēnoi''; Doric: ''Tursānoi'') was the name used by the ancient Greeks authors to refer, in a generic sense, to non-Greek people.
While ancient sources have been interp ...
, but this is considered unlikely.
Descendants of Ham
* Cush: The biblical transliteration of the Egyptian name for Nubia
Nubia () ( Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sud ...
or Ethiopia; the "sons of Cush" which follow are various locations on the Arabian and possibly African coasts bordering the Red Sea.
** Seba (son of Cush). Has been connected with both Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, with much confusion with Sheba below.
** Havilah
Havilah ( ''Ḥăwīlāh'') refers to both a land and people in several books of the Bible; the one mentioned in , while the other is mentioned in .
Biblical mentions
In one case, Havilah is associated with the Garden of Eden, that mentioned in ...
, son of Cush
** Sabtah (son of Cush)
** Raamah (son of Cush).
*** Sheba (son of Raamah). Has been connected with Sabaeans
The Sabaeans or Sabeans (Sabaean:, ; ar, ٱلسَّبَئِيُّوْن, ''as-Sabaʾiyyūn''; he, סְבָאִים, Səḇāʾīm) were an ancient group of South Arabians. They spoke the Sabaean language, one of the Old South Arabian langu ...
and peoples on either side of the narrowest part of the Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
.
*** Dedan, son of Raamah
** Sabtechah, son of Cush
** Nimrod
Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...
: in verses 10–12 he is the founder of a list of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
n cities, and the biblical tradition elsewhere identifies him with northern Mesopotamia or Assyria. His location (Mesopotamia) is something of an anomaly, in that the other sons of Cush are connected with Africa or the Red Sea, and he is possibly a late insertion resulting from a confusion between the African Cush and a quite different Cush, the eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
(ancestor) of the Kassites
The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology).
They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylo ...
.
* Mizraim
Mizraim (; cf. Arabic مصر, ''Miṣr'') is the Hebrew and Aramaic name for the land of Egypt, with the dual suffix ''-āyim'', perhaps referring to the "two Egypts": Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Mizraim is the dual form of matzor, meaning a "moun ...
: Egypt.
** Ludim, offspring of Mizraim.
** Anamim __NOTOC__
Anamim (, ''‘Ănāmīm'') is, according to the Bible, either a son of Ham's son Mizraim or the name of a people descending from him. Biblical scholar Donald E. Gowan describes their identity as "completely unknown."
The name should pe ...
, offspring of Mizraim.
** Lehabim
This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections.
A Accaba, descendants of
For the descendants of "Accaba" (1 Esd ...
, offspring of Mizraim.
** Naphtuhim, offspring of Mizraim.
** Pathrusim
Pathrusim together with Casluhim were descendants of Mizraim (i.e., Egypt) according to the genealogies in Genesis, who inhabited Pathros (i.e., Upper Egypt).
In Saadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch, the '' Sa'idi people'' ( ...
, offspring of Mizraim.
** Casluhim
The Casluhim or Casluhites ( he, כסלחים) were an ancient Egyptian people mentioned in the Bible and related literature.
Biblical accounts
According to the Book of Genesis () and the Books of Chronicles (), the Casluhim were descendants of ...
("out of whom came Philistim" – , )
** Caphtorim
Caphtor ( he, ''Kaftōr'') is a locality mentioned in the Bible, in which its people are called Caphtorites or Caphtorim and are named as a division of the ancient Egyptians. Caphtor is also mentioned in ancient inscriptions from Egypt, Mari, a ...
: Probably the island of Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
. According to Deuteronomy 2:23, Caphtorim settled in Gaza, an important Philistinian city.
* Phut
Phut or Put ( he, ''Pūṭ''; Septuagint Greek ''Phoud'') is the third son of Ham (one of the sons of Noah), in the biblical Table of Nations (Genesis ; cf. 1 Chronicles ). The name Put (or Phut) is used in the Bible for Ancient Libya, but a fe ...
: the Septuagint translates this as Libyans, which would be in accordance with the north–to–south progression in the listing of Ham's descendants, but some scholars have suggested Punt, the Egyptian name for Somalia.
* Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
: The strip of land west of the Jordan River
The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...
including modern Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
and parts of Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and the varied peoples who lived there.
** Sidon
Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
: The main Phoenician city, often treated as synonymous with Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...
.
** Heth
Heth, sometimes written Chet, but more accurately Ḥet, is the eighth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Ḥēt 𐤇 , Hebrew Ḥēth , Aramaic Ḥēth , Syriac Ḥēṯ ܚ, Arabic Ḥā' , and Maltese Ħ, ħ.
Heth origin ...
: Probably the ancestor of the biblical Hittites
The Hittites, also spelled Hethites, were a group of people mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Under the names (''bny-ḥt'' "children of Heth", who was the son of Canaan) and (''ḥty'' "native of Heth") they are described several times as living ...
, although the Hittites
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...
of Anatolia had no ethnic or linguistic ties with the peoples of Canaan.
** "the Jebusite
The Jebusites (; ISO 259-3 ''Ybusi'') were, according to the books of Joshua and Samuel from the Tanakh, a Canaanite tribe that inhabited Jerusalem, then called Jebus (Hebrew: ''Yəḇūs'', "trampled place") prior to the conquest initiated b ...
", offspring of Canaan.
** "the Amorite
The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied lar ...
": Generic name for West Semitic peoples of the Fertile Crescent.
** "the Girgasites
This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections.
A Accaba, descendants of
For the descendants of "Accaba" (1 Esd ...
", offspring of Canaan
** "the Hivite
The Hivites ( he, ''Ḥiwwîm'') were one group of descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, according to the Table of Nations in (10:17). A variety of proposals have been made, but beyond the references in the Bible to Hivites in the land of Canaan, ...
", offspring of Canaan
** "the Arkite
Arqa ( ar, عرقا; akk, 𒅕𒋡𒋫, translit=Irqata) is a Lebanese village near Miniara in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon, 22 km northeast of Tripoli, near the coast.
The town was a notable city-state during the Iron Age. The city of '' ...
", offspring of Canaan.
** "the Sinite", offspring of Canaan.
** "the Arvadite
This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections.
A Accaba, descendants of
For the descendants of "Accaba" (1 Es ...
", offspring of Canaan.
** "the Zemarite
This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections.
A Accaba, descendants of
For the descendants of "Accaba" (1 Esd ...
", offspring of Canaan.
** "the Hamathite
This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections.
A Accaba, descendants of
For the descendants of "Accaba" (1 Es ...
", offspring of Canaan.
Beginning in the 9th century with the Jewish grammarian Judah ibn Quraysh, a relationship between the Semitic and Cushitic languages
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As ...
was seen; modern linguists group these two families, along with the Egyptian, Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–19 ...
, Chadic
The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, the Central African Republic, and northern Ca ...
, and Omotic
The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region. The Ge'ez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have co ...
language groups into the larger Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic s ...
language family. In addition, languages in the southern half of Africa are now seen as belonging to several distinct families independent of the Afro-Asiatic group. Some now discarded Hamitic theories have become viewed as racist; in particular a theory proposed in the 19th century by Speke, that the Tutsi
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic g ...
were supposedly of some Hamitic ancestry and thus ''inherently superior''.
The 17th-century Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fe ...
, thought that the Chinese had also descended from Ham, via Egyptians.
Descendants of Shem
* Elam
Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
: A kingdom east of Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
and Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c ...
and along the Persian Gulf. The Elamites called their land ''Haltamti'' and had an empire (capital Susa
Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo- Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...
) in what is now Khuzistan
Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...
, modern Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. Elamite is not a Semitic language, but a Language Isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The nu ...
.
* Ashur: Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
, which was not West Semitic
The West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub-grouping of ancient Semitic languages. The term was first coined in 1883 by Fritz Hommel.[East Semitic
The East Semitic languages are one of three divisions of the Semitic languages. The East Semitic group is attested by three distinct languages, Akkadian, Eblaite and possibly Kishite, all of which have been long extinct. They were influenced b ...]
speaking kingdom in Upper Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has been ...
. In the much older Assyrian tradition itself, ''Ashur'' is the name of the chief deity in Mesopotamian religion
Mesopotamian religion refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia between circa 6000 BC and 400 AD, after which they largely gave way to Syriac C ...
and the name of the city state of Assur
Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'a ...
.
* Arpachshad
Arpachshad ( he, אַרְפַּכְשַׁד – ''ʾArpaḵšaḏ'', in pausa – ''ʾArpaḵšāḏ''; gr, Ἀρφαξάδ – ''Arphaxád''), alternatively spelled Arphaxad or Arphacsad, is one of the postdiluvian men in the ShemTera ...
: Flavius Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
links Arpachshad with Chaldaea in his Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the ...
, stating: "Arphaxad named the Arphaxadites, who are now called Chaldeans."
:* ''Cainan
Cainan (from ''Qēnān, Kēnān'') is mentioned in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Book of Genesis, the Book of Jubilees and the genealogy of Jesus given in Luke 3:36 in the New Testament. He is described as a son of Arpachshad a ...
is listed as the son of Arpachshad and father of Shelah in the Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...
, a Greek translation of the Hebrew bible (the Masoretic text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
) made in the last few centuries before the modern era. The name is omitted in the Hebrew bible. The genealogy of Jesus
The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but ...
in St. Luke 3:36, which is taken from the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew text, include the name.''
:* Salah (also transcribed ''Shelah'') son of Arpachshad (or Cainan).
::* Eber
Eber ( he, , ʿĒḇer; grc-x-biblical, Ἔβερ, Éber; ar, عٰابِر, ʿĀbir) is an ancestor of the Ishmaelites and the Israelites according to the "Table of Nations" in the Book of Genesis () and the Books of Chronicles ().
Lineage
...
son of Shelah: The ancestor of Abraham and the Hebrews, he has a significant place as the 14th from Adam.
:::* Peleg
Peleg ( he, פֶּלֶג, Péleḡ, in pausa he, פָּלֶג, Pā́leḡ, "division"; grc-x-biblical, Φάλεκ, Phálek) is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two sons of Eber, an ancestor of the Ishmaelites and the Israelites, ac ...
: The name means "division," and may refer to the division of the peoples in the Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages.
According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...
incident which follows, or to Peleg and his descendants being "divided out" as the chosen people of God.
:::* Joktan Joktan (also written as Yoktan; ; ar, يقطان, translit=Yaqṭān) was the second of the two sons of Eber (Book of Genesis 10:25; 1 Chronicles 1:19) mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. He descends from Shem, son of Noah.
In the Book of Genesis 10:25 ...
: The name is Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, and his 13 "sons," so far as they can be identified, correspond to the west and southwest of the Arabian peninsula.
::::* Almodad Almodad ( ''’Almōḏāḏ'') was a descendant of Noah and the first named son of Joktan in and . While the Bible has no further history regarding Almodad, this patriarch is considered to be the founder of an Arabian tribe in "Arabia Felix". Thi ...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Sheleph
Sheleph was a son of Joktan, of the family of Shem. (Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. ...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Hazarmaveth
Hazarmaveth ( hbo, חֲצַרְמָוֶת, italic=no, rtl=yes, ''Ḥăṣarmāweṯ''; ar, حضر موت, italic=no, rtl=yes) is the third of thirteen sons of Joktan, who was a son of Eber, son of Shem in the table of the Sons of Noah in Genesis ...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Jerah, son of Joktan.
::::* Hadoram
Hadoram ( he, ''Hăḏōrām'') is the son of Joktan mentioned in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. One of Shem's sons was Arpachshad. One of Arpachshad's grandsons was Eber. Eber had two sons: ...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Uzal Uzal, in the Hebrew Bible, is a descendant of Joktan (Book of Genesis 10:27 ; 1 Chronicles 1:21), whose settlements are traced in the ancient name of Sanaʽa, the capital city of the Yemen. He was believed to be the founder of an Arabian tribe. Uza ...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Diklah son of Joktan.
::::* Obal Joktan (also written as Yoktan; ; ar, يقطان, translit=Yaqṭān) was the second of the two sons of Eber (Book of Genesis 10:25; 1 Chronicles 1:19) mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. He descends from Shem, son of Noah.
In the Book of Genesis 10:2 ...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Abimael, son of Joktan.
::::* Sheba
Sheba (; he, ''Šəḇāʾ''; ar, سبأ ''Sabaʾ''; Ge'ez: ሳባ ''Saba'') is a kingdom mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the Quran. Sheba features in Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions, particularly the Ethiopian Orth ...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Ophir
Ophir (; ) is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth. King Solomon received a shipment from Ophir every three years (1 Kings 10:22) which consisted of gold, silver, sandalwood, pearls, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Havilah
Havilah ( ''Ḥăwīlāh'') refers to both a land and people in several books of the Bible; the one mentioned in , while the other is mentioned in .
Biblical mentions
In one case, Havilah is associated with the Garden of Eden, that mentioned in ...
, son of Joktan.
::::* Jobab, son of Joktan.
* Lud: The kingdom of Lydia
Lydia ( Lydian: 𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish pro ...
in eastern Anatolia. However, Lydia was Indo-Anatolian
In Indo-European linguistics, the term Indo-Hittite (also Indo-Anatolian) refers to Edgar Howard Sturtevant's 1926 hypothesis that the Anatolian languages may have split off a Pre-Proto-Indo-European language considerably earlier than the separat ...
speaking and not West Semitic and not geographically near the other "sons of Shem", which makes its presence in the list difficult to explain.
* Aram
Aram may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Aram'' (film), 2002 French action drama
* Aram, a fictional character in Japanese manga series '' MeruPuri''
* Aram Quartet, an Italian music group
* ''Aram'' (Kural book), the first of the three ...
: Aramaeans
The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean ...
: Mesopotamia and Syria.
** Uz, son of Aram.
** Hul
In the Book of Genesis, Hul ( ''Ḥūl'') is the son of Aram, son of Shem, who is mentioned twice in the Tanakh, both times in genealogical tables. According to the 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, he founded Armenia. Because his fath ...
, son of Aram.
** Gether, son of Aram.
** Mash, son of Aram (1 Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...
has ''Meshech'').
See also
* Color terminology for race
Identifying human races in terms of skin color, at least as one among several physiological characteristics, has been common since antiquity. Such divisions appeared in rabbinical literature and in early modern scholarship, usually dividing hum ...
* Genealogies in the Bible
* Generations of Noah
The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known socie ...
* Genetic history of the Middle East
The genetic history of the Middle East is the subject of research within the fields of human population genomics, archaeogenetics and Middle Eastern studies. Researchers use Y-DNA, mtDNA, and other autosomal DNAs to identify the genetic hist ...
* Race and appearance of Jesus
The race and appearance of Jesus has been a topic of discussion since the days of early Christianity. Various theories about the race of Jesus have been proposed and debated.''Racializing Jesus: Race, Ideology and the Formation of Modern Biblica ...
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
{{Historical definitions of race
terminology
Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, compound word, or multi-wo ...
Race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
Ethnonyms
Biblical terminology
Biblical terminology