TheGenerations of Noah, also called theTable of Nations orOrigines Gentium,[1] is a genealogy of the sons ofNoah, according to theHebrew Bible (Genesis10:9), and their dispersion into many lands afterthe Flood,[2] focusing on the major known societies. The term 'nations' to describe the descendants is a standard English translation of the Hebrew word "goyim", following thec. 400 CE LatinVulgate's "nationes", and does not have the same political connotations that the word entails today.[3]
According to the biblical scholarJoseph Blenkinsopp, the 70 names in the list express symbolically the unity of humanity, corresponding to the 70 descendants of Israel that followedJacobinto Egypt inGenesis 46:27 and the 70 elders of Israel who visit God with Moses at the covenant ceremony inExodus24:1–9.[6]
On the family pedigrees contained in the biblicalpericope of Noah,Saadia Gaon (892–942) wrote:
The Scriptures have traced the patronymic lineage of the seventy nations to the three sons of Noah, as also the lineage of Abraham and Ishmael, and of Jacob and Esau. The blessed Creator knew that men would find solace at knowing these family pedigrees, since our soul demands of us to know them, so that [all of] mankind will be held in fondness by us, as a tree that has been planted by God in the earth, whose branches have spread out and dispersed eastward and westward, northward and southward, in the habitable part of the earth. It also has the dual function of allowing us to see the multitude as a single individual, and the single individual as a multitude. Along with this, man ought to contemplate also on the names of the countries and of the cities [wherein they settled]."[7]
Moses Maimonides, echoing the same sentiments, wrote that the genealogy of the nations contained in the Law has the unique function of establishing a principle of faith, how that, although from Adam to Moses there was no more than a span of two-thousand five hundred years, and the human race was already spread over all parts of the earth in different families and with different languages, they were still people having a common ancestor and place of beginning.[8]
Other Bible commentators observe that the Table of Nations is unique compared to other genealogies since it depicts a "broad network of cousins", with a "shallow chain of brotherly relationships". Meanwhile, the other genealogies focus on "narrow chains of father-son relationships".[9]
The world as known to theHebrews according to theMosaic account (1854 map), from theHistorical Textbook and Atlas of Biblical Geography byLyman Coleman.
Chapters 1–11 of theBook of Genesis are structured around fivetoledot statements ("these are the generations of..."), of which the "generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth" is the fourth. Events before theGenesis flood narrative, the central toledot, correspond to those after: the post-Flood world is a new creation corresponding to theGenesis creation narrative, and Noah had three sons who populated the world. The correspondences extend forward as well: there are 70 names in the Table, corresponding to the 70 Israelites who go down into Egypt at the end of Genesis and to the 70 elders of Israel who go up the mountain at Sinai to meet with God in Exodus. The symbolic force of these numbers is underscored by the way the names are frequently arranged in groups of seven, suggesting that the Table is a symbolic means of implying universal moral obligation.[10] The number 70 also parallels Canaanite mythology, where 70 represents the number of gods in the divine clan who are each assigned a subject people, and where the supreme godEl and his consort,Asherah, has the title "Mother/Father of 70 gods", which, due to the coming of monotheism, had to be changed, but its symbolism lived on in the new religion.[citation needed]
The overall principle governing the assignment of various peoples within the Table is difficult to discern: it purports to describe all humankind, but in reality restricts itself to theEgyptian lands of the south,Mesopotamia,Asia Minor, and theIonian Greeks, and in addition, the "sons of Noah" are not organized by geography,language family orethnic groups within these regions.[12] The Table contains several difficulties: for example, the names Sheba and Havilah are listed twice, first as descendants of Cush the son of Ham (verse 7), and then as sons of Joktan, the great-grandsons of Shem, and while the Cushites are North African in verses 6–7 they are unrelated Mesopotamians in verses 10–14.[13]
The date of composition of Genesis 1–11 cannot be fixed with any precision, although it seems likely that an early brief nucleus was later expanded with extra data.[14] Portions of the Table itself 'may' derive from the 10th century BCE, while others reflect the 7th century BCE andpriestly revisions in the 5th century BCE.[2] Its combination of world review, myth and genealogy corresponds to the work of the Greek historianHecataeus of Miletus, activec. 520 BCE.[15]
I Chronicles 1 includes a version of the Table of Nations from Genesis, but edited to make clearer that the intention is to establish the background for Israel. This is done by condensing various branches to focus on the story of Abraham and his offspring. Most notably, it omits Genesis 10:9–14, in which Nimrod, a son of Cush, is linked to various cities in Mesopotamia, thus removing from Cush any Mesopotamian connection. In addition, Nimrod does not appear in any of the numerous Mesopotamian King Lists.[16]
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The Table of Nations is expanded upon in detail in chapters 8–9 of theBook of Jubilees, sometimes known as the "Lesser Genesis," a work from the earlySecond Temple period.[17] Jubilees is consideredpseudepigraphical by most Christian and Jewish denominations but thought to have been held in regard by many of theChurch Fathers.[18] Its division of the descendants throughout the world are thought to have been heavily influenced by the "Ionian world map" described intheHistories ofHerodotus,[19] and the anomalous treatment of Canaan and Madai are thought to have been "propaganda for the territorial expansion of theHasmonean state".[20]
The Hebrew bible was translated into Greek in Alexandria at the request ofPtolemy II, who reigned over Egypt 285–246 BCE.[21] Its version of the Table of Nations is substantially the same as that in the Hebrew text, but with the following differences:
It lists Elisa as an extra son of Japheth, giving him eight instead of seven, while continuing to list him also as a son of Javan, as in the Masoretic text.
Whereas the Hebrew text lists Shelah as the son of Arpachshad in the line of Shem, the Septuagint has aCainan as the son of Arpachshad and father of Shelah – the Book of Jubilees gives considerable scope to this figure. Cainan appears again at the end of the list of the sons of Shem.
Obal, Joktan's eighth son in the Masoretic text, does not appear.[22]
In theFirst Epistle of Peter, 3:20, the author says that eight righteous persons were saved from the Great Flood, referring to the four named males, and theirwives aboard Noah's Ark not enumerated elsewhere in the Bible.
1823 map byRobert Wilkinson (see also 1797 versionhere). Prior to the mid-19th century,Shem was associated with all of Asia,Ham with all of Africa, andJapheth with all of Europe.
TheGenesis flood narrative tells how Noah and his three sons (Shem,Ham, andJapheth), together with their wives, were saved from the Deluge to repopulate the Earth.
Ham's descendants: The forefather ofCush,Mizraim, andPhut, and ofCanaan, whose lands include portions of Africa. The etymology of his name is uncertain; some scholars have linked it to terms connected with divinity, but a divine or semi-divine status for Ham is unlikely.[28]
Japheth's descendants: His name is associated with the mythological Greek TitanIapetus, and his sons includeJavan, theGreek city-states ofIonia.[29] In Genesis 9:27 it forms a pun with the Hebrew rootyph: "May God make room [thehiphil of the yph root] for Japheth, that he may live in Shem's tents andCanaanmay be his slave."[30]
Map of the world byJoseph Moxon from 1681 showing Shem's descendants in Asia, Ham's descendants in Africa, and Japheth's descendants in Europe and North America.
Based on an old Jewish tradition contained in theAramaic Targum ofpseudo-Jonathan ben Uzziel,[31] an anecdotal reference to theOrigines Gentium inGenesis 10:2–ff has been passed down, and which, in one form or another, has also been relayed byJosephus in hisAntiquities,[32] repeated in theTalmud,[33] and further elaborated by medieval Jewish scholars, such as in works written bySaadia Gaon,[34]Josippon,[35] and DonIsaac Abarbanel,[36] who, based on their own knowledge of the nations, showed their migratory patterns at the time of their compositions:
"The sons of Ḥam are Kūš, andMiṣrayim,[56] andFūṭ (Phut),[57] andKenaʻan,[58] while the names of their diocese areArabia, andEgypt, and Elīḥerūq[59] andCanaan. The sons of Kūš are Sebā[60] and Ḥawīlah[61] and Savtah[62] and Raʻamah and Savteḫā,[63] [while the sons of Raʻamah are Ševā and Dedan].[64] The names of their diocese are called Sīnīrae,[d] and Hīndīqī,[e] Samarae,[f] Lūbae,[65]Zinğae,[g] while the sons of Mauretinos[h] are [the inhabitants of] Zemarğad and [the inhabitants of]Mezağ."[66] ---Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 10:6–7
Uncertain, further complicated by its later attestation asRodanim. Those assumingDodanim represents the original form have proposedDodona,[106][107]Dardania,[106] andDardanus;[108] whereas those assumingRodanim represents the original have almost universally proposedRhodes.[109][107]
Because of the traditional grouping of people based on their alleged descent from the three major biblical progenitors (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) by the three Abrahamic religions, in former years there was an attempt to classify these family groups and to divide humankind into three races calledCaucasoid,Mongoloid, andNegroid (originally named "Ethiopian"), terms which were introduced in the 1780s by members of theGöttingen school of history.[140] It is now recognized that determining precise descent-groups based strictly on patrilineal descent is problematic, as nations are not stationary. People are often multi-lingual and multi-ethnic, and people sometimes migrate from one country to another[141] - whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Some nations have intermingled with other nations and can no longer trace their paternal descent,[142] or haveassimilated and abandoned their mother's tongue for another language. In addition,phenotypes cannot always be used to determine one's ethnicity because of interracial marriages. Anation today is defined as "a large aggregate of people inhabiting a particular territory united by a common descent, history, culture, or language." The biblical line of descent is irrespective of language,[143] place of nativity,[144] or cultural influences, as all that is binding is one's patrilineal line of descent.[145] For these reasons, attempting to determine precise blood relation of any one group in today'sModern Age may prove futile. Sometimes people sharing a common patrilineal descent spoke two separate languages, whereas, at other times, a language spoken by a people of common descent may have been learnt and spoken by multiple other nations of different descent.
Another problem associated with determining precise descent-groups based strictly on patrilineal descent is the realization that, for some of the prototypical family groups, certain sub-groups have sprung forth, and are considered diverse from each other (such as Ismael, the progenitor of theArab nations, and Isaac, the progenitor of theIsraelite nation, although both family groups are derived from Shem's patrilineal line throughEber. The total number of other sub-groups, or splinter groups, each with its distinct language and culture is unknown.
Identifying geographically defined groups of people in terms of their biblical lineage, based on the Generations of Noah, has been common since antiquity. By the end of the 19th century, the influential Germanencyclopaedia,Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, divided humanity into three major races calledCaucasoid,Mongoloid, andNegroid, each comprising various sub-races. While the "Hamites" of northern Africa were seen asCaucasoid, "Australians", "Melanesians", and "Negritoes" were seen asNegroid sub-races, although living outside the African continent. The only sub-races attributed to Africa were the "African Negroes" and the "Hottentots".[146]
There exist various traditions in post-biblical and talmudic sources claiming that Noah had children other than Shem, Ham, and Japheth who were born before the Deluge.
According to theQuran (Hud 42–43), Noah had another unnamed son who refused to come aboard the Ark, instead preferring to climb a mountain, where he drowned. Some later Islamic commentators give his name as eitherYam orKan'an.[147]
According toIrish mythology, as found in theAnnals of the Four Masters and elsewhere, Noah had another son namedBith who was not allowed aboard the Ark, and who attempted to colonise Ireland with 54 persons, only to be wiped out in the Deluge.[citation needed]
According to the monkAnnio da Viterbo (1498), the Hellenistic Babylonian writerBerossus had mentioned 30 children born to Noah after the Deluge, including Macrus,Iapetus Iunior (Iapetus the Younger),Prometheus Priscus (Prometheus the Elder),Tuyscon Gygas (Tuyscon the Giant), Crana, Cranus, Granaus, 17 Tytanes (Titans), Araxa Prisca (Araxa the Elder), Regina,Pandora Iunior (Pandora the Younger),Thetis,Oceanus, andTyphoeus. However, Annio's manuscript is widely regarded today as having been a forgery.[150]
^The sense here is toAfrica Zeugitana in the north;Africa Byzacena to its adjacent south (corresponding to eastern Tunisia), andAfrica Tripolitania to its adjacent south (corresponding to southern Tunisia and northwest Libya). All of which were part of theDioecesis Africae, orAfrica propria, in early Roman times. SeeLeo Africanus (1974), vol. 1, p. 22.Neubauer (1868:400) thought thatAfriki in the Aramaic text "should necessarily represent a country in Asia here. Some scholars want to see Phrygia there, others Iberia" (End Quote).
^A name typically associated with theAeolians, who settled in Ilida (formerly known as Elis) in Greece, and in the regions thereabout.Jonathan ben Uzziel, who rendered an Aramaic translation of theBook of Ezekiel in the early 1st-century CE, wrote that Elisha in Ezekiel 27:7 is the province ofItaly, suggesting that his descendants had originally settled there. According to Hebrew Bible exegete,Abarbanel (1960:173), they also established a large colony inSicily, whose inhabitants are known as Sicilians. According toJosippon (1971:1), Elisha's descendants had also settled inGermany (Almania).
^According toAbarbanel (1960:173), the descendants of Tarshish eventually settled inTuscany and inLombardy, and made-up parts of the populations ofFlorence,Milan, andVenice, underscoring the fact that the migration of man and of different ethnic groups is always fluid and ever changing.
^Pliny the Elder, in hisNatural History, describes this place as being situate along the banks of the Nile River.
^The medieval Arab geographers gave the nameZinğ orZinj to the African people who dwell along the Indian Ocean, such as in present-dayKenya, but may also refer to places along theSwahili Coast. SeeIbn Khaldun (1927:106), who writes in the 14th-century of the Zinğ on this wise: "Ibn-Said enumerates nineteen peoples or tribes of which the black race is made up; Thus, on the East side, on theIndian Ocean, we find the Zendj (sic), a nation which owns the city of Monbeça (Mombasa) and practices idolatry" (End Quote). Ibn Khaldun (1967), p. 123, repeats the same in his work,The Muqaddimah, placing the people who are called Zinğ along the coast of the Indian Ocean, betweenZeila andMogadishu.
^Mauretinos was the forebear of the Black Moors, from whom the region in North Africa bears its name. His name is generally associated with the biblical Raʻamah, and whose posterity were calledMaurusii by the Greeks. InTangier (the 1st Mauretania), the Black Moors were already a minority race at the time of Pliny, largely supplanted by theGaetulians. According to R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32), the descendants of Raʻamah (Mauretinos) were thought to have settledKakaw, possiblyGao, along the bend of theNiger River. Alternatively, Saadia Gaon may have been referring to theGaoga who inhabit a region bordering on Borno to the west and Nubia to the east. On this place, seeLeo Africanus (1974: vol. 3, p. 852 - note 27)
^Pliny, in hisNatural History, mentions this place under the nameSabaei.
^InJewish tradition, Ophir is often associated with a place inIndia, where the descendants of Ophir are thought to have settled. Fourteenth-century biblical commentator,Nathanel ben Isaiah, writes: "And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab (Gen. 10:29), these are the tracts of countries in the east, being those of the firstclime" (End Quote), and which first clime, according toal-Biruni, the sub-continent of India falls entirely therein. Cf.Josephus, (Antiquities of the Jews 8.6.4., s.v.Aurea Chersonesus). The 10th-century lexicographer,Ben Abraham al-Fasi (1936:46), identified Ophir with Serendip, the old Persian name forSri Lanka (aka Ceylon).
^"Biblical Geography,"Catholic Encyclopedia: "The ethnographical list in Genesis 10 is a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the old general geography of the East, and its importance can scarcely be overestimated."
^According toJosephus, Gomer's descendants settled in Galatia. According toSozomen;Philostorgius (1855), pp. 431–432, "Upper Galatia and the district lying around the Alps were later called Gallia, or Gaul by the Romans." Cf.Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 10a) where it associates Gomer with the land ofGermania. According to 2nd-century author,Aretaeus of Cappadocia, theCelts were thought to be an offshoot of theGauls.
^His progeny were initially called by the Greeks "Scythians" (Herodotus, Book IV. 3–7; pp. 203–207), a people that originally inhabited those lands stretching between the Black and Aral Seas (S.E. Europe and Asia), although some of which people later went as far eastward as theAltai Mountains.Abarbanel (1960:173) alleges that Magog was also the progenitor of theGoths, a Germanic race. The Goths have a history of migration where they are known to have settled among other nations, such as among the inhabitants of Italy and of France and of Spain. SeeIsidore of Seville (1970:3). TheJerusalem Talmud, Leiden MS. (Megillah 1:9 [10a]) uses the wordGetae to describe the descendants of Magog. According to Isidore of Seville (2006:197), theDacians (the ancient people inhabitingRomania - formerly Thrace) were offshoots of the Goths.
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.1.), Madai's posterity inhabited the country of the Medes, the capital city of which, according toHerodotus, wasEcbatana.
^Herodotus (1971). E.H. Warmington (ed.).Herodotus: The Persian Wars. Vol. 3 (Books V–VII). Translated by A.D. Godley. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. p. 377 (Book VII).ISBN0-674-99133-8.The Medes were in old time called by all men Arians (Aryan) (ISBN0-434-99119-8 - British)
^According toJosippon (1971:1), the descendants of Javan inhabitedMacedonia. According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.1.), from Javan were derived theIonians and all the Grecians.
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.1), the descendants of Tuval settled in theIberian Peninsula.Abarbanel (1960:173), citingJosippon, concurs with this view, who adds that, besides Spain, some of his descendants had also settled inPisa (of Italy), as well as in France along theRiver Seine, and in Britain. TheJerusalem Talmud (Megillah 10a), following the Aramaic Targum, ascribes the descendants of Tuval to the region ofBithynia. Alternatively, Josephus may have been referring to theCaucasian Iberians, the ancestors of modernGeorgians.
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.1), Meshech was the father of the indigenous peoples ofCappadocia in Central Anatolia, Turkey, where they had built the cityMazaca. This view is followed by Abarbanel (1960:173), although he seemed to confound Cappadocia with another place by the same name inGreater Armenia, near the Euphrates River. R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 5) opined that the descendants of Meshech had also settled inKhorasan. TheJerusalem Talmud (Megillah 10a), following the Aramaic Targum, ascribes the descendants of Meshech to the region ofMoesia.
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.1) and theJerusalem Talmud (Megillah 10a), the descendants of Tiras are said to have originally settled in the country ofThrace (Thracians). In theBabylonian Talmud (Yoma 10a), one rabbi holds that some of his descendants settled inPersia, a view held also by R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32). According toJosippon (1971:1), Tiras was the ancestor of the Russian people (perhapsKievan Rus'), as well as of those peoples who first settled inBosnia, and inEngland (perhaps referring to theancient Britons, thePicts, and the Scots – aCeltic race). This opinion seems to be followed byAbarbanel (1960:173) who wrote that Tiras was the ancestor of the Russian people and of the native peoples of England. As for the early Britons and Picts, according toThe Saxon Chronicles, they were joined by the Angles and Jutes (Denmark) from theOld Saxons. The Jutes had established colonies inKent andWight, whilst the Angles had established colonies inMercia and in all theNorthumbria in about 449 CE.
^Historians and anthropologists note that the entire region east of theRhine River was known by the Romans asGermania (Germany), or what is transcribed in some sources asGermani,Germanica. The region, though now settled by a multitude of mixed peoples, was resettled some 4,500 years ago (based on a study presented in 2013 by ProfessorAlan J. Cooper, from the Australian Center for Ancient DNA, and by fellow co-worker Dr. Wolfgang Haak, who carried out research on earlyNeolithic skeletons discovered during an excavation in Sweden, and published in the article, "Ancient Europeans Mysteriously Vanished 4,500 Years Ago"); being resettled by a group of peoples comprising the Germanic Tribes, which group is largely thought to include theGoths, whetherOstrogoths orVisigoths, theVandals and theFranks,Burgundians,Alans,Langobards,Angles,Saxons,Jutes,Suebi andAlamanni.
^According toPausanias, in hisDescription of Greece (onArcadia8.9.7.), "the Bithynians are by descent Arcadians ofMantineia," that is to say, Grecians by origin; the descendants of Javan.
^Considered by many to be the progenitor of the ancientGauls (the people ofGallia, meaning, from Austria, France and Belgium, although this view is not conclusive. According toSaadia Gaon'sTafsir (aJudeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch), Ashkenaz was the progenitor of theSlavic peoples (Slovenes, etc.). According toGedaliah ibn Jechia's seminal work,Shalshelet Ha-Kabbalah (p. 219), who cites in the name ofSefer Yuchasin, the descendants of Ashkenaz had also originally settled in what was then calledBohemia, which today is the present-dayCzech Republic. This view is corroborated by native Czech historian and chroniclerDovid Solomon Ganz (1541–1613), author of a book published in Hebrew, entitledTzemach Dovid (Part II, p. 71; 3rd edition pub. in Warsaw, 1878), who, citingCyriacus Spangenberg, writes that the Czech Republic was formerly called Bohemia (Latin: Boihaemum).Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1) simply writes for Ashkenaz that he was the progenitor of the people whom the Greeks callRheginians, a people whichIsidore of Seville (2006:193) identified withSarmatians.Jonathan ben Uzziel, who rendered an Aramaic translation of theBook of Jeremiah in the early 1st-century CE, wrote that Ashkenaz in Jeremiah 51:27 isHurmini (Jastrow: "probably a province ofArmenia"), andAdiabene, suggesting that the descendants of Ashkenaz had also originally settled there.
^R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32) in his translation of Genesis 10:3 thought Rifath to be the progenitor of theFranks, whom he called inJudeo-Arabicפרנגה. In contrast,Abarbanel (1960:173), likeJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.1), opined that the descendants of Rifath settled inPaphlagonia, a region corresponding withCappadocia (Roman province) in Asia Minor. Abarbanel added that some of these people (from Paphlagonia) eventually made their way intoVenice, in Italy, while others went to France and toLesser Britain (Brittany) where they settled along theLoire river. According toJosippon (1971:1), Rifath was the ancestor of the indigenous peoples ofBrittany. The author of theMidrash Rabba (onGenesis Rabba §37) takes a different view, alleging that the descendants of Rifath settled inAdiabene.
^Togarmah is considered by medieval Jewish scholars as being the progenitor of the original Turks, of whom were thePhrygians, according toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.1). According to R.Judah Halevi in hisKuzari, and according to the bookJosippon (book I), Togarmah fathered ten sons, who were these: 1. Kuzar (Khazar; Cusar), actually the seventh son of Togarmah, and whose progeny became known asKhazars. In a letter written by King Joseph of the Khazar toHasdai ibn Shaprut, he claimed that he and his people are descended from Japheth, through son Togarmah; 2. Pechineg (Pizenaci), the ancestor of a people that settled along the Danube River. Some Pechenegs had also settled along the river Atil (Volga), and likewise on the river Geïch (Ural), having common frontiers with the Khazars and the so-calledUzes; 3. Elikanos; 4. Bulgar, the ancestor of the early inhabitants ofBulgaria. Descendants of these people also settled along the lower courses of theDanube River, as well as in the region ofKazan, inTatarstan; 5. Ranbina; 6. Turk, perhaps the ancestor of thePhrygians of Asia Minor (Turkey); 7. Buz; 8. Zavokh; 9. Ungar, the ancestor of the early inhabitants ofHungary. These also settled along the Danube River; 10. Dalmatia, the ancestors of the first inhabitants ofCroatia. According to a redaction of the Georgian Chronicles made byVakhtang VI of Kartli, Togarmah was also the ancestor of Kavkas (Caucas), who fathered theChechen andIngush peoples.
^According to R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 9), some of Togarmah's descendants settled inTadzhikistan in central Asia.Jonathan ben Uzziel, who rendered an Aramaic translation of theBook of Ezekiel in the early 1st-century CE, wrote that Togarmah in Ezekiel 27:14 is the province of Germamia (var. Germania), suggesting that his descendants had originally settled there. The same view is taken by the author of theMidrash Rabba (Genesis Rabba §37).
^Asia, the sense being toAsia Minor. In the language employed by Israel's Sages, this place is always associated with the western part of Turkey, the largest city of which region during the period of Israel's sages beingEphesus, situated on the coast of Ionia, near present-daySelçuk, Izmir Province, in west Turkey (cf. Josephus,Antiquities 14.10.11).
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.1), and R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32), Kitim was the father of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the isle ofCyprus. According toJosippon (1971:2), Kitim was also the forebear of theRomans who settled along theTiber river, in theCampus Martiusflood plain.Jonathan ben Uzziel, who rendered an Aramaic translation of theBook of Ezekiel in the early 1st-century CE, wrote that the Kitim in Ezekiel 27:6 is the province ofApulia, suggesting that his descendants had originally settled there.
^According to R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 13), the descendants of Dodanim settled inAdana, a city in southern Turkey, on the Seyhan River. According toJosippon (1971:2), Dodanim was the forebear of theCroatians and theSlovenians, among other nations.Abarbanel (1960:173) held that the descendants of Dodanim settled the isle ofRhodes.
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.2), andAbarbanel (1960:173), Fūṭ is the progenitor of the indigenous peoples ofLibya. R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 15) writes inJudeo-Arabic that Fūṭ's name has been preserved as aneponym in the town calledתפת, and whichYosef Qafih thought may have been the townתוות mentioned byIbn Battuta, a town in the Sahara bounded by present-dayMorocco.
^The reference here is to Canaan, who became the father of eleven sons, the descendants of whom leaving the names of their fathers aseponyms in their respective places where they came to settle (e.g.Ṣīdon,Yəḇūsī, etc. SeeDescendants of Canaan). The children of Canaan had initially settled the regions south of theTaurus Mountains (Amanus) stretching as far as the border of Egypt. During the Israelite's conquest of Canaan under Joshua, some of the Canaanites were expelled and went intoNorth Africa, settling initially in and aroundCarthage; on this account seeEpiphanius (1935), p. 77 (75d - §79) andMidrash Rabba (Leviticus Rabba 17:6), where, in the latter case, Joshua is said to have written three letters to the Canaanites, requesting them to either take leave of the country, or make peace with Israel, or engage Israel in warfare. TheGergesites took leave of the country and were given a country as beautiful as their own inAfrica propria. TheTosefta (Shabbat 7 [8]:25) mentions the country in respect to the Amorites who went there.
^Not identified. Possibly a region in Libya.Jastrow has suggested that the place may have been an Egyptian eparchy or nomos, probablyHeracleotes. The name also appears in Rav Yosef's Aramaic Targum of I Chronicles 1:8–ff.
^Sebā is thought to have left his name to the town ofSaba, which name, according toJosephus (Antiquities 2.10.2.), was later changed byCambyses the Persian toMeroë, after the name of his own sister. Sebā's descendants are thought to have originally settled in Meroë, along the banks of the upper Nile River.
^According to R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32), this man's descendants are said to have settled inZawilah, a place explained by medieval travelerBenjamin of Tudela as being "the land of Gana (Fezzan south ofTripoli)," situated at a distance of a 62-day caravan-journey, going westward fromAssuan in Egypt, and passing through the great desert calledSahara. SeeAdler (2014), p.61). The Arab chronicler and geographer,Ibn Ḥaukal (travelled 943-969 CE), says of Zawilah that it is a place in the eastern part of theMaghreb, adding that "fromKairouan (Tunis) to Zawilah is a journey of one month."Abarbanel (1960:174), likeJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.2.), explains this strip of country to be inhabited by theGaetuli, and which place is described byPliny in hisNatural History as being between Libya and a stretch of desert as one travels southward. The 10th-century Karaite scholar,Yefet ben Ali (p. 114 - folio A), identified "the land of Havilah" in Genesis 2:11 with "the land of Zawilah," and which he says is a land "encompassed by the Pishon river," a river which he identified as the Nile River, based on an erroneous, medieval-Arab geographical perspective where theNiger River was thought to be an extension of the Nile River. SeeIbn Khaldun (1958:118). In contrast, Yefet ben Ali identified theGihon River of Genesis 2:13 with that ofAmu Darya (al-Jiḥān /Jayhon of the Islamic texts), and which river encircled the entireHindu Kush. Ben Ali's interpretation stands in direct contradiction toTargum Pseudo-Jonathan, where it assigns the "land of Havilah" (in Gen. 2:11) to the "land of India."
^According to R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 18), Savtah was the forebear of the peoples who originally settled inZagāwa, a place thought to be identical withZaghāwa in the far-western regions of Sudan, and what is also calledWadai. According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.2.), the descendants of Savtah were called by the Grecians "Astaborans," a northeasternSudanic people.
^According to R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32), Savteḫā was the progenitor of the inhabitants ofDemas, probably the ancient port city and harbour in Tunisia, mentioned by Pliny, now an extensive ruin along the Barbary Coast calledRas ed-Dimas, located ca. 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the island ofLampedusa, and ca. 200 kilometres (120 mi) southeast ofCarthage.
^Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.2.) calls the descendants of Dedan "a people of western Aethiopia" and which place "they founded as a colony" (Αἰθιοπικὸν ἔθνος τῶν ἑσπερίων οἰκίσας). R.Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 22), in contrast, thought that the children of Dedan came to settle inIndia.
^Also known asByzacium, or what is now calledTunisia.
^According to R.Saadia Gaon (1984:33 - note 47), the descendants of Elam settled inKhuzestan (Elam), and which, according toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.) were "the ancestors of the ancient Persians."
^According to R.Saadia Gaon (1984:33 - note 48), Ashur was the progenitor of theAssyrian race, whose ancestral territory is aroundMosul in northern Iraq, near the ancient city ofNineveh. The same view was held byJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.).
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), Arphaxad's descendants became known by the Greeks asChaldeans (Chalybes), who inhabited the region known as Chaldea, in present-day Iraq.
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), Lud was the forebear of theLydians.The Asatir describes the descendants of two of the sons of Shem,viz. Laud (Ld) and Aram, as also having settled in a region of Afghanistan formerly known asKhorasan (Charassan), but known by the Arabic-speaking peoples of Afrikia (North Africa) as simply "the isle" (Arabic:Al-gezirah). (see: Moses Gaster (ed.),The Asatir: The Samaritan Book of the "Secrets of Moses",The Royal Asiatic Society: London 1927, p. 232)
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), Aram was the progenitor of theSyrians, a people who originally settled along theEuphrates River and, later, all throughout theregion of Syria. R.Saadia Gaon (1984:33 - note 49), dissenting, thought that Aram was the progenitor of theArmenian people.
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), the descendants of Uz founded the cities ofTrachonitis andDamascus. R.Saadia Gaon (1984:33 - note 50) possessed a tradition that Uz's descendants also settled the region in Syria known asGhouta.
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), the descendants of Hul (Ul) foundedArmenia.Ishtori Haparchi (2007:88), dissenting, thought that Hul's descendants settled in the region known asHulah, south ofDamascus and north ofAl-Sanamayn (Ba'al Maon).
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), the descendants of Gether foundedBactria. Josephus is most-likely referring here to theKushans (of thePamirs mountain range), who, according to the Chinese historian and geographerYu Huan (2004: section 5, note 13), had overrun Bactria and settled there in the late second-century BCE. Prior to this time, the region had been settled by rulers of Greek descent and heritage who had been there since Alexander's conquestc. 328 BCE. The Bactrians of Kushan descent are known in Chinese asDa Yuezhi. The old Bactria (Chinese:Daxia) is thought to have included northern Afghanistan, includingBadakhshan,Tajikistan andUzbekistan, as far as the region of Termez in the west. Prior to the arrival of theYuezhi in Bactria, they had lived in and around the area ofXinjiang (Western China) where the first known reference to theYuezhi was made inc. 645 BCE by the ChineseGuan Zhong in his workGuanzi (管子, Guanzi Essays: 73: 78: 80: 81). He described theYúshì禺氏 (orNiúshì牛氏), as a people from the north-west who suppliedjade to the Chinese from the nearby mountains (also known as Yushi) in Gansu (see:Iaroslav Lebedynsky,Les Saces,ISBN2-87772-337-2, p. 59).
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), the descendants of Mash settled the region known in classical antiquity asCharax Spasini.
^Whose posterity were known as the "Hebrews", after the name of their forebear.
^In the South Arabian tradition, he is today known by the nameQaḥṭān, the progenitor of the Sabaean-Himyarite tribes of South Arabia. SeeSaadia Gaon (1984:34) andLuzzatto, S.D. (1965:56).
^According toNethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), Almodad's descendants settled along the "coastal plains," without naming the country.
^According toNethanel ben Isaiah (1983), p. 74, Sheleph's descendants settled along the "coastal plains," without naming the country.
^Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), a place now called in southernYemen by the nameḤaḍramawt. Pliny, in hisNatural History, mentions this place under the nameChatramotitae.
^Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74) calls the place inhabited by Jerah's descendants "Ibn Qamar" ("the son of Moon") – an inference to the word "Jerah" (Heb.ירח) which means "moon," and where he says are now the towns ofDhofar in Yemen, andQalhāt in Oman, andal-Shiḥr (ash-Shiḥr).
^The old appellation given to the city ofSana'a in Yemen wasUzal. Uzal's descendants are thought to have settled there. SeeNethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74);Luzzatto, S.D. (1965:56); and seeAl-Hamdāni (1938:8, 21), where it was later known under its Arabic equivalentAzāl.
^According toNethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), Diklah's posterity were said to have founded the city ofBeihan.
^Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74) calls the land settled by Havilah's posterity as being "a land inhabited in the east".Targum Pseudo-Jonathan ascribes the "land of Havilah" in Genesis 2:11 to the "land of India."Josephus (Antiquities 1.1.3.), writing on the same verse, says that "Havilah" is a place in India, traversed by the Ganges River.
^Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), calls the land settled by Jobab's posterity as being "a land inhabited in the east".
^According toJosephus (Antiquities 1.6.4. [1.147]), the posterity of Joktan settled all those regions "proceeding from the riverCophen (a tributary of theIndus), inhabiting parts ofIndia (Ἰνδικῆς) and of the adjacent countrySeria (Σηρίας)." Of this last country,Isidore of Seville (2006:194) wrote: "The Serians (i.e. Chinese, or East Asians generally), a nation situated in the far East, were allotted their name from their own city. They weave a kind of wool that comes from trees, hence this verse 'The Serians, unknown in person, but known for their cloth'."
^Emmet John Sweeny,Empire of Thebes, Or Ages in Chaos Revisited, 2006, p. 11.
^Bromiley, Geoffrey William, ed. (1994).The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Volume Two: Fully Revised: E-J: Javan. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 971.ISBN0-8028-3782-4.
^Kitchen, Kenneth A. (2003).On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 593.ISBN9780802849601.
^Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible, Genesis 10:3.
^Hutton, Jeremy M. (2009). "Anamim". In Klauck, Hans-Josef; Leppin, Volker; McGinn, Bernard; Seow, Choon-Leong; Spieckermann, Hermann; Dov Walfish, Barry; Ziolkowski, Eric J. (eds.).Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception: Aaron – Aniconism. Vol. 1. De Gruyter. pp. 1079–1080.ISBN978-3-11-018355-9.
^According toEusebius'Onomasticon, after theHivites were destroyed inGaza, they were supplanted by people who came there fromCappadocia. See Notley, R.S.,et al. (2005), p. 62
^According to an ancient Jewish teaching inMishnah (Yadayim 4:4),Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came up and put all the nations in confusion. Therefore, Judah, a person who thought he was ofAmmonite descent, was permitted to marry a daughter of Israel.
^A case study are the Bulgar tribes who, in the 7th-century, migrated to the lower courses of the riversDanube,Dniester andDniepr. Being influenced by the Goths, they at one time spoke a Germanic language, evidenced by the 4th-century translation of theWulfila Bible by a small Gothic community inNicopolis ad Istrum (a place in northern Bulgaria). Later, because of an influx of south Slavs in the region from the 6th century, they adopted a common language on the basis of Slavonic.
^A case in point is Bethuel the Aramean ("Syrian") in Gen. 25:20, who was called an "Aramean", not because he was descended from Aram, but because he lived in the country of the Aramaeans (Syrians). So explainsNethanel ben Isaiah (1983:121–122).
Al-Hamdāni, al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad (1938).The Antiquities of South Arabia - The Eighth Book of Al-Iklīl. Oxford: Oxford University Press.OCLC251493869. (reprinted in Westport Conn. 1981)
Ben Abraham al-Fasi, David (1936). Solomon Skoss (ed.).The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible, Known as 'Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Alfāẓ' (Agron) of David ben Abraham al-Fasi (in Hebrew). Vol. 1. New Haven:Yale University Press. p. 46.OCLC840573323.
Ben Maimon, Moses (1956).Guide for the Perplexed. Translated by Michael Friedländer (2nd ed.). New York: Dover Publishers.OCLC318937112.
Day, John (2014)."Noah's Drunkenness, the Curse of Canaan". In Baer, David A.; Gordon, Robert P. (eds.).Leshon Limmudim: Essays on the Language and Literature of the Hebrew Bible in Honour of A.A. Macintosh. A&C Black.ISBN9780567308238.
Ibn Khaldun (1927).Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique septentrionale (Histoire des Dynasties Musulmanes) (in French). Vol. 2. Translated byBaron de Slane. Paris: P. Geuthner.OCLC758265555.
Josippon (1971). Hayim Hominer (ed.).Josiphon by Joseph ben Gorion Hacohen (3 ed.). Jerusalem: Hominer Publication. pp. 1–2.OCLC776144459. (reprinted in 1978)
Knoppers, Gary (2003)."Shem, Ham and Japheth". In Graham, Matt Patrick; McKenzie, Steven L.; Knoppers, Gary N. (eds.).The Chronicler as Theologian: Essays in Honor of Ralph W. Klein. A&C Black.ISBN9780826466716.
Kautzsch, E.F.The Early Narratives of Genesis. (quoted inOrr, James (1917).The Fundamentals. Vol. 1. Los Angeles, CA: Biola Press.)
Leo Africanus (1974). Robert Brown (ed.).History and Description of Africa. Vol. 1–3. Translated by John Pory. New York Franklin.OCLC830857464. (reprinted from London 1896)
Luzzatto, S.D. (1965). P. Schlesinger (ed.).S.D. Luzzatto's Commentary to the Pentateuch (in Hebrew). Vol. 1. Tel-Aviv: Dvir Publishers.OCLC11669162.
Rogers, Jeffrey S. (2000)."Table of Nations". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.).Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Amsterdam University Press.ISBN9789053565032.
Sozomen;Philostorgius (1855).The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen and The Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius. Translated by Edward Walford. London: Henry G. Bohn.OCLC224145372.
Strawn, Brent A. (2000a)."Shem". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.).Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Amsterdam University Press.ISBN9789053565032.
Strawn, Brent A. (2000b)."Ham". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.).Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Amsterdam University Press.ISBN9789053565032.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (1974). M. Ginsburger (ed.).Pseudo-Jonathan (Thargum Jonathan ben Usiël zum Pentateuch (in Hebrew). Berlin: S. Calvary & Co.OCLC6082732. (First printed in 1903, Based on British Museum add. 27031)
Uehlinger, Christof (1999)."Nimrod". In Van der Toorn, Karel; Becking, Bob; Van der Horst, Pieter (eds.).Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Brill.ISBN9780802824912.
Yu Huan (2004), "The Peoples of the West",Weilue 魏略, translated by John E. Hill (section 5, note 13) (This work, published in 429 CE, is a recension of Yu Huan'sWeilue ("Brief Account of the Wei Dynasty"), the original having now been lost)
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Emil G. Hirsch (1901–1906)."Elishah". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
