1. Japheth: The father of all the Indo-European peoples, it would be surprising indeed if his name had gone unremembered among them. As it is, we find that the early Greeks worshipped him as Iapetos, or Iapetus, whom they regarded as the son of heaven and earth, the father of many nations. Likewise, in the ancient Sanskrit vedas of India he is remembered as Pra-Japati, the sun and ostensible Lord of Creation. As time went by, his name was further corrupted, being assimilated into the Roman pantheon as Iupater, and eventually Jupiter (see Appendix 11). None of these names are of Greek, Indian or Latin origin, but are merely corruptions of the original name of Japheth. Both the early Irish Celts and the early Britons traced the descent of their royal houses from Japheth, as did also the early Saxons who corrupted his name to Sceaf,--pr. 'sheaf' or 'shaif' (see chapter 7). (Refs: 1DB 2:802. NBD 599. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
2. Gomer: He was the founder of the Cimmerians who settled originally on the shores of the Caspian Sea. They were later driven away by the Elamites (see Shem 2). At the time of the Babylonian Exile, the Jews knew them as the tribes that dwelt in the 'uppermost parts of the north' (Ezekiel 38:6). The Assyrians referred to them as the Gimirraya. Esarhaddon (681-668 BC) records his defeat of the Gimirrai; whilst King Ashurbanipal tells us in his records of the Cimmerian invasion of Lydia (see Shem 5) in the days of the Lydian king Gugu around the year 660 BC (see Map 1). (Refs: 1DB 2:440. NBD 481. JA 1.vi.1)
3. Ashchenaz: The descendants of Ashchenaz first settled in what is today Armenia, although in later Jewish writings he was associated (with his father Gomer) with the Germanic races. Hence, Germanic Jews are still known as Ashkenazim. More immediately, the Assyrians tell us in their inscriptions of the Askuza, a tribe who allied themselves with the Mannai in a revolt of the 7th century BC, an event that is also mentioned in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 51:27). Indeed, it is in this statement that Jeremiah incidentally confirms the identity of the Ashkenazim with the Askuza. This name, the Askuza of the Assyrian records, later became the Skythai (Scythians) of Herodotus. Other early sources confirm their place of settlement to be the area later known as Pontus and Bythinia, where the peoples of Ashchenaz gave their name to the lake and harbour of Ascanius, and to the land of Ascania. Josephus tells us that they were subsequently known to the Greeks as the Rheginians (see Map 1). (Refs: 1DB 1:254. NBD 96. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
4. Riphath: His descendants gave their name to the Riphaean mountains, which early cosmographers thought of as constituting the then northernmost boundary of the earth. Pliny, Melo and Solinus record the name of Riphath as that of the Riphaci, Riphaces and Piphlataci who were later known to history as the Paphlagonians, the descent and identification of which is confirmed by Josephus (see Map 1). (Refs: 1DB 4:100. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
5. Togarmah: His earliest descendants settled in Armenia. We know from certain Hittite documents that in the 14th century BC, the then region of Tegarama, which lay between Carchemish and Haran, was sacked by the 'enemy from Isuwa', i.e. the enemy from beyond the Euphrates. The records of both Sargon II and Sennacherib mention the city of Til-gari-manu, the capital of Kammanu which lay on the border of Tabal (see 13). Til-gari-manu lay some thirty miles due east of present-day Malatya (it is known today as Gürün, anciently Gauraena), and was not finally destroyed until the year 695 BC. It was after the destruction of Til-gari-manu that the descendants of Togarmah became lost in obscurity. In line with the Assyrian policy of that time, the survivors were uprooted and transported to other lands within the Assyrian empire (see Map 1). The name was given as Thrugramma by Josephus. (Refs: 1DB 4:662. NBD 1285. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
6. Magog: His immediate descendants were known as the Magogites, being later known to the Greeks as the Scythians, according to the testimony of Josephus. However, given the subsequent history of the peoples of Ashchenaz (see 3), who are far more certainly identified as the later Scythians (Gk. Skythai, and Assyr. Askuza), it is more likely that the early Magogites were assimilated into the peoples of Ashchenaz, thus making up merely a part of the Scythian hordes. The early Irish Celts traced their own lineage from Japheth through the line of Magog (see chapter 9 and Map 1). (Refs: 1DB 3:226. NBD 'Gog and Magog' 480-1 JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
7. Madai: His descendants were the Madaeans, who are better known to us as the Medes. The Assyrians recorded the name as Amada; the Greeks as the Medai; and the Old Persian inscriptions speak of them as the Mada. The earliest surviving reference to the Medes that is found in secular documents, appears in the inscriptions of Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria from ca 858-824 BC, in which he tells us that he invaded the land of the Medes to plunder them of their fine horses. Both Strabo and Herodotus confirm the fact that the Medes were of Indo-European (Japhetic) origin, and we know also that their language was of this group. After 631 BC, the Medes joined with the people of Askuza (or the Ashchenazim, see 3) and those of Gomer (the Cimmerians, see 2) in an attempt to throw off the Assyrian yoke (see Map 1). (Refs: 1DB 3:220. NBD 'Medes' 801-2. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
8. Javan: The name of Javan's descendants appears in Assyrian documents as the Iamanu, where we are told that they engaged the Assyrians in a major sea battle during the reign of King Sargon 11 (721-705 BC). The Archaemenian inscriptions refer to them as the Yauna. Homer tells us in the Iliad that Iawones (Hebrew Iawan) was the progenitor of the Ionians (Gk. Iones), while the Hebrews knew the Greeks as the Jevanim (Iewanim). Pre-Islamic Arab cosmographers gave the name as Yuban (see Map 1). (Refs: 1DB 2:805. NBD 600. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
9. Elishah: He was the ancestor of the Aeolians, his name being frequently referred to in Greek history and mythology. Two Greek cities were named after him, these being Elis and Elissus. Likewise, an entire area was named Elias in his memory. His name lies behind the origin of the term Hellenic, and there is every reason to believe that his name is also perpetuated in the Greek paradise, the Elysian Fields. The Armana tablets referred to his descendants as the Alashia, the Hittites knew them as the Alasiya, and the Egyptians as A-ra-sa. Josephus rendered the name as Elisa. The name also appears in the Ugaritic inscriptions (see Map 1). (Refs: 1DB 2:92. NBD 366, JA1. vi.l. P 1:26)
10. Tarshish: The father of the peoples of Tarshish, or Tartesis, who are thought by most to have settled in Spain. The Mediterranean Sea was once known as the Sea of Tarshish, and it is known that the Phoenicians built a class of vessel called a ship of Tarshish. (It was in one of these that Jonah tried to flee from Joppa in the 8th century BC.) Phoenician inscriptions found on Sardinia, and dating to the 9th century BC, mention Tarshish without, unfortunately, providing us with a positive identification of its geographical location. Josephus records the name as Tharsus, and tells that it used to be the name under which Cilicia was known, the chief and noblest city of which was Tarsus. However, for various reasons the identification is unlikely, and the matter remains unresolved. (Refs: 1DB 4:517. NBD 1239-40. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
11. Kittim: This is a collective name of a people who are spoken of in the Old Phoenician inscriptions as the kt or kty, and who settled on the island of Cyprus. They were to give their name to the ancient Cypriot city of Kition (modern-day Larnaka). The Romans preserved the name when they named the city Citium, and Josephus gave the name as Cethimus. (Refs: 1DB 3:40-1. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
12. Dodanim: This also is a collective name of a people descended from Dodan, who were known to the Greeks as the Dardani, the Dardanians of Asia Minor. They settled initially around the area of Troy whose coastal regions are known to this day as the Dardanelles. The founder of this people was deified by his descendants and worshipped under the name of Jupiter Dodonaeus. (Here we have a mingling of the names of Japheth and Dodan.) The propagators of this cult built the city of Dodona as the chief seat of his worship. Egyptian records refer to the drdny who were allied to the Hittites (see Ham 23) at the battle of Kadesh. The early Britons were to trace their descent from Dardanus (Appendix 7). (Refs: 1DB 1:861. NBD 321. P 1:26)
13. Tubal: The descendants of Tubal first come to our notice in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I, king of Assyria in about 1100 BC. He refers to them as the Tabali whose original area of settlement (i.e. Tabal) was adjacent to that of Tegarama (see 5). Subsequently, Josephus recorded the name of Tubal's descendants as the Thobelites, who were later known as the Iberes. Their land, in Josephus' day, was called by the Romans Iberia, and covered what is now the (former Soviet) state of Georgia whose capital to this day bears the name Tubal as Tbilisi. From here, having crossed the Caucasus mountains, this people migrated due north-east, giving their tribal name to the river Tobol, and hence to the famous city of Tobolsk. (Refs: 1DB 4:717. NBD 'Meshech' 811. JA1. vi.1)
14. Meshech: The descendants of Meshech are often spoken of in close association with those of Tubal, the Assyrians for example mentioning Tabal and Musku, whilst Herodotus writes of the Tiberanoi and Moschoi. A very much earlier reference to the peoples of Meshech, is an inscription of ca 1200 BC which tells us how they overran the Hittite kingdom; and an inscription of Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria from ca 1100 BC, who tells us that, in his own day, the Mus-ka-a-ia were able to put into the field an army of 20,000 men. The activities of this same people are also subsequently reported by Tukulti-ninurta II, Ashurnasipal II, Sargon and Shalmaneserr III, the last of whom refers to them as the Mushki. Josephus knew them as the Mosocheni (LXX Mosoch), whom, he says, were known in his own day as the Cappadocians. Some later writers have pointed out that the name of Meshech is preserved in the old tribal name of the Muscovites of Russia, after whom Moscow is named. Such an identification, it must be said, is not at all unlikely, especially when we consider the subsequent history of their historically close associates the people of Tubal, and the fact that the city is still known today in the Russian tongue as Moskva, an exceedingly close, not to say identical relationship to the Assyrian form, Musku. (Refs: 1DB 3:357. NBD 811. JAl. vi.l. P 1:26)
15. Tiras: Merenptah of Egypt, who reigned during the 13th century BC, provides us with what is so far our earliest reference to the people of Tiras, recording their name as the Tursha (or Turusha), and referring to them as invaders from the north. The Greeks later knew them as the Tyrsenoi, a nation of marauding pirates. Josephus identifies them as the tribe who were known to the Romans as the Thirasians, and who we now know as the Thracians. They were a 'ruddy and blue-eyed people', who spent most of their time in state of 'tipsy excess', as one authority put it! Tiras himself was worshipped by his descendants as Thuras (i.e. Thor), the god of war. The river Athyras was named after him, and it is not at all unlikely that the Etruscans, a nation of hitherto mysterious provenance, owe to him both their name and descent. The ancient city of Troas (Troy) appears to perpetuate his name, as does also the Taurus mountain range. (Refs: 1DB 4:652. NBD 1283. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
MAPS
After the flood the Most high gave mankind a sign to remind us of the flood and that he would never flood the earth again. This sign is the rainbow that we see today (Genesis 9:11-13).
Genesis 9:11-13
11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Now let’s get back to the three sons of Noah who repopulated the earth after the flood with their wives.
The three sons of Noah were Ham, Shem and Japheth..
It is from these three men that the whole earth is re-populated today. What that means is that everybody reading this article comes from one of Noah’s three sons.
Which is why this information is relevant to every believer.
To set the stage we know from scriptures that the Ark that Noah rested on mount Ararat. fortunately location of the ark has been found in the eastern turkey region. (see the map below).
Genesis 8:4 Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month [five months after the rain began], the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat [in [a]Turkey].
Ararat is an ancient name of Urartu which covers this area. But more simply when you look at a good map (see map below) it will show you where Mount Ararat is, in turkey.
Now let’s look at each son in order of age…
The Sons Of Japheth
When we read the scriptures we are told that Japheth is the father of the Gentiles (Genesis 10:5).
Genesis 10:5
5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
To get a direction of where the Nations of Japtheth went after coming off the ark on Mount Ararat turkey we can turn to modern day understandings which are confirmed in scripture.
Japtheth, Caucasians & The Caucasus Mountains
In the scriptures we are told that Japheth migrated to the lands of the north, which belong to them. When we look on a map all the lands of the north are in Europe and Russia.
In the book of Jubilees this is made clear by Noah:
Book of Jubilees 8:11-12
11 And he called his sons, and they drew nigh to him, they and their children, and he divided the earth into the lots, which his three sons were to take in possession, and they reached forth their hands, and took the writing out of the bosom of Noah, their father.
12 … And all that is towards the north is Japheth’s, and all that is towards the south belongs to Shem.
This coincides with the Modern day belief that Europeans (White people) come from the Caucasus Mountains..
Again when we look on a map the Caucasus Mountains are immediately north of mount Ararat (see below).
The Caucasus Mountains is where Europeans derive the term Caucasian today. On inspection this is a confirmation of the Bible’s flood and Noah’s Ark.
Fortunately we have the Books of Jasher and Jubilees (Mentioned above). The book of Jasher is mentioned in the scriptures (Joshua 10:13, 2 Samuel 1:18). It gives us more granular insigh about the Gentiles and Japhetic people today.
I will also use a reference from Arthur Kostler a European Jew, who knew his people were not the biblical Jews. These are the Jewish peoples who are wrongly seen as Israel today…
He entitled his book “The 13th Tribe”, and provides historic information that links his people to the Japhetic people in the bible, not the “shemitic” Nations.
In Genesis 10 we find the table of nations, but here I will be using the book of Jasher 10 because it provides more detail.
Jasher 10:7
7 And these are the sons of Japheth according to their families, Gomer, Magog, Medai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras; these are the children of Japheth according to their generations.
So above we see that Japtheth had 7 sons. It’s from these sons that we can deduce “white Europeans or Caucasians” originate. So if that’s you, you’re likely to be from one of these Gentile nations.
In Genesis 10 we can see a breakdown of these 7 sons and their sons:
Genesis 10:1-5
1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
When we read Jasher we are told that the children of Chittim who is a son Javan are the Romim (Romans), and they dwell in the valley of Canopia near river Tibreu (Tiber).
Jasher 10:16
16 And the children of Chittim are the Romim who dwell in the valley of Canopia by the river Tibreu.
When we look on a map the River Tiber is the third longest river in Italy Rome.
Javan can be identified as the Greeks, as they lived in the lands of Makdonia (Macedonia). Macedonia is where Alexander the Greek (Great) came from according to history.
This can also be found in the book of Maccabees. It also correlates with the prophecy of Daniel, because we are told the Greeks & Romans were the third ruling kingdoms.
This is fulfilled in the aforementioned book of Maccabees with the eventual rule by Alexander the Greek (Great) over the nation of Israel (started in 300BC completed 70AD) and becoming the most distinguished world power ruling.
Arthur Kostlers 13th Tribe Jews
Arthur Kostler’s book “The 13th Tribe” is an important piece of literature. It tells us that his people (i.e. the Jewish people today) are directly linked to the Japhetic peoples.
The reason for kostlers book was to find out if he was a Jew by blood, but his investigations proved otherwise. Hence the title “The 13th Tribe”. If you’re not aware there are only 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.
In the book we are given an account that specifically tells us Koestlers people are from the linage of Togarmah. (See text below).
When we read scripture we can find that Ashkenaz is one of the sons of Gomer. This is important because European Jews are referred to as Ashkenazi Jews.
Genesis 10:3
3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
We can conclude two things from this. The first is European Jews are from two of Gomers sons, Askenaz and Togarmah, or Second the reference to Togarmah is untrue.
I would be more inclined to go with the former, but from the proof we have, it is clear Europeans Jews are from Noah’s third son Japheth.
Koestler explains that his people originally had their own empire. It was called the Kharzarian empire. This was at a time that the Catholic (The originator of Christian denominations) (4th Century) and Islam faiths (6th Century) were both already formed.
This information proves that modern day European Jews are Jews by religion and not blood line. It’s also important to note that this also means that they are not semitic (Shemitic), because they’re from the seed of Japtheth and not Shem!
This means the term anti-semitic is inaccurate.
Just as the Catholism and Islam has taken inspiration from the Hebrew scriptures, the historic evidences shows us the same is true for Judaism, which is what European Jews practice.
Genesis 9:27, “May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem…”
The above prophesy tells us that Japheth would dwell in Shem’s lands and this was and is realised when the Greeks and Romans took over the land of Israel, and state of Israel established in 1948.
History tells us that Ashkenazi Jews, established the state of Israel in 1948, even though they are Japethic and not (Semitic) Shemitic.
Who Is Ham In The Bible?
The biblical Ham can be identified very easily using historic references, and here’s why…
Below you will see the sons of Ham Noah’s second son.
Genesis 10:6
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
The sons of Ham are as follows, Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
The people of Cush are the Ethiopians, they were the first Great nation of the African people. The scriptures tell us Nimrod was the first great ruler in the world.
It was during Nimrods rule that all the languages of the world were created. This came about after Nimrods failed attempt to try and get into the heavens (Genesis 11:1-9).
Genesis 11:1-9
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
The Most High made the people (us) speak multiple languages to prevent us coming together to over throw him.
We can see from the scriptures above that it was Nimrods initial plan to build a tower that would reach into heaven. Clearly all that power of being world ruler went to his head.
Who Are Cush In The Bible
Genesis 10:8-12
8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
Cush is written as Ethiopia in the Septuagint, which is the oldest version of the scriptures passed down by the Israelite’s.
The people of Mizraim are the Egyptians and the people of Phut are Libyans and Canaan are the other African tribes.
What is clear here is that the people of Ham are African people today. A people of dark complexion and not white European as some would have you believe.
It should also be point out that many Historic European literature would often use the term Ethiopian to describe dark skinned curly haired nations.
Who Are Mizraim In The Bible
Genesis 10:13-14
13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.
The word for Egypt and Mizraim are the same in the Hebrew, which is Mizraim, concordance #4714. So the people of Egypt are Black African people from Ham’s son Mizraim (Egypt).
History can attest to the Egyptians being black from the hieroglyphs that have been recovered.
You can see some images below:
Above you can see the different shades of brown that the Ancient Egyptians are these are the descendants of Ham today.
Who Is Shem In The Bible?
Shem is the most significant son of Noah. The reason for this is because it is through Shem’s seed, the nation of Israel that the whole world must accept and learn from.
Through the seed of Shem we get Abraham (Abram), Isaac and Jacob (who’s name was changed to Israel). Jacob had 12 sons who are the Israelite’s today.
The Father Of The Arab Nations
When we look at the lineage of Shem we find that Abraham (Who’s name means father of many nations) is the father of the Arabs and Israelite’s. First let’s deal with the Arabs…
Abraham had a child with his Black Egyptian maid servant Hagar (Genesis 16:1), who’s name was Ishmael.
It is from Ishmael that the Arabs are produced. Arabs are a mixed peoples who are nomadic and dwell in regions of African and the so called Middle east.
Jubilees 20:12-13
12. And Ishmael and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and their sons, went together and dwelt from Paran to the entering in of Babylon in all the land which is towards the East facing the desert.
13. And these mingled with each other, and their name was called Arabs, and Ishmaelite’s.
There’s no mistaking the typical look of an Arab today. The most common term is an olive complexion, denoting the lightest brown olive…
Nonetheless considering the region i.e. the weather climate, the chances are that the first Ishmaelite’s were of a dark brown complexion, because Hagar was Egyptian when Africans were black.
The nomadic nature of the Arab nations and their intermingling with other nations leaves us with Arabs the complexion of the lightest brown Olive.
All that being said we can conclude that Arabs range from the darkest brown to the lightest brown colours, even to a literally so called white complexion.
Now we know where and who Arabs are let’s look at the Israelite’s.
Jeremiah 17:4
4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.
But in the last days the Most High will gather them from all the lands that they are scattered and make them remember who they are.
Isaiah 11:12
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Above you can see that the Ethiopia is in the land mass of Africa (Libya) where black people dwell. The scriptures also tell us that this is also where Abraham dwelt before being promised Israel (Canaan).
Ethiopia is a word derived from the Greek language which means burnt face, literally making reference to the complexion of the people that lived and live in the region of what’s called Africa today.
At that time both places were names for modern day Africa, where obviously people with brown complexions dwell.
The descendants of Ham include the Egyptians, Ethiopians, Canaanites, Phoenicians and Hittites. His descendants appear to be the first to fill the earth, as they were the early settlers of Africa, Asia, Australia, the South Pacific and the Americas. The descendants of Japheth migrated into Europe and parts of Central Asia. The Greeks, Romans, Spanish, Celts, Scythians and Medes were Japheth’s descendants. Some people groups merged to form one nation, as did the Persians (Shem) and the Medes (Japheth), which later became the Medo-Persian empire. We also find that many nations or peoples were named after an ancestor. Romans, and their capital city, were named after Romulus. Israelis and their country are named after their forefather, Israel. The observable fact of attaching the name of a leader to his people and his empire appears often in Ancient Near Eastern history. The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 illustrates this principle, whereby every land was named after its first successful settler: Canaanites were named after Ham’s son, Canaan, and so on.
Gomer: The descendants of Gomer generally settled in what is today Wales and Great Britain.
Magog: The descendants of Magog became the Russian peoples.
Madai: The descendants of Madai became the Medes.
Javan: Generally speaking, the descendants of Javan became the Greeks. It is also interesting to note that one of Javan’s sons Tarshish has become what is today modern day Spain. Tarshish is mentioned in a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah 60:1-12.
Tubal: A bit of controversy on this one. However, I’ll go with Josephus’s take on the matter
who identified the descendants of Tubal with the Iberians, that is, the inhabitants of a tract of country between the Caspian and Euxine Seas, which nearly corresponded to the modern Georgia.
Tiras: From Tiras came a group of people known as the Thracians who became the Macedonians from whom Alexander the Great came,
Meschech: The descendants of Meshech were believed to have originated from the North-east of Asia Minor, particularly in the area that is now Turkey. Then they travelled north and settled in Rosh, which is modern day Russia.
Isaac was born to Abraham and his lawful wife Sarah (Gen. 17, 18 & 21). Isaac had twin sons named Esau and Jacob. Esau was firstborn, and so had the right to inheritance (as was custom), but instead sold his birthright to Jacob during a time of hunger. Esau’s name was changed to Edom, and Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. The descendants of Esau (Edom) became known as Edomites, and the descendants of Jacob (Israel) became known as Israelites. Jacob fathered 12 sons which became the twelve tribes of Israel. Those who interchange the words “Jew” and Israelite, call Abraham a Jew, though Abraham was neither an Israelite or a Jew. The word “Jew” was not used in the Bible until nearly 1,000 years after Abraham. One of Jacob’s (Israel’s) children was Judah (Hebrew “Yehudah”). His descendants were called Yehudim (“Judahites”). In Greek the name is Ioudaioi (“Judeans”). Most all Bible translations use the word “Jew,” which is a modern, shortened form of the word “Judahite.” A “Jew” in the Old Testament would be a “Judahite;” and a “Jew” in the New Testament would be a “Judean.”
A bitter rivalry between the descendants of Esau and Jacob continued throughout history, and as they lived in close proximity for hundreds of years, their hatred worsened. The Romans referred to the Edomites as Idumeans, separate from Israelites, when they lived in the region of Palestine together. The Romans later divided Palestine into districts, with Idumea (land of Edomites) being one of the districts. As the Roman Empire faded, Idumea was divided again into Northern Idumea, and the region fell to an Ishmaelite (Arabian) Muslim army led by Caliph Umar in 638 A.D. Historians suggest the remaining Edomites embraced Islam at that time and remained in the land, blending with the Arabs, and uniting against the Israelites.
Jerusalem soon became a focal point for the Muslims (Moslems), being the third most holy city of Islam, after the cities of Mecca and Medina (though Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran, it is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible). By 691 A.D., the Mosque of Omar (also called the “Dome of the Rock”) was completed on the Temple Mount, where Muslims believe Mohammed ascended to heaven from. The Arabic term for the holy place is “al-Haram as-Sharif” meaning “The Noble Sanctuary.” To Israelites and Jews, Jerusalem was the city of the great prophets and the capital of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah under King David and his son King Solomon. The first and second temples were the center of worship until the destruction of the city by the Romans in 70 A.D. Christians revere the city as the place where Jesus Christ taught in the temple, and was later crucified. Christians believe that Jesus will return to establish His Kingdom at the Temple Mount with Jerusalem as world capital.
Still confused? Here’s a simple patriarchal chart, beginning with Noah, showing how these family groups came to be:
Noah
|
Shem-->Eber-->Terah
|
--------------|----
| | |
Abram Nahor Haran
| |
|----------| Lot
Isaac Ishmael |-------------------
| | | |
|------| |--->Arabs<-----Moab Ammon
Jacob Esau |
| |------->Arabs<----------------
|
Israelites & Jews
Ham. Also Cham or Kham. Literal meanings are passionate, hot, burnt or dark (father of the Australoid, Negroid and Mongoloid people groups – Hamites). He was the progenitor of:
(1) Cush “black” (sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca and Nimrod) – also Chus, Kush, Kosh, Kish, Cushaean (Cushites, Nubians, Ethiopians, Ghanaians, Africans, Bushmen, Pygmies, Australian Aborignies, New Guineans, other related groups);
(2) Mizraim “double straits” (sons were Lud, Anom, Pathros, Chasloth and Chaphtor) – also Masr, Misr, Misraim, Mitzraim, Mizraite, Mitsrayim (Egyptians1, Khemets, Copts, other related groups);
(3) Phut “a bow” (sons were Gebul, Hadan, Benah and Adan) – also Punt, Puta, Put, Puni, Phoud, Pul, Fula, Putaya, Putiya, Libia, Libya (Libyans, Cyrenacians, Tunisians, Berbers, Somalians, Sudanese, North Africans, other related groups);
(4) Canaan “down low” (sons were Sidon [Zidon]2, Heth, Amor, Gergash, Hiv, Ark, Sin, Arod, Zemar and Hamat) – also Canaanites, Cana, Chna, Chanani, Chanana, Canaana, Kana, Kenaanah, Kena’ani, Kena’an, Kn’nw, Kyn’nw, Kinnahu, Kinahhi, Kinahni, Kinahna, Kinahne (Mongols, Asians, Orientals, Chinese, Tibetans, Taiwanese, Thais, Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Japanese, Eskimos, American Indians3, Malayasians, Indonesians, Filipinos, Hawaiians, Maoris, Polynesians, Tahitians, Guamanians, Samoans, Fijians, Tongans, Tokelauans, Tuvaluans, Pacific Islanders4 and related groups5).
Tribes in other parts of Africa, Arabia and Asia, aboriginal groups in Australia, native Pacific Islanders, American Indians and Eskimos were birthed from descendants of Canaan, Cush, Mizraim and Phut.
Looking at history, whichever region is considered, Africa, Europe, Australia, or America, the major migrations have always been from Asia. In every area of the world where Japhethites have subsequently settled, they have always been preceded by Hamites. This pattern applies in every continent. In early historic times the circumstance seems always to be true, the earliest fossil remains of man being Mongoloid or Negroid in character and in head shape, whereas those that came last belong to the family of Japheth (Caucasoid). When we study ancient history and technological achievements, which were in many ways the equal of, or superior of, much that we have today, we find Hamitic people showed an amazing adaptability to the world in which they founded, and carried to a high technological proficiency their societies. Their achievements were exploited by Japhetic and Semitic peoples, who became great scientific discoverers. The Hamitic migrations indicate they sought a way of life, not an understanding or a control of nature beyond what was immediately useful. A majority of Ham’s descendants were not negroid. Genesis 10:15-20 records that of the 32 descendants of Ham, four settled in unknown places, 23 settled in the Middle East and five settled in Africa. Archeologists tell us that no groups inhabiting the Middle East in Biblical times were negroid. Many had brown, red and white racial characteristics. Ham’s descendants appear to be the most varied of Noah’s lineage.
Ham’s fourth born son was Canaan. Genesis 10:15-19 identifies a distinctive characteristic of the sons of Canaan: They liked to spread out. The Canaanites are specifically mentioned as migrating far and wide, “…and afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. The territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.” History indicates they did have a propensity for sprawl. The descendants of Canaan would later make up the vast populations of Asia, Africa and the Western Hemisphere. Much smaller populations migrated to the Southern Hemisphere. To this day, only about 10% of the world’s population lives in the Southern Hemisphere.
1Epypt is one of the most frequently mentioned names in the Bible. Egypt is also synonymous with Mizraim. For example, Misr (Mizraim) is the Arabic name for Epypt. The name Egypt is thought to be derived from the name Hout ka-Ptah or Hi-ku-Ptah, both meaning the “Place of the Spirit of the god Ptah.” The name was Hellenized by the Greeks, rendering Hi-ku-ptah as Ai-gu-ptos (Aiguptos), becoming the Latin Aegyptus, and later Egypt in modern English. The term Copt is also believed to be etymologically derived from this name. Hi-ku-Ptah was believed to be located in the capital city of Memphis. In the Bible, Memphis is called Moph or Noph.
2Sidon (or Zidon) and his descendants settled on the Mediterranean coast of present-day Lebanon, then known as the land of Canaan. The Sidonians called themselves Kena’ani, or Canaanites (adopted from the name of their father Canaan, and the land named after him). Interestingly, these “new” Canaanites came to speak a Semitic language, probably adopted from a large migration of Semites who came from land and sea, and introduced their language and a sophisticated maritime technology about 1800 B.C. Historians suggest these Canaanites succumbed to racial and linguistic intermixture with the invading Semites, which led to the loss of their own ethnic predominance, as evidenced by modern excavations. They eventually moved westward and occupied a very narrow coastal strip of the east Mediterranean, building new cities, and establishing significant trade with neighboring nations. In fact, the Israelite name for “Canaan” came to mean “traders,” though some suggest the name Canaan is from the Hebrew nameHurrian, meaning “land of red purple.”
These Sidonian Canaanites were known for their red and purple cloth (a purple dye was extracted from murex snails found near the shores of Palestine, a method now lost). The Greeks called the land of Canaan “Phoenicia,” which meant “purple.” Thus, Sidonians became known as Phoenicians, and became a nation of great trade, language, and culture. Phoenician, Hebrew and Moabite were a group of west Semitic languages, all dialects from Canaan, as referred to in Isaiah 19:18. The writing system of the Phoenicians is the source of the writing systems of nearly all of Europe, including Greek, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic and the Roman alphabet. The Phoenician empire fell under Hellenistic rule after being conquered by Alexander the Great about 332 B.C. In 64 B.C. the name of Phoenicia disappeared entirely, becoming a part of the Roman providence of Syria. At the beginning of the Christian era, remaining Phoenicians were the first to accept the Christian faith after the Jews. Sidon’s name is still perpetuated in the modern-day city of Sidon (Saidoon is the Phoenician name, Saida in Arabic) in southern Lebanon.
3Evidence for diverse migrations into the Americas comes from research on living American Indian populations, which includes data from Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that is passed down from a mother to her children from one generation to the next intact. These studies have consistently shown similarities (deep ancestry) between American Indians and recent populations in Asia, Siberia and northern Scandinavia. These groups include the Lapps in northern Europe/Scandinavia, the Chukchi and Yukaghir in Siberia, plus Indians and Eskimos/Aleuts throughout Canada and North America. There is a wealth of information on the genetic relationship between early Taiwanese populations and southeast Asian, Oceanic (South Pacific) and Native American descendants. Ancient American Indian skeletal remains show a range of physical attributes (round-headed) suggesting separate migrations of different populations from Asia and the South Pacific, representing 97 percent of all modern American Indian populations. What of the other 3 percent?
There are exceptions. A 1998 DNA study conducted by the Center for Molecular Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA discovered a mtDNA strain in roughly 3% of American Indians (Amerindians) called “Haplogroup X” which suggests a prehistoric migration of peoples to the Americas from the European theater. This genetic inheritance likely reflects transatlantic links since Haplogroup X is not found in Asians, demonstrating the DNA did not originate from those Asians who arrived in the Americas via the Bering Strait. Other researchers conclude that these transatlantic migrations took place before the Asian migrations into Canada and North America. Some experts believe that Haplogroup X provides concrete evidence of European ancestry for certain Native Americans (noted below). For example, the Algonquian Indians (Mahicans/Ojibwe) have as high as 40 percent of Haplogroup X, and their distant relatives, the Siouan family of tribes (Sioux), have as high as 15 percent of the DNA. Experts suggest a large amount of gene flow occurred between Algonquian-speaking and Siouan-speaking groups, consistent with archaeological and linguistic evidence. These tribes, initially arriving along the eastern shores of North America, migrated deep inland, also north into Canada. They are the popular red-skinned tribes having a long-head shape similar to that of early Italic peoples in Europe. They are thought to be descendants of Canaanites (Phoenicians) who intermarried with Indo-Europeans while migrating across Europe, and subsequently sailing to North America.
Having been the largest group of Native Americans in the United States, their DNA stretched across America, though very sparse further west. According to tradition, they populated the Carolinas then migrated to the regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and eventually Minnesota and the Dakotas. Many of these tribes had fortified villages similar to ancient Canaanites (who lived along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, including parts of Egypt and the Jordan Valley). Archaeological evidence shows they constructed towns and cities with small pyramids and vast road systems throughout the Mississippi Valley. With them came a tradition that is thought to be a reference to the wives of Noah and his three sons. Four women are identified as “mothers of origin” whose names (possibly Canaanite) have been preserved down through the generations (see name chart below). Additionally, there are striking similarities between the languages of ancient Egypt and those of the Native Americans that inhabited the areas around Louisiana about the time of Christ. Epigraphy experts have stated that the languages of the Attakapa, Tunica and Chitimacha tribes have affinities with Nile Valley (Egyptian) languages involving certain words associated with Egyptian trading communities of 2,000 years ago. Scholars note the Algonquian and Siouan peoples used pictographs and ideographic writing symbols that also have similarities with ancient Canaanites.
Many groups migrated southwest into Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and eventually Mexico, establishing the powerful Aztec tribes with their beautiful fortified cities, integrating with the Mayas (who had been there hundreds of years before, and thought of the Aztecs as barbarians). Likely there was a mixing of cultures as they migrated, as there was no conquest of the Maya world by the Aztecs; that title would be given to the Spaniards in the late 17th century. The Aztec’s traditions and legends are largely ignored by modern scholars as myths and fables. The Aztecs, according to their own legends, departed from a region in the north called Chicomoztoc, a region that is today the areas of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Later establishing a city known as Aztlan, somewhere in north or northwest Mexico (now lost), their tribal name Aztec was born. Being nomadic, they eventually reached the valley of Mexico in the 12th century A.D. They were known as fearless warriors and pragmatic builders who raised an enormous city called Tenochtitlan, their capital city (now Mexico City).
The Aztecs would later call themselves “Mexica” (where Mexico is derived), and their language, Nahuatl, was linguistically related to other native language groups throughout the U.S. southwest and northern Mexico. Linguists note, for instance, the Shoshoni language in the Utah-Nevada region was understood by all the tribes from Mexico, without difficulty. Other related tribes included the Paiute, Hopi, Pima, Yaqui/Apache, Tepehuan, Kiowas and Mayos. Catholic missionaries in the 1850’s established the fact that all of those peoples were of one language family. While there are other examples of language similarities, studies of the native languages of the Americas have shown them to be extremely diverse, representing nearly two hundred distinct families, some consisting of a single isolated language.
4Pacific Islanders have a diverse and unique history. These oceanic peoples of the South Pacific, whom we know as Polynesians, Maoris, Tahitians, Samoans, Fijians, Tongans and others, have their roots in southern China. Prior to the Mongoloid peoples establishing themselves in southern China, there were migrations of negroid peoples from east Africa and the Sahara. A number of African cultures kept documents and ancient texts, as well as strong oral history and legends, of migrations to ancient China from Africa. Mongoloid groups later migrated into southern China, resulting in a mixing of cultures. Southern China is thought to have first come into being out of the mixture of Mongoloid and Negroid peoples. These peoples were likely driven out by other aggressive Mongoloids. Being master seafarers, they sailed into Polynesia and the surrounding region, populating the islands of the South Pacific.
5The vast aggregate of peoples who are generally classified as Mongoloid, who settled the Far East, have been a question as to where they fall into the Table of Nations. Evidence shows they are Hamitic, even though some have incorrectly reasoned that the Chinese were of Japhetic stock, and the Japanese were either Japhetic or Semitic. There are two names which provide clues. Two of Canaan’s sons, Heth (Hittites) and Sin (Sinites), are the likely progenitors of Chinese and Mongoloid stock. The Hittites are described in the Bible as a people ruled by kings living north of Assyria. Historians note they populated western Asia and the Far East, but conquered regions into Asia Minor and as far south as Palestine. The Hittite Empire was short-lived in history, but left a mark on the ancient world.
Assyrians called them Khatta or Khate, and they were known as the Kheta or Khata to the Egyptians. These names were variations of Hatti or Chatti, described on monuments of Assyria and Egypt. Archaeologists have noted many similarities between the Hittites and the Mongoloids. Egyptian monuments depicted the Hittites with prominent noses, full lips, high cheekbones, hairless faces, varying skin color from brown to yellowish and reddish, straight black hair in a pigtail or ponytail, and dark brown eyes. The Hittites depicted themselves in their bas-reliefs and hieroglyphs with short and thick limbs, pushed forward faces and large nostrils, confirming their identity when compared with Egyptian representations. Craniologists observe that these were characteristics of Mongoloid peoples.
The term Hittite in Cuneiform (the earliest form of writing invented by the Sumerians) appears as Khittae* representing a once powerful nation from the Asia and the Far East known as theKhitai, also in Hebrew as Khitti, Kheth and Khettai. Khitai and Khettai have been preserved through the centuries in the more familiar term, Cathay. They battled the Egyptian armies of Ramses II in the 13 century B.C., then disappeared forever from history. Their remnant, the Cathay, are considered the Mongoloid people who are part of early Chinese stock. This evidence comes from links between the Cathay and Hittites, for example, their modes of dress, their shoes with turned-up toes, their manner of doing their hair in a pigtail, and so forth.
*Khittae has, at times, been incorrectly associated with Kittim or Chittim (Greek Kition, Roman Citium, Jewish Cethimus), son of Javan, son of Japheth. Kittim is also the Biblical name for modern-day Cyprus. Javan is the Hebrew word for Greece, appearing five times in the Old Testament. Interestingly enough, Javan has been incorrectly interpreted to mean Japan. History distinctly shows Javan to be the ancestor of the Greeks and other related Mediterranean people groups.
Sin (or Seni), a brother of Heth, has many occurrences in variant forms in the Far East. There is one significant feature concerning the likely mode of origin of Chinese civilization. The place most closely associated by the Chinese themselves with the origin of their civilization is the capital of Shensi, namely, Siang-fu (Father Sin). Siang-fu appears in Assyrian records as Sianu. Today, Siang-fu can be loosely translated, “Peace to the Western Capital of China.” The Chinese have a tradition that their first king, Fu-hi or Fohi (Chinese Noah), made his appearance on the Mountains of Chin, was surrounded by a rainbow after the world had been covered with water, and sacrificed animals to God (corresponding to the Genesis record). Sin himself was the third generation from Noah, a circumstance which would provide the right time interval for the formation of early Chinese culture. In addition, the Miao tribe of southwest China had a tradition similar to the Genesis account, even before they met Christian missionaries. According to their tradition, God destroyed the whole world by a flood because of the wickedness of man, and Nuah (Noah) the righteous man and his wife, their three sons, Lo Han (Ham), Lo Shen (Shem), and Jah-hu (Japheth) survived by building a very broad ship and taking on it pairs of animals.
There is strong evidence that suggests early Chinese knew of the God of the Bible. There are accounts described in the “Shu Jing” (Book of History), compiled by Confucius, where it is recorded that Emperor Shun (ruled from about 2256 B.C. to 2205 B.C. when the first recorded dynasty began) that he worshiped and sacrificed a bull to “ShangDi.” ShangDi literally means “Heavenly Ruler.” Linguists point out that ShangDi, Creator-God of the Chinese, is the phonetic equivalent to El Shaddai, Creator-God of the Hebrews. About 700 B.C., the early Zhou pronunciation of ShangDi was “djanh-tigh” (Zhan-dai). The bull was sacrificed at an annual ceremony called a “Border Sacrifice,” a rite that did not end until 1911 when the last emperor was deposed. Additionally, recitations from the ancient rite parallel several Bible passages, including the creation account in Genesis. Scholars who have analyzed the most ancient forms of these pictographic Chinese writings (graphic symbols called ideograms), which date from before the time of Moses, have the entire story of creation, the temptation, the fall of man into sin, and God’s remedy for sin in the animal sacrifices, which pointed to the coming Savior, Jesus Christ. All the elements of the Genesis narrative are found recorded, and still in use, in Chinese character-writing. This confirms the idea that the ancient Chinese incorporated their early knowledge of Genesis into their written language.
History has much to say about the descendants of Sin who came from the Far East to trade. They were called Sinæ (Sin) by the Scythians. Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer, referred to China as the land of Sinim or Sinæ. Reference to the Sinim in Isaiah 49:12 notes they came “from afar,” specifically not from the north and not from the west. Arabs called China Sin, Chin, Mahachin, Machin. The Sinæ were spoken of as a people in the remotest parts of Asia. For the Sinæ, the most important town was Thinæ, a great trading emporium in western China. The city Thinæ is now known as Thsin or simply Tin, and it lies in the province of Shensi. Much of China was ruled by the Sino-KhitanEmpire (960-1126 A.D.), which Beijing became the southern capital. The Sinæ became independent in western China, their princes reigning there for some 650 years before they finally gained dominion over the whole land.
In the third century B.C., the dynasty of Tsin became supreme. The word Tsin itself came to have the meaning of purebred. This word was assumed as a title by the Manchu Emperors and is believed to have been changed into the form Tchina. From there the term was brought into Europe as China, probably from the Ch’in or Qin dynasty (255-206 B.C.). The Greek word for China is Kina (Latin is Sina). As well, Chinese and surrounding languages are part of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Years ago, American newspapers regularly carried headlines with reference to the conflict between the Chinese and Japanese in which the ancient name reappeared in its original form, the Sino-Japanese war. Sinology refers to the study of Chinese history.
With respect to the Cathay people of historical reference, evidence suggests that a remnant of the Hittites fled eastward after the destruction of their empire and apparent disappearance from history. As they traveled towards the east, their clans settled among the Sinites who were relatives, contributing to their civilization, and thus becoming the ancestors of Asian people groups. They are found together in major historical events that formed the Chinese nation and its people. Still others migrated throughout the region and beyond, making up present-day Mongoloid races in Asia and the Americas. The evidence strongly suggests that Ham’s grandsons, Heth (Hittites/Cathay) and Sin (Sinites/China), are the ancestors of Mongoloid peoples.
There are many native African tribes which trace themselves back traditionally to Ham. The Yoruba, who are black skinned, for example, claim to be descendants of Cush, and the Beja people have specific genealogical traditions of descent from Cush. Ethiopians still trace their ancestry back to Cush. To this day Cush has many tribal and ethnic designations in Africa and Arabia. Jewish historian Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews gives an account of the nation of Cush as the son of Ham and grandson of Noah: “For of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all hurt the name of Cush; for the Ethiopians, over whom he reigned, are even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia, called Cushites.” Libyans, who are much lighter skinned, are traced back to Phut (Phut is the Hebrew name for Libya). Egyptians are direct descendants of Mizraim (Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt). Today, “Misr” is the name Egyptians use to refer to their country. Ancient Egyptians have been considered the greatest technicians in all human history.
Other African groups trace their roots back to Ham or one of his descendants. It is therefore suggested that all of Africa, despite the different shades of color of its native populations, was initially settled by various members of this one Hamitic family. In the course of time, some of these people groups had migrations to Australia, Melanesia, New Guinea and the surrounding region. For example, there is evidence of similarities in the form of horticulture found in the Sahara and in Papua New Guinea. Recent studies from archaeology have discovered there was once extensive trade between east Africa and New Guinea. The evidence appears to point consistently in the same direction, supporting that not only Africa with its black races, but the Far East, the Americas, Australia and the Oceanic nations with their colored races were all descendants of Ham. The Hamitic people were the first to reach the far and distant lands of the world, preparing the way for the future. Their inventions and discoveries made a significant impact on the world, and provided inspiration for those to follow.
Japheth. Also Diphath. Literal meanings are opened, enlarged, fair or light (father of the Caucasoid/Indo-Europoid, Indo-European, Indo-Germanic, or Indo-Aryan people groups -Japhethites). Japheth is the progenitor of seven sons:
(1) Gomer “complete” (sons were Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah) – also Gamir, Gommer, Gomeri, Gomeria, Gomery, Goth, Guth, Gutar, Götar, Gadelas, Galic, Gallic, Galicia, Galica, Galatia, Gaulacia, Gael, Galatae, Galatoi, Gaul, Galls, Goar, Georgian, Celt, Celtae, Celticae, Kelt, Keltoi, Gimmer, Gimmerai, Gimirra, Gimirrai, Gimirraya, Kimmer, Kimmeroi, Kimirraa, Kumri, Umbri, Cimmer, Cimmeria, Cimbri, Cimbris, Crimea, Chomari, Cymric, Cymry, Cymru, Cymbry, Cumber (Cimmerians, Caledonians, Armenians, Phrygians, Turks, Picts, Milesians, Umbrians, Helvetians, Celts1, Galatians, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Goths, Vandals, Scandinavians, Jutes, Teutons, Franks, Burgundians, Alemanni, Germans2, Belgians, Dutch, Luxembourgers, Liechensteiners, Austrians, Swiss, Angles, Saxons, Britons, English, Cornish, Irish, Welsh, Scots, French, and other related groups);
(2) Magog “land of Gog” (sons were Elichanaf, Lubal, Baath, Jobhath and Fathochta) – also Gog3, Cog, Gogh, Gogue, Gogarene, Jagog, Yajuj, Majuj, Juz, Majuz, Agag, Magug, Magogae, Magogue, Ma-Gogue, Mugogh, Mat Gugi, Gugu, Gyges, Bedwig, Moghef, Magogian, Massagetae, Getae, Dacae, Sacae, Saka, Scyth, Skythe, Scythi, Scythii, Scythini, Scythia, Scythae, Sythia, Scythes, Skuthai, Skythai, Cathaia, Scythia, Skythia, Scynthia, Scynthius, Sythian, Skudra Sclaveni, Samartian, Sogdian, Slovon, Skodiai, Scotti, Skolot, Skoloti, Scoloti, Skolo-t, Skoth-ai, Skoth, Skyth, Skuthes, Skuth-a, Slavs, Ishkuzai, Askuza, Askuasa, Alani, Alans, Alanic, Ulan, Uhlan (Scythians, Scots); also Rasapu, Rashu, Rukhs, Rukhs-As, Rhos, Ros, Rosh, Rox, Roxolani, Rhoxolani, Ruskolan, Rosichi, Rhossi, Rusichi, Rus, Ruska, Rossiya, Rusian (Russians4, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Chechens, Dagestanis); also Mas-ar, Mas-gar, Masgar, Mazar, Madj, Madjar, Makr-on, Makar, Makaroi, Merkar, Magor, Magar, Magyar (Hungarians – also Huns, Hungar, Hunugur, Hurri, Gurri, Onogur, Ugor, Ungar, Uhor, Venger); Yugoslavians, Finns, Lapps, Estonians, Siberians, Voguls, Poles, Czechs, Croatians, Bosnians, Montenegrins, Mordvins, Serbians, Slovenians, Slovakians, Karelians, Komi-Zyrians, Udmurts, Izhorians, Livonians, Bulgarians, Avars, Tartars, Turks, Colchi, Armenians, Georgians and other related groups).
(3) Madai “middle land” (sons were Achon, Zeelo, Chazoni and Lotalso) – also Mada, Amada, Madae, Madea, Manda, Maday, Media, Madaean, Mata, Matiene, Mitani, Mitanni, Minni, Megala(Medes5, Aryans, Persians, Parsa, Parsees, Achaemenians, Manneans, Caspians, Kassites, Iranians, Achaemenians, Kurds, East Indians, Romani, Pathans, Hazaras), including the peoples of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Khazachstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan and Kyrgyzstan, and other related groups;
(4) Javan “miry” (sons were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim) – also Jevanim, Iewanim, Iawan, Iawon, Iamanu, Iones, Ionians, Ellas, Ellines, El-li-ness, Hellas, Hellenes, Yavan, Yavanas, Yawan, Yuban, Yauna, Uinivu, Xuthus (Grecians, Greeks, Elysians, Spartans, Dorians, Tartessians, Britons6, Aeolians, Achaeans, Myceneans, Macedonians, Albanians, Carthaginians, Cyprians, Cypriots, Cretans, Latins, Venetians, Sicanians, Italics, Romans7, Valentians, Sicilians, Cilicians, Italians, Spaniards, Portugese, other related groups);
(5) Tubal “brought” (sons were Ariphi, Kesed and Taari) – also Tabal, Tabali, Tubalu, Thobal, Thobel (Thobelites, Iberoi, Ibers, Iberians, Ivernians, Irish8, Spanish, other related groups),Tbilisi, Tibarenoi, Tibareni, Tibar, Tibor, Sabir, Sapir, Sabarda, Subar, Subartu, Tobol, Tobolsk (Cossacks, Samoyeds, Siberians, other related groups);
(6) Meshech “drawing out” (sons were Dedon, Zaron and Shebashnialso) – Me’shech, Mes’ek, Meshekh, Meshwesh, Meskhi, Meschera, Mushch, Muschki, Mushki, Mishi, Muski, Mushku, Musku, Muskeva, Muska, Muskaa, Muskai, Maskali, Machar, Maskouci, Mazakha, Mazaca, Mtskhetos, Modar-es, Moskhi, Moshkhi, Mosah, Mosher, Moshch, Moschis, Mosoch, Moschi, Moschian, Moshakian, Mo’skhoi, Moschoi, Mosochenu, Mosochean, Mossynes, Mosynoeci, Moskva, Moscovy, Moscow (Muscovites, Latvians, Lithuanians, Romanians, other related groups);
(7) Tiras “desire” (sons were Benib, Gera, Lupirion and Gilak) – also Tiracian, Thracian, Thirasian, Thiras, Thuras, Tyritae, Thrasus, Thrace, Trausi, Tereus, Trecae, Troas, Tros, Troia, Troiae, Troyes, Troi, Troy, Troya, Trajan, Trojan, Taunrus, Tyras, Tyrsen, Tyrrhena, Illyrian, Ilion, Ilium, Rasenna, Tursha, Tusci, Tuscany, Etruria, Etruschi, Etruscan, Eturscan, Euskadi, Euskara (Basque9), Erul, Herul, Heruli, Erilar, Vanir, Danir, Daner, Aesar, Aesir, Asir, Svear, Svea, Svie, Svioner, Svenonian, Urmane, Norge (Leleges, Carians, Pelasgians, Scandinavians10, Varangians, Vikings, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Icelandics, Baltics, other related groups).
The Japhetic people are, in general, the peoples of India and Europe (Indo-European stock), with which any demographer is familiar11.
1The whole Celtic race has been regarded as descended from Gomer, though history suggests modern Celts are descended from both Gomer and Magog. Archaeologists and ethnologists agree that the first Indo-European group to spread across Europe were Celts. The Irish Celts claim to be to the descendants of Magog, while the Welsh Celts claim to be to the descendants of Gomer. Irish chronicles, genealogies, plus an extensive number of manuscripts which have survived from ancient times, reveal their roots. The Irish were descendants of Scythians, also known as Magogians, which is strongly supported by etymological evidence. Archaeological evidence shows that both the Celts (from Gomer) and Scythians (from Magog) freely shared and mingled cultures at their earliest stages. Russian and eastern European excavations plainly reveal the blending of these two groups. Their geographical locations (what is now eastern Europe, southern Russia and Asia Minor) were referred to by the Greeks under the name of Celto-Scythae, which was populated by the Celts to the south and west, and the Scythians to the north. The ancient Greeks first called the northern peoples by the general name of Scythae; but when they became acquainted with the nations in the west, they began to call them by the different names of Celts, including the Celto-Scythae. Celts and Scythians were considered essentially the same peoples, based on geography, though many independent tribes of Celts and Scythians existed. The Latins called them “Galli,” and the Romans referred to them as “Gauls,” and considered them fiercely independent barbarians. Later names used by Greeks were the Galatai or Galatae, Getae, Celtae and Keltoi. In the third century before Christ (about 280 B.C.), the Gauls invaded Rome and were ultimately repelled into Greece, where they migrated into the north-central part of Asia Minor (Anatolia). They conquered the indigenous peoples of that region and established their own independent kingdom. The land became known as Galatia (Gaulatia). The Apostle Paul wrote his famous epistle to their descendants, the Galatians. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote that the Galatians of his day (93 A.D.) were previously called Gomerites.Early Celtic tribes (from Gomer) settled much of the European theater, including present-day Spain, France, England and Germany, prior to contact with Scythians. For many centuries France was called Gaul, after the Celtic descendants of Gomer, whom ceded the territory to Romans and Germanic/Teutonic Franks (whence France) in the 4th century A.D. Northwest Spain is called Galicia to this day. Some of the Gomerites migrated further to what is now called Wales. The Welsh claim their ancestors “first landed on the Isle of Britain from France, about three hundred years after the flood.” The Celtic language survives intact today mainly in the two variants of Welsh and Irish/Scottish Gaelic. The Welsh call their language Gomeraeg (after Gomer). The Celts of today are descendants of Gomer, and of the blended tribes of Magog and Gomer.
2Present-day Germanic people groups are descendants of both Japheth and Shem, and there are several references from recent and ancient history. Recent history records the descendants of Gomer migrated and settled in the region that is now northern Europe (Germany and Scandinavia). These tribes became the Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Teutons and Burgundians, descendants of some of the first peoples to migrate to northern Europe from ancient times—the Askaeni. The Askaeni were descendants of Ashkenaz, son of Gomer, son of Japheth. When the Askaeni arrived in northern Europe, they named the land Ascania after themselves, which later translated Scandia, then Scandinavia. Later in history, we find the Askaeni being referred to as Sakasenoi, which became Sachsen, and finally Saxon. The Saxons played an large part in European and English history. Ashkenaz has been one of the most well preserved names throughout European history.
Semitic peoples also migrated to central Europe (southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland). These people were the descendants of Asshur, son of Shem, where early Germans originated. Asshur is well known in history as the father of the Assyrians. In the Aramaic language, “Aturaye” means Assyrian, and the land of the Assyrians is called “Atur,” which became “Tyr” or “Teiw” by early Germanic peoples. Later, the name linguistically changes to “Ziu.” Germans likely derived their identity and language from these ancestral names. The earliest known name of the German language was called “Diutisc,” which later becomes Dietsch, Deutsch or Deutsche (what Germans call themselves today). Deutschland (land of the Deutsch) could be called “Asshurland.” The Romans referred to the Deutschen as Teutons or Teutones. The Teutons were a tribe of Germans nearly wiped out by Romans in the second century B.C.
The term “German” comes from Latin (Roman) sources. The Assyrians occupied a Mesopotamian city on the lower Tigris River called “Kir” and placed captive slaves there (also referenced in 2 Kings 16:9, Isaiah 22:5-6, Amos 1:5, 9:7). The city was populated by the Assyrians for many years, and the inhabitants became known as “Kir-man.” The Assyrians (Kerman) were driven from their land shortly after their fall about 610 B.C. They migrated into central Europe where they were called “German” or “Germanni,” a general name used by the Romans to represent all Assyrian tribes. The known Assyrian tribes were the Khatti (also, Chatti, Hatti and Hessian)—Chatti is still the Hebrew term for German, and Khatti was also used by the Romans to represent various Germanic tribes; the Akkadians (Latins called them Quadians); the Kassites (or Cossaei); and the Almani (or Halmani, Allemani was the Latin name). Almani or Almain were historical terms for Germans living in southern Germany. Without question, these Assyrian Germans assimilated with the previously established tribes of Askaeni (descendants of Gomer) and adopted their Indo-European language, becoming one people.
3One of the earliest references to Gog is thought to come from Assyrian inscriptions in the 9th century B.C. referencing “Mat Gugi,” meaning “country of the Gugu.” Hesiod, considered the father of Greek didactic poetry and literature, identified Magog with the Scythians and southern Russia in the 7th century B.C., written prior the book of Ezekiel. Hesiod likely derived this from the Colchi people (a Thracian tribe) where, in their ancient Chaldaic language, described the region of southern Russia as “Gog-chasan” or “Gog-hasan” (Arabic “Gog-i-hisn”) meaning “fortress of Gog” or “Gog’s fort.” There are scholars who also suggest that Gog and Magog, as a region, is where the name “Caucasus” originated. Certain scholars speculate the name “Caucasus” was derived from “Gog-chasan” which the Greeks translated as Gogasus or Caucasus. The Caucasus is generally considered the land between the Black and Caspian seas.
Greek historian Herodotus, whom historians call “the father of history,” mentions in the 5th century B.C. a people living around the Caucasus mountains called “Gargarians.” Greek myth depicted the Gargarians as “Gorgons,” which eventually became Gorgene or Gorgaene. He also wrote extensively about the descendants of Magog by their Greek name, the Scythians, about 150 years after Ezekiel. He wrote of “Royal Scythians” who ruled over all other Scythians of Scythia. Herodotus describes them as living in the territory north of the Black Sea, and that they terrorized the southern steppes of Russia beginning in the 10th century B.C. Numerous archaeological discoveries have confirmed Herodotus’ reports in general, and his Scythian accounts in particular. Flavius Josephus, Jewish and Roman historian, continued with that reference in the 1st century A.D. when he records that Magogians were called “Scythians” by the Greeks. Philo, Greek and Jewish philosopher in the 1st century A.D., also identified Magog with southern Russia.
The Gargarians show up again in Greek history. Strabo, early 1st century Greek historian, geographer and philosopher, famous for his 17-volume work Geographica which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known to his era, mentions “Gogarene” as a region in Iberia (present-day Armenia and Georgia). Scholars agree Gogarene is one of the best preserved names from Gog, which belonged to the Caucasian Iberian kingdom (present-day Armenia and Georgia) up to the 2nd century B.C. Aelius Herodianus, Greek and Roman scholar of antiquity, called the region “Goerene” in the 2nd century A.D. In the 5th century A.D., a viceroy in the region of old Armenia called himself Achoucha Gougarqtzi (Arshusha of Gogarene). In the 6th century A.D., geographer Stephanus of Byzantium referred to the region as Gogarene, and in the 7th century the region was known as Gougarq. Today it still exists as Gugark, a historical region in Armenia. As noted earlier, commentators suggest Georgia also derived its name from Gogarene, and today the Turkish name for Georgia is Gurgistan. In recent history, certain Georgians referred to themselves as “Gogi.” Interestingly, a peculiar Skythian people, who appear at the end of the 4th century A.D., called the Geougen (also Jou-jan, Jeu-jen, Juan-juan or Jwen-jwen), emerging as a powerful empire in the region of Tartary (Mongolia). Scholars suggest they were a mixture of eastern Huns (Skythian) and Tungus (Manchu) peoples, who for a short time became a Central Asian group of historical importance. The empire of the Geougen lasted from the end of the 4th century A.D. to the middle of the 6th century.
Magog’s name is also preserved. Albius Tibullus, Latin poet in the 1st century B.C., mentions a people living on the River Tanais (present-day River Don) called “Magini” or “Magotis”, whom scholars say were from the colonies of Magog. The Greeks called the area where the Magini lived along the Tanais, the “Maeotian marshes” where the river emptied into the Maeotian Lake (present day Sea of Azov). The marshes served as a checkpoint to the westward migration of nomad peoples from the steppe of Central Asia. The area was named after the Maitois or Maeotae people (as the Greeks and Latins called them) who lived around the Maeotian Lake or Sea. Jerome (who translated the Latin Vulgate), an Illyrian Christian apologist of the late 4th and early 5th centuries, affirms “the Jews of this age understood by Magog the vast and innumerable nations of Scythia, about Mount Caucasus, and the Palus Maeotis (Latin for Maeotis Sea), and stretching along the Caspian Sea to India.” Scholars suggest that at the early stages Magogites assimilated with Skythians, thus making up a part of the early Scythian hordes. In fact, wherever or whenever we see references to Gog and Magog in name or place, we also see the Skythians. Many of the mountains peaks in the Caucasian mountains and land areas there retained the place name “Gog” in medieval European and Armenian maps. Scholars also regard Gog and Magog as the wild tribes of Central Asia, including the Scythians, Alans, Parthians, Turks, Tartars, Mongols, and Huns, who had been making incursions on various kingdoms and empires from very ancient times. Russian traveller Jacob Reineggs, who visited the Caucasus five times in the 18th century, left many records of people groups he enountered. He discovered in the central Caucasus a people called Thiulet, who lived amidst mountains called Ghef or Gogh. The very highest of these mountains, lying to the north of their country, they knew by the name of Moghef or Mugogh. These place names are Gog and Magog derivatives.
Some have mistakenly confused the term Mongol with Magog. While the terms sound similar, Mongol was derived from a different source. For hundreds of years the descendants of Magog arrived from the west and north from Siberia, settling in parts of northern China. By by the 8th century A.D., we find the Chinese referring to these invading peoples as “Huangdou Shiwei” meaning “yellow (blonde) heads.” These Shiwei tribes were also called “Mengwu” or “Maoshou” which meant “hairy head or hairy face (bearded)” people. The Mengwu/Maoshou tribes were the first to be called “Mongols”, though they were not Mongoloid peoples of China. The term would later apply to Mongolic peoples who migrated to the region and named it Mongolia.
4The Scythians are descended from Ashkenaz, son of Gomer, son of Japheth, and first appear in Assyrian records as “Askuza” or “Ishkuzai.” The Assyrians tell of the Askuza as being involved in a revolt and pouring in from the north some time around the beginning of the 7th century B.C., which is also mentioned in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 51:27). The Askuza later became the Skythai (Scythians) of Herodotus. According to scholars, ancient peoples known as the Sarmatians (not to be confused with the Samaritans) and Alans lived in the area around the Caspian Sea from about 900 B.C. Sarmatian and Alani tribes were later called Scythians (Slavic peoples of today), who were also known as the Rukhs-As, Rashu, Rasapu, Rhossi, Rosh, Ros, and Rus. There is no debate that they were the inhabitants of southern Russia, and the existence of the names of rivers, such as the “Ros,” refer to Rus populations. Much later, about 739 A.D., the word Rus appears again in eastern Europe, interestingly, from a different source. Finnish peoples referred to Swedes as “Ruotsi,” “Rotsi” or “Rus” in contrast with Slavic peoples, which was derived from the name of the Swedish maritime district in Uppland, “Roslagen,” and its inhabitants, called “Rodskarlar.” Rodskarlar or Rothskarlar meant “rowers” or “seamen.” Those Swedish conquerors (called Varangians [Vikings] by the Slavs), settled in eastern Europe, adopted the names of local tribes, integrated with the Slavs, and eventually the word “Rusi,” “Rhos” or “Rus” came to refer to the inhabitants. Russia means “land of the Rus.” Scholars continue to debate the origin of the word Rus, which has derived from two sources: the Ruotsi or Rhos, the Finnish names for the Swedes, and earlier from the Scythians known as Rashu or Rosh in southern Russia.
5The Aryans first come into historical view about a thousand years before Christ, invading India and threatening Babylonia. Historians of old reference an Aryan chief called Cyaxeres, king of the Medes and Persians. The Medes and Persians seem to have been tribes of one nation, more or less united under the rule of Cyaxeres. Elam (son of Shem) is the ancient name for Persia. Elamites are synonymous with Persians. The Persians are thus descended from both Elam, the son of Shem, and from Madai, the son of Japheth. The Medes and Persians had settled in what is now modern Persia, the Medes in the north, the Persians in the south. The most notable Persians of today are the Iranians. Interestingly, the word Iran is a derivative of Aryan. The Medo-Persian people groups are divided into hundreds of clans, some sedentary and others nomadic. All speak Indo-European languages, and some groups have pronounced Mongoloid physical characteristics and cultural traits, derived from Mongolian invasions and subsequent cultural integration. An example today would be the Uzbeks of Uzbekistan, and remnant groups living in Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia.
6The history of Britain can be traced back to the sons of Japheth. Historical evidence strongly suggests the first inhabitants of the British isles were the descendants of Javan (from his sons Elishah and Tarshish), and of Gomer and Magog. Gomerites are today’s modern Welsh. Traditional Welsh belief is that the descendants of Gomer arrived about three hundred years after the flood, and the Welsh language was once called Gomeraeg. The Welsh (Celts) are thought to have created Stonehenge. Additionally, the descendants of Tarshish (Elishah’s brother) appear to have settled on the British Isles in various migrations about the same time. Genesis 10:4 refers to Tarshish as those of “the isles of the Gentiles.” The Phoenicians traded silver, iron, tin and lead with them (Ezekiel 27:7,12), and even mention the incredible stone monuments at Stonehenge. Around 450 B.C., ancient historian Herodotus wrote about shipments of tin coming from the “Tin Isles” far to the north and west. There is no question that the British isles, including the northern coast of Spain, were the seat of the tin trade. King Solomon acquired precious metals from Tarshish (1 Kings 10:22). English historians assert that British mines mainly supplied the glorious adornment of Solomon’s Temple, and in those days the mines of southwestern Britain were the source of the world’s supply of tin.
The name Briton originated from Brutus (a descendant of Elishah), the first king on Britain’s mainland, arriving about 1100 B.C. Two sons of Brutus, Kamber and Albanactus, are referenced in English prehistory. From Kamber came Cambaria and the Cambrians (who integrated with the Gomerites [mostly Celts] and became the present-day Welsh). The descendants of Albanactus were known as the Albans (or the Albanach whom the Irish commonly called them). Geographers would later call the land Albion. The Britons (also Brythons), Cambrians and Albans populated the British Isles, which later endured multiple invasions, beginning with successive waves of Celts about 700 B.C. The Celts (or Gaels) called the land Prydain, their name for Briton. Those Celts (descendants of Gomer) integrated with the descendants of Elishah and Tarshish (sons of Javan), creating what some scholars called “a Celticized aboriginal population” in the British Isles. Some of the invading people groups were Scythians, descended from Magog, who became known as the Skoths or Scots. The name for the Celts or Cymru was “Weahlas,” from Anglo-Saxon origins, meaning “land of foreigners”—Wales. The Welsh still call themselves Cymru, pronounced “Coomry.” Later the Romans referred to the land as Britannia, invading there about 50 years before the birth of Christ. By the third century A.D., Jutes, Franks, Picts, Moors, Angles, Saxons and other groups were invading from surrounding Europe. In the sixth century A.D., Saxons called the land Kemr (Cymru), and the language Brithenig (Breton). The Angles eventually conquered Britannia, renaming the territory Angleland, which became England. Vikings invaded in the 9th century, and the Normans (or Northmen—former Danish Vikings) conquered England in 1066. Today, the British isles are settled by the ancestors of those people groups, which included Gomer and Javan (first inhabitants), plus Magog (later invasions by various people groups).
7What of Romans and pre-Roman peoples? Migrating nomadic peoples came from across the Alps and across the Adriatic Sea to the east of the Italian peninsula. They were primarily herdsmen, and were technologically advanced. They worked bronze, used horses, and had wheeled carts. They were a war-like people and began to settle the mountainous areas of the Italian peninsula. Historians called these people Italic, and they include several ethnic groups: the Sabines, the Umbrians and the Latins, amongst others. Rome was, in part, founded by these agrarian Italic peoples living south of the Tiber river. They were a tribal people, and thus tribal organization dominated Roman society in both its early and late histories.The date of the founding of Rome is uncertain, but archaeologists estimate its founding to around 753 B.C., although it existed as a village or group of villages long before then. As the Romans steadily developed their city, government and culture, they imitated the neighboring civilization to the north, the Etruscans (former Trojans). Romans are sometimes referred to as “Etruscanized Latins.” Roman legend states that Aeneas, founder of the Roman race, was a prince of Troy who was forced to flee that city at the close of the Trojan war against Greece. Rome’s founder, Romulus, had a Latinized Etruscan name. The Etruscans dominated central Italy, and had already founded many cities, having arrived some 500 years earlier after leaving the city of Troy around 1260 B.C. The Etruscans were greatly influenced by the Greeks, and the Etruscans brought that influence to the city of Rome. The Romans called Etruscans the Tusci, and Tuscany still bears the name. The Etruscan language, once thought lost, is still spoken by the Basques, called Euskara. The first two centuries of Rome’s growth was dominated by the Etruscans. The Romans were first a subject people of the Etruscans, but the Romans would later be their conquerors. After many battles with the Etruscans, the city of Rome identified itself as Latin, eventually integrating the Estruscans and remaining peoples in the region. Rome became a kingdom, then an empire.
8The Irish were likely some of the first settlers of Great Britain. The Irish derive their name from Tubal, son of Japheth. Tubal’s descendant’s were called by various names, including Tabali (Tibarenoi in Greek), Tiberani (from the annals of the Assyrian Kings from which Iberian is derived), and Thobel from which the Thobelites came who were also called Iberes according to Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the 1st century AD. Scholars note the Iberian and Ivernian peoples were a Mediterranean race from the east, possibly originating from the area of present-day Georgia. Tabal, Tubal, Jabal and Jubal were ancient Georgian tribal designations. The Iberians settled in what is now present-day Spain or Hispania, the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. The Ivernians settled in the British Isles, arriving by sea as early as the 5th century B.C. Later invading Celts (called Goidels, later Gaels) encountered the tribes of Iverni (also Euerni), noting they were a small, dark-haired race, harsh-featured and long-headed. Strabo’s early 1st century work Geographia lists the Greek name of the isle as Iernh. Ptolemy’s 2nd century works describe the pre-Celtic tribes of Iverni as Eraind orErainn who spoke a Proto-Celtic language known as Ivernic (Primitive Irish). The Iverni were called Iouernoi by Greeks, also the Hiberni or Hibernians by Romans. As their names transliterated through time, Iverni descendants would call themselves Everiu, and later Eire, from which the term Irish comes, and the land of Eire, or Ireland was derived.
9The Etruscans are controversial in history. Their language, culture, and apparent departure from history are debated amongst scholars. Descendants of Tiras, the Etruscans did not disappear entirely from history. Their language and people, though a remnant, are the Basques of today. Though the Basques mixed with local populations over the past few millennia, their language didn’t die. A number of scholars consider Euskara (Basque language) the closest living relative to ancient Etruscan. Euskara is an isolate language, meaning it did not descend from an ancestor common to any other language family known today. The original Etruscan language (from ancient Etruscans in northwestern Italy) is thought to be an extinct isolate language, and there is agreement that the current Euskara language was already present in Western Europe before the arrival of other Indo-European languages. Another interesting connection is to Georgian (language of Georgians in southern Russia), each of which have linguistic commonalities, prompting scholars to hypothesize Euskara has a relationship to a lost Eurasian superfamily of languages. This further supports the suggestion that Etruscans were originally Trojans. After a succession of wars with the Greeks, around 1260 B.C. thousands of Trojans (speaking an ancient Thracian language) resettled abroad, which included Trojan warriors and families who sailed across the Black Sea to the Caucasus region in southern Russia, and also those who sailed to present-day northwest Italy. Their descendants, the Basques, would eventually migrate into what is present-day southeast France and northeast Spain.
DNA (R1b Y-DNA haplogroup) findings also support a connection between Basques and peoples of Georgia. As noted earlier, haplogroups (i.e., R1b) are used in DNA tests for markers that give a broad or regional picture; haplotypes are one person’s results on various DNA tests. Y-DNA is the theoretical most recent common male-lineage. The greatest concentration of the R1b haplogroup maps found a heightened incidence in the Basque region of Spain and in the region east of the Black Sea in southern Russia (present-day Georgia). Both DNA research and language commonalities provide a link to the history of the Basques, and thus the Etruscans.
10Scandinavian predecessors have a unique history. Scholars agree that Scandinavians (Danes, Norwegians, Swedes) came from early Germanic people groups, including the Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Teutons and Burgundians (descendants of Gomer). Ashkenaz, son of Gomer, is ancestor of those Germanic peoples. The descendants of Ashkenaz have many historical references. Known as the Askaeni, they were some of the first peoples to migrate to northern Europe, naming the region Ascania (after themselves). Latin writers and Greeks called the land Scandza or Scandia (now Scandinavia). Roman records describe a large city on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea (about 350 A.D.) where a chain of mountains begins, and runs eastward along the shore and beyond it, forming a natural boundary. Those mountains were called the Ascanimians, the region was called Sakasene (a form of Ashkenaz), and the dwellers of the city were the Saki. The Saki tribes had been migrating north to Europe for some time. The Saki called themselves the Sakasenoi, which we know as the Sachsens or Saxons. Around 280 A.D. the Romans tell of the employment of Saxons to guard the eastern British coasts against barbarians. About 565 A.D., the Saxons battled over territory in the Baltic region with another powerful people, the Svear. Historical records indicate that descendants of Tiras also settled in Scandinavia, a people called the Svear. The Svear are descendants of the first inhabitants of the ancient city of Troy, a people then known as the Tiracians (also Thracians, Trajans or Trojans). They were described as a “ruddy and blue-eyed people.” The city of Troy was destroyed around 1260 B.C. after a succession of wars with the Greeks. Thousands of Trojans resettled abroad, which included Trojan warriors who sailed across the Black Sea to the Caucasus region in southern Russia. One of the most documented of Trojan settlements is along the mouth of the River Don on the Black Sea. The locals (Scythians) named those Trojan settlers the “Aes,” meaning “Iron” for their superior weaponry. Later, the inner part of the Black Sea was named after them, called the “Iron Sea” or “Sea of Aesov” in the local tongue. Today, the name continues as the “Sea of Azov.”
The Aes or Aesir, traveled from the Caucasus region to the Baltic Sea in Scandinavia around 90 B.C., which is supported by scholars, modern archaeological evidence, and DNA. A tribe that migrated with them were the Vanir. The Aesir clans traded with local Germanic tribes, including the Gutar. Romans called the Gutar “Goths,” the Aesir “Svear”—Swedes, and the Vanir “Danir/Daner”—Danes. The Svear and Daner populations were described specifically as taller and fairer (blonde) than other people groups in the Baltic region. The Svear population flourished, and with the Goths they formed a powerful military alliance of well-known seafarers. The Romans noted that Svear people together with the Goths were, from the 3rd century A.D., ravaging the Black Sea, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, using the same type of weapons as their Trojan ancestors. The Svear and Goths dominated the Russian waterways, and by 739 A.D. together they were called Varyagans or Varangians (from the Swedish Vaeringar), according to written records of the Slavs near the Sea of Azov. Like their ancestors, Scandinavians lived in large communities where their chieftains would send out maritime warriors to trade and plunder. Those fierce warriors were called the Vaeringar, which literally meant “men who offer their service to another master.” We later know them by their popularized name, theVikings. Further evidence of Aesir (Asir) settlements in the Baltic region came from their Thracian language, which not only influenced, but is very close to the Baltic and Slavic (Balto-Slavic) languages of today. By the 9th century A.D., the Svear state had emerged as the major power in Scandinavia. The Svear, Daner and Goths, along with other Germanic tribes, settled in what is now present-day Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other parts of the Baltic region. They were forefathers of the Scandinavians—the descendants of both Gomer and Tiras. Y-DNA (the most recent common male-lineage) in Scandinavians was found to be grouped with the Basques mentioned above.
11Early history shows the Japhethites split into two groups. One group settled in the region of present-day India and Central Asia, and the other group in the European theater. Indo-European languages originate from those people groups who migrated throughout western Eurasia (Europe, the Near East, Anatolia, and the Caucasus). Together they form what is known as the “Indo-European” family of nations. Both of these divisions trace their ancestry back to Japheth. For example, early Aryans knew him as Djapatischta (chief of the race), Greeks referred to Japheth as Iapetos or Japetos, East Indians called him Jyapeti or Pra-Japati, Romans used Ju-Pater or Jupiter, the Saxons perpetuated his name as Iafeth, subsequently transliterated as Sceaf (pronounced “sheef” or “shaif”—and recorded his name in their early genealogies as the son of Noah, the forebear of their various peoples), and the variant Seskefwas used by early Scandinavians. All of these peoples, we must remember, were pagans whose knowledge or even awareness of the book of Genesis had been lost, or was non-existent.
Endnote:
The information presented here is only an interpretation of historical research and Biblical data. Certain assumptions may not be accurate, and new discoveries can change group references. While many of the peoples and nations listed are easily identifiable, many remain obscure. Numerous scholars have attempted to identify lost or unknown nations with varying degrees of success. Much of the material is archaic, and there remains considerable ambiguity. There are some who suggest problems within the Table of Nations when attempting to correlate specific people groups with modern comparative linguistics. For example, we know Elamites descended from Shem, yet their language was not Semitic. Canaanites descended from Ham, yet their language was Semitic. These apparent conflicts are not conflicts at all. Cultures from ancient times were constantly subject to foreign migrations and invasions. Conquering powers often imposed their language and culture upon the defeated; this is what came to pass in Elamite and Canaanite civilizations. There are many other examples in history. The Israelites, who primarily spoke ancient Hebrew up until the Babylonian and Persian captivities, would eventually adopt Aramaic, the official language of the Persian Empire. That resulted in the Jewish Talmud being written in Aramaic. Aramaic was a language spoken by Jesus. The famous Grecian conqueror, Alexander the Great, subdued Persia, and soon the Jews adopted Greek as a second language. The result was the New Testament being written in Greek.
We are all directly related to either Shem and his wife, Ham and his wife, or Japheth and his wife. History has long since confirmed abundantly this distribution of mankind, exactly as the Bible describes. Every human being on earth today is your cousin, whether first, second or thousandth! Nothing in the legendary or archaeological history of the ancient world denies the biblical account of the creation of the world, the entrance of sin and death, the judgment of Noah’s flood, and the rise of the peoples from his descendants after their dispersal from Babel. Furthermore, the historical dates used to determine the formation of people groups, nations or kingdoms does not in any way conflict with the Genesis account, but are well within the approximate dates for the creation of the world and mankind about 4000 B.C., the flood of Noah about 2350 B.C., and the dispersal from Babel around 2100 B.C. Click here for a genealogical chart from Genesis 10.
This information is not intended to promote or reflect a particular theology, religious sect or genealogical group. Don’t dismiss the fact that with some of the Shemites, Hamites and Japhethites there would have been intermarriage and subsequent people groups. For example, scholars note evidence that suggests the descendants of Lud (Shemites) migrated north and intermarried with the Greeks (descendants of Japheth), and were eventually absorbed in that culture.
The interaction of all three family contributions is the theme of history. The remarkable thing is that they all can be substantiated to a degree, often unsuspected by students of history, up to the present time. The descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth are evidenced, not only by Biblical history, but archeological, anthropological, biological, ethnographical, ethnological, etymological, geological and secular history. The question is not one of levels of worth but of uniqueness of contribution, and though differences exist, not any one group is superior or inferior.
Listed below are 19 of the 94 recognized language families of the world, representing just over 6,900 distinct languages. Approximately 45 percent of the world’s population fall into the Indo-European language family, with 22 percent falling into the Sino-Tibetan language family. Linguists claim that many of the languages of the world are related by their “proto-language.” Subsequently, all languages can be traced back, in their various linguistic groups, to a “father tongue,” which then evolved multiple times. However, current knowledge refutes such explanations entirely. For example, the two largest language families, Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan, come from their own Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Sino-Tibetan families exclusively. Many linguists now understand these two proto-languages were so radically different, they could not have come from a single original language. The same holds true for the other 92 language families. Such evidence supports the Bible’s claim that the languages given at Babel were unique and distinct from each other:
Here are some of the most common spoken & written languages worldwide:Achinese, Afrikaans, Akan, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assamese, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Balinese, Baluchi, Bambara, Bashkir, Basque, Batak Toba, Baule, Beja, Belorussian, Bemba, Bengali, Beti, Bhili, Bikol, Brahui, Bugis, Bulgarian, Burmese, Buyi, Cantonese, Catalan, Cebuana, Chagga, Chig, Chinese, Chuvash, Croatian, Czech, Dairi, Danish, Dardic, Dimli, Dogri, Dong, Dongola, Dutch, Dyerma, Dyula, Edo, Efik, Ethiopic, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Ewe, Finnish, Fon, French, Frisian, Fula, Fulakunda, Futa, Jalon, Gaelic, Galician, Ganda, Georgian, German, Gilaki, Gogo, Gondi, Greek, Guarani, Gujarati, Gusii, Hadiyya, Hakka, Hani, Hausa, Haya, Hebrew, Hiligaynon, Hindi, Ho, Hungarian, Iban, Icelandic, Igbo, Ijaw, Ilocano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kabyle, Karo, Kamba, Kannada, Kanuri, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kenuzi, Khmer, Kikuyu, Kongo, Konkani, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lampung, Lao, Latvian, Leyte, Lingala, Lithuanian, Luba, Luhya, Lulua, Luo, Luri, Luxembourgish, Lwena, Macedonian, Madurese, Makassar, Makua, Malagasy, Malayalam, Malaysian, Malinke, Mandarin, Manx, Marathi, Mazandarani, Mbundu, Meithei, Mende, Meru, Miao, Mien, Migindanaon, Min, Minangkabau, Mongolian, Mordvin, Moré, Nepali, Ngulu, Nknole, Norwegian, Nung, Nupe, Nyamwezi, Nyanja, Occitan, Oriya, Oromo, Panay, Pampangan, Pangasinan, Pashtu, Pattani Malay, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Provençal, Punjabi, Quechua, Rajang, Rifian, Romanian, Romany, Ruanda, Rundi, Russian, Samar, Sango, Santali, Sasak, Serbian, Sgaw, Shaba, Shan, Shilha, Shona, Sidamo, Sindhi, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Songye, Soninke, Sotho, Spanish, Sudanese, Sukuma, Swahili, Swedish, Sylhetti, Tagalog, Tajiki, Tamazight, Tamil, Tatar, Tausug, Telugu, Temne, Thai, Tho, Thonga, Tibetan, Tigrinya, Tiv, Tonga, Tswana, Tudza, Tulu, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Ukranian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh, Wolaytta, Wolof, Wu, Xhosa, Yao, Yi, Yiddish, Yoruba, Zande, Zhuang, Zulu. Interesting fact: Worldwide, one language disappears every two weeks. |
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