Generations of Noah

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File:T and O map Guntherus Ziner 1472.jpg

This T and O map, from the first printed version of Isidore's Etymologiae (Augsburg 1472), identifies the three known continents (Asia, Europe, and Africa) as respectively populated by descendants of Sem (Shem), Iafeth (Japheth), and Cham (Ham).

File:Noahsworld map.jpg

The world as known to the Hebrews according to the Mosaic account (1854 map), from the Historical Textbook and Atlas of Biblical Geography by Lyman Coleman.

The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis Template:Bibleverse-nb), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood,Template:Sfn focusing on the major known societies. The term 'nations' to describe the descendants is a standard English translation of the Hebrew word "goyim", following the Template:Circa 400 CE Latin Vulgate's "nationes", and does not have the same political connotations that the word entails today.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The list of 70 names introduces for the first time several well-known ethnonyms and toponyms important to biblical geography,<ref>"Biblical Geography," Catholic Encyclopedia: "The ethnographical list in Genesis 10 is a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the old general geography of the East, and its importance can scarcely be overestimated."</ref> such as Noah's three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, from which 18th-century German scholars at the Göttingen school of history derived the race terminology Semites, Hamites, and Japhetites. Certain of Noah's grandsons were also used for names of peoples: from Elam, Ashur, Aram, Cush, and Canaan were derived respectively the Elamites, Assyrians, Arameans, Cushites, and Canaanites. Likewise, from the sons of Canaan: Heth, Jebus, and Amorus were derived Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites. Further descendants of Noah include Eber (from Shem), the hunter-king Nimrod (from Cush), and the Philistines (from Misrayim).

As Christianity spread across the Roman Empire, it carried the idea that all human peoples were descended from Noah. However, not all Mediterranean and Near Eastern peoples were covered in the biblical genealogy; Iranic peoples such as Persians, Indic people such as Mitanni, and other prominent early civilizations such as the Ancient Greeks, Macedonians, and Romans, Hurrians, Iberians, Illyrians, Kassites, and Sumerians are missing, as well as the Northern and Western European peoples important to the Late Roman and Medieval world, such as the Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, and Nordic peoples; nor were others of the world's peoples, such as Native Americans, sub-Saharan Africans, Turkic and Iranic peoples of Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Far East, and Australasia. Scholars later derived a variety of arrangements to make the table fit, with for example the addition of Scythians, which do feature in the tradition, being claimed as the ancestors of much of Northern Europe.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

According to the biblical scholar Joseph Blenkinsopp, the 70 names in the list express symbolically the unity of humanity, corresponding to the 70 descendants of Israel that followed Jacob into Egypt in Template:Bibleverse and the 70 elders of Israel who visit God with Moses at the covenant ceremony in Exodus Template:Bibleverse-nb.Template:Sfn

Table of NationsEdit

On the family pedigrees contained in the biblical pericope of Noah, Saadia Gaon (882‒942) wrote:

The Scriptures have traced the patronymic lineage of the seventy nations to the three sons of Noah, as also the lineage of Abraham and Ishmael, and of Jacob and Esau. The blessed Creator knew that men would find solace at knowing these family pedigrees, since our soul demands of us to know them, so that [all of] mankind will be held in fondness by us, as a tree that has been planted by God in the earth, whose branches have spread out and dispersed eastward and westward, northward and southward, in the habitable part of the earth. It also has the dual function of allowing us to see the multitude as a single individual, and the single individual as a multitude. Along with this, man ought to contemplate also on the names of the countries and of the cities [wherein they settled]."Template:Sfn

Moses Maimonides, echoing the same sentiments, wrote that the genealogy of the nations contained in the Law has the unique function of establishing a principle of faith, how that, although from Adam to Moses there was no more than a span of two-thousand five hundred years, and the human race was already spread over all parts of the earth in different families and with different languages, they were still people having a common ancestor and place of beginning.Template:Sfn

Other Bible commentators observe that the Table of Nations is unique compared to other genealogies since it depicts a "broad network of cousins", with a "shallow chain of brotherly relationships". Meanwhile, the other genealogies focus on "narrow chains of father-son relationships".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Book of GenesisEdit

File:Noah (Grigoriants' coll.).jpg

Noah dividing the world between his sons. Anonymous painter; Russian Empire, 18th century.

Chapters 1–11 of the Book of Genesis are structured around five toledot statements ("these are the generations of..."), of which the "generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth" is the fourth. Events before the Genesis flood narrative, the central toledot, correspond to those after: the post-Flood world is a new creation corresponding to the Genesis creation narrative, and Noah had three sons who populated the world. The correspondences extend forward as well: there are 70 names in the Table, corresponding to the 70 Israelites who go down into Egypt at the end of Genesis and to the 70 elders of Israel who go up the mountain at Sinai to meet with God in Exodus. The symbolic force of these numbers is underscored by the way the names are frequently arranged in groups of seven, suggesting that the Table is a symbolic means of implying universal moral obligation.Template:Sfn The number 70 also parallels Canaanite mythology, where 70 represents the number of gods in the divine clan who are each assigned a subject people, and where the supreme god El and his consort, Asherah, has the title "Mother/Father of 70 gods", which, due to the coming of monotheism, had to be changed, but its symbolism lived on in the new religion.Template:Citation needed

The overall structure of the Table is:

1. Introductory formula, v.1
2. Japheth, vv.2–5
3. Ham, vv.6–20
4. Shem, vv.21–31
5. Concluding formula, v.32.Template:Sfn

The overall principle governing the assignment of various peoples within the Table is difficult to discern: it purports to describe all humankind, but in reality restricts itself to the Egyptian lands of the south, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and the Ionian Greeks, and in addition, the "sons of Noah" are not organized by geography, language family or ethnic groups within these regions.Template:Sfn The Table contains several difficulties: for example, the names Sheba and Havilah are listed twice, first as descendants of Cush the son of Ham (verse 7), and then as sons of Joktan, the great-grandsons of Shem, and while the Cushites are North African in verses 6–7 they are unrelated Mesopotamians in verses 10–14.Template:Sfn

The date of composition of Genesis 1–11 cannot be fixed with any precision, although it seems likely that an early brief nucleus was later expanded with extra data.Template:Sfn Portions of the Table itself 'may' derive from the 10th century BCE, while others reflect the 7th century BCE and priestly revisions in the 5th century BCE.Template:Sfn Its combination of world review, myth and genealogy corresponds to the work of the Greek historian Hecataeus of Miletus, active Template:Circa.Template:Sfn

Book of ChroniclesEdit

I Chronicles 1 includes a version of the Table of Nations from Genesis, but edited to make clearer that the intention is to establish the background for Israel. This is done by condensing various branches to focus on the story of Abraham and his offspring. Most notably, it omits Genesis 10:9–14, in which Nimrod, a son of Cush, is linked to various cities in Mesopotamia, thus removing from Cush any Mesopotamian connection. In addition, Nimrod does not appear in any of the numerous Mesopotamian King Lists.Template:Sfn

Book of JubileesEdit

File:Herodotus world map-en.svg

Ionian world map

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The Table of Nations is expanded upon in detail in chapters 8–9 of the Book of Jubilees, sometimes known as the "Lesser Genesis," a work from the early Second Temple period.Template:Sfn Jubilees is considered pseudepigraphical by most Christian and Jewish denominations but thought to have been held in regard by many of the Church Fathers.Template:Sfn Its division of the descendants throughout the world are thought to have been heavily influenced by the "Ionian world map" described in the Histories of Herodotus,Template:Sfn and the anomalous treatment of Canaan and Madai are thought to have been "propaganda for the territorial expansion of the Hasmonean state".Template:Sfn

Septuagint versionEdit

The Hebrew bible was translated into Greek in Alexandria at the request of Ptolemy II, who reigned over Egypt 285–246 BCE.Template:Sfn Its version of the Table of Nations is substantially the same as that in the Hebrew text, but with the following differences:

It lists Elisa as an extra son of Japheth, giving him eight instead of seven, while continuing to list him also as a son of Javan, as in the Masoretic text.
Whereas the Hebrew text lists Shelah as the son of Arpachshad in the line of Shem, the Septuagint has a Cainan as the son of Arpachshad and father of Shelah – the Book of Jubilees gives considerable scope to this figure. Cainan appears again at the end of the list of the sons of Shem.
Obal, Joktan's eighth son in the Masoretic text, does not appear.Template:Sfn

1 PeterEdit

In the First Epistle of Peter, 3:20, the author says that eight righteous persons were saved from the Great Flood, referring to the four named males, and their wives aboard Noah's Ark not enumerated elsewhere in the Bible.

Sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and JaphethEdit

File:The World as Peopled by the Descendants of Noah Shewing the Countries Possessed by Shem, Ham & Japhet and their posterity after the confusion of tongues..jpg

1823 map by Robert Wilkinson (see also 1797 version here). Prior to the mid-19th century, Shem was associated with all of Asia, Ham with all of Africa, and Japheth with all of Europe.

The Genesis flood narrative tells how Noah and his three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), together with their wives, were saved from the Deluge to repopulate the Earth.

Shem's descendants: Genesis chapter 10 verses 21–30 gives one list of descendants of Shem. In chapter 11 verses 10–26 a second list of descendants of Shem names Abraham and thus the Arabs and Israelites.Template:Sfn In the view of some 17th-century European scholars (e.g., John Webb), the Native American peoples of North and South America, Iranic peoples of eastern Persia, and "the Indias" descended from Shem,<ref name=mungello179>Template:Cite book</ref> possibly through his descendant Joktan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some modern creationists identify Shem as the progenitor of Y-chromosomal haplogroup IJ, and hence haplogroups I (common in Northern Europe) and J (common in the Middle East).<ref>http://aschmann.net/BibleChronology/Genesis10.pdf Template:Bare URL PDF</ref>

Ham's descendants: The forefather of Cush, Mizraim, and Phut, and of Canaan, whose lands include portions of Africa. The Aboriginal Australians and indigenous people of New Guinea have also been tied to Ham.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/154991623/Carey_Fraser_240117a.pdf Template:Bare URL PDF</ref> The etymology of his name is uncertain; some scholars have linked it to terms connected with divinity, but a divine or semi-divine status for Ham is unlikely.Template:Sfn

Japheth's descendants: His name is associated with the mythological Greek Titan Iapetus, and his sons include Javan, the Greek city-states of Ionia.Template:Sfn In Genesis 9:27 it forms a pun with the Hebrew root yph: "May God make room [the hiphil of the yph root] for Japheth, that he may live in Shem's tents and Canaan may be his slave."Template:Sfn

Based on an old Jewish tradition contained in the Aramaic Targum of pseudo-Jonathan ben Uzziel,<ref>Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (1974)</ref> an anecdotal reference to the Origines Gentium in Template:Bibleverse has been passed down, and which, in one form or another, has also been relayed by Josephus in his Antiquities,Template:Sfn repeated in the Talmud,<ref>Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah 1:9 [10a]; Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 10a</ref> and further elaborated by medieval Jewish scholars, such as in works written by Saadia Gaon,Template:Sfn Josippon,Template:Sfn and Don Isaac Abarbanel,Template:Sfn who, based on their own knowledge of the nations, showed their migratory patterns at the time of their compositions:

"The sons of Japheth are Gomer,<ref>According to Josephus, Gomer's descendants settled in Galatia. According to Sozomen; Philostorgius (1855), pp. 431–432, "Upper Galatia and the district lying around the Alps were later called Gallia, or Gaul by the Romans." Cf. Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 10a) where it associates Gomer with the land of Germania. According to 2nd-century author, Aretaeus of Cappadocia, the Celts were thought to be an offshoot of the Gauls.</ref> and Magog,<ref>His progeny were initially called by the Greeks "Scythians" (Herodotus, Book IV. 3–7; pp. 203–207), a people that originally inhabited those lands stretching between the Black and Aral Seas (S.E. Europe and Asia), although some of which people later went as far eastward as the Altai Mountains. Abarbanel (1960:173) alleges that Magog was also the progenitor of the Goths, a Germanic race. The Goths have a history of migration where they are known to have settled among other nations, such as among the inhabitants of Italy and of France and of Spain. See Isidore of Seville (1970:3). The Jerusalem Talmud, Leiden MS. (Megillah 1:9 [10a]) uses the word Getae to describe the descendants of Magog. According to Isidore of Seville (2006:197), the Dacians (the ancient people inhabiting Romania - formerly Thrace) were offshoots of the Goths.</ref> and Madai,<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1.), Madai's posterity inhabited the country of the Medes, the capital city of which, according to Herodotus, was Ecbatana.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book (Template:ISBN - British)</ref> and Javan,<ref>According to Josippon (1971:1), the descendants of Javan inhabited Macedonia. According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1.), from Javan were derived the Ionians and all the Grecians.</ref> and Tuval,<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1), the descendants of Tuval settled in the Iberian Peninsula. Abarbanel (1960:173), citing Josippon, concurs with this view, who adds that, besides Spain, some of his descendants had also settled in Pisa (of Italy), as well as in France along the River Seine, and in Britain. The Jerusalem Talmud (Megillah 10a), following the Aramaic Targum, ascribes the descendants of Tuval to the region of Bithynia. Alternatively, Josephus may have been referring to the Caucasian Iberians, the ancestors of modern Georgians.</ref> and Meshech<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1), Meshech was the father of the indigenous peoples of Cappadocia in Central Anatolia, Turkey, where they had built the city Mazaca. This view is followed by Abarbanel (1960:173), although he seemed to confound Cappadocia with another place by the same name in Greater Armenia, near the Euphrates River. R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 5) opined that the descendants of Meshech had also settled in Khorasan. The Jerusalem Talmud (Megillah 10a), following the Aramaic Targum, ascribes the descendants of Meshech to the region of Moesia.</ref> and Tiras,<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1) and the Jerusalem Talmud (Megillah 10a), the descendants of Tiras are said to have originally settled in the country of Thrace (Thracians). In the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 10a), one rabbi holds that some of his descendants settled in Persia, a view held also by R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32). According to Josippon (1971:1), Tiras was the ancestor of the Russian people (perhaps Kievan Rus'), as well as of those peoples who first settled in Bosnia, and in England (perhaps referring to the ancient Britons, the Picts, and the Scots – a Celtic race). This opinion seems to be followed by Abarbanel (1960:173) who wrote that Tiras was the ancestor of the Russian people and of the native peoples of England. As for the early Britons and Picts, according to The Saxon Chronicles, they were joined by the Angles and Jutes (Denmark) from the Old Saxons. The Jutes had established colonies in Kent and Wight, whilst the Angles had established colonies in Mercia and in all the Northumbria in about 449 CE.</ref> while the names of their diocese are Africa proper,Template:Efn and Germania,<ref>Historians and anthropologists note that the entire region east of the Rhine River was known by the Romans as Germania (Germany), or what is transcribed in some sources as Germani, Germanica. The region, though now settled by a multitude of mixed peoples, was resettled some 4,500 years ago (based on a study presented in 2013 by Professor Alan J. Cooper, from the Australian Center for Ancient DNA, and by fellow co-worker Dr. Wolfgang Haak, who carried out research on early Neolithic skeletons discovered during an excavation in Sweden, and published in the article, "Ancient Europeans Mysteriously Vanished 4,500 Years Ago"); being resettled by a group of peoples comprising the Germanic Tribes, which group is largely thought to include the Goths, whether Ostrogoths or Visigoths, the Vandals and the Franks, Burgundians, Alans, Langobards, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Suebi and Alamanni.</ref> and Media, and Macedonia, and Bithynia,<ref>According to Pausanias, in his Description of Greece (on Arcadia 8.9.7.), "the Bithynians are by descent Arcadians of Mantineia," that is to say, Grecians by origin; the descendants of Javan.</ref> and Moesia (var. Mysia) and Thrace. Now, the sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz,<ref>Considered by many to be the progenitor of the ancient Gauls (the people of Gallia, meaning, from Austria, France and Belgium, although this view is not conclusive. According to Saadia Gaon's Tafsir (a Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch), Ashkenaz was the progenitor of the Slavic peoples (Slovenes, etc.). According to Gedaliah ibn Jechia's seminal work, Shalshelet Ha-Kabbalah (p. 219), who cites in the name of Sefer Yuchasin, the descendants of Ashkenaz had also originally settled in what was then called Bohemia, which today is the present-day Czech Republic. This view is corroborated by native Czech historian and chronicler Dovid Solomon Ganz (1541–1613), author of a book published in Hebrew, entitled Tzemach Dovid (Part II, p. 71; 3rd edition pub. in Warsaw, 1878), who, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, writes that the Czech Republic was formerly called Bohemia (Latin: Boihaemum). Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1) simply writes for Ashkenaz that he was the progenitor of the people whom the Greeks call Rheginians, a people which Isidore of Seville (2006:193) identified with Sarmatians. Jonathan ben Uzziel, who rendered an Aramaic translation of the Book of Jeremiah in the early 1st-century CE, wrote that Ashkenaz in Jeremiah 51:27 is Hurmini (Jastrow: "probably a province of Armenia"), and Adiabene, suggesting that the descendants of Ashkenaz had also originally settled there.</ref> and Rifath<ref>R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32) in his translation of Genesis 10:3 thought Rifath to be the progenitor of the Franks, whom he called in Judeo-Arabic פרנגה. In contrast, Abarbanel (1960:173), like Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1), opined that the descendants of Rifath settled in Paphlagonia, a region corresponding with Cappadocia (Roman province) in Asia Minor. Abarbanel added that some of these people (from Paphlagonia) eventually made their way into Venice, in Italy, while others went to France and to Lesser Britain (Brittany) where they settled along the Loire river. According to Josippon (1971:1), Rifath was the ancestor of the indigenous peoples of Brittany. The author of the Midrash Rabba (on Genesis Rabba §37) takes a different view, alleging that the descendants of Rifath settled in Adiabene.</ref> and Togarmah,<ref>Togarmah is considered by medieval Jewish scholars as being the progenitor of the original Turks, of whom were the Phrygians, according to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1). According to R. Judah Halevi in his Kuzari, and according to the book Josippon (book I), Togarmah fathered ten sons, who were these: 1. Kuzar (Khazar; Cusar), actually the seventh son of Togarmah, and whose progeny became known as Khazars. In a letter written by King Joseph of the Khazar to Hasdai ibn Shaprut, he claimed that he and his people are descended from Japheth, through son Togarmah; 2. Pechineg (Pizenaci), the ancestor of a people that settled along the Danube River. Some Pechenegs had also settled along the river Atil (Volga), and likewise on the river Geïch (Ural), having common frontiers with the Khazars and the so-called Uzes; 3. Elikanos; 4. Bulgar, the ancestor of the early inhabitants of Bulgaria. Descendants of these people also settled along the lower courses of the Danube River, as well as in the region of Kazan, in Tatarstan; 5. Ranbina; 6. Turk, perhaps the ancestor of the Phrygians of Asia Minor (Turkey); 7. Buz; 8. Zavokh; 9. Ungar, the ancestor of the early inhabitants of Hungary. These also settled along the Danube River; 10. Dalmatia, the ancestors of the first inhabitants of Croatia. According to a redaction of the Georgian Chronicles made by Vakhtang VI of Kartli, Togarmah was also the ancestor of Kavkas (Caucas), who fathered the Chechen and Ingush peoples.</ref><ref>According to R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 9), some of Togarmah's descendants settled in Tadzhikistan in central Asia. Jonathan ben Uzziel, who rendered an Aramaic translation of the Book of Ezekiel in the early 1st-century CE, wrote that Togarmah in Ezekiel 27:14 is the province of Germamia (var. Germania), suggesting that his descendants had originally settled there. The same view is taken by the author of the Midrash Rabba (Genesis Rabba §37).</ref> while the names of their diocese are Asia,<ref>Asia, the sense being to Asia Minor. In the language employed by Israel's Sages, this place is always associated with the western part of Turkey, the largest city of which region during the period of Israel's sages being Ephesus, situated on the coast of Ionia, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, in west Turkey (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 14.10.11).</ref> and Parthia and the 'land of the barbarians.' The sons of Javan were Elisha,Template:Efn and Tarshish,Template:Efn Kitim<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.1), and R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32), Kitim was the father of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the isle of Cyprus. According to Josippon (1971:2), Kitim was also the forebear of the Romans who settled along the Tiber river, in the Campus Martius flood plain. Jonathan ben Uzziel, who rendered an Aramaic translation of the Book of Ezekiel in the early 1st-century CE, wrote that the Kitim in Ezekiel 27:6 is the province of Apulia, suggesting that his descendants had originally settled there.</ref> and Dodanim,<ref>According to R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 13), the descendants of Dodanim settled in Adana, a city in southern Turkey, on the Seyhan River. According to Josippon (1971:2), Dodanim was the forebear of the Croatians and the Slovenians, among other nations. Abarbanel (1960:173) held that the descendants of Dodanim settled the isle of Rhodes.</ref> while the names of their diocese are Elis,<ref>Now called Ilida (in southern Greece on the Peloponnese).</ref> and Tarsus, Achaia<ref>This place is distinguished by being the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.</ref> and Dardania." ---Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 10:2–5

"The sons of Ḥam are Kūš, and Miṣrayim,<ref>Misrayim was the progenitor of the indigenous Egyptians, from whom are descended the Copts. Misrayim's sons were Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (out of whom came Philistim), and Caphtorim.</ref> and Fūṭ (Phut),<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.2), and Abarbanel (1960:173), Fūṭ is the progenitor of the indigenous peoples of Libya. R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 15) writes in Judeo-Arabic that Fūṭ's name has been preserved as an eponym in the town called תפת, and which Yosef Qafih thought may have been the town תוות mentioned by Ibn Battuta, a town in the Sahara bounded by present-day Morocco.</ref> and Kenaʻan,<ref>The reference here is to Canaan, who became the father of eleven sons, the descendants of whom leaving the names of their fathers as eponyms in their respective places where they came to settle (e.g. Ṣīdon, Yəḇūsī, etc. See Descendants of Canaan). The children of Canaan had initially settled the regions south of the Taurus Mountains (Amanus) stretching as far as the border of Egypt. During the Israelite's conquest of Canaan under Joshua, some of the Canaanites were expelled and went into North Africa, settling initially in and around Carthage; on this account see Epiphanius (1935), p. 77 (75d - §79) and Midrash Rabba (Leviticus Rabba 17:6), where, in the latter case, Joshua is said to have written three letters to the Canaanites, requesting them to either take leave of the country, or make peace with Israel, or engage Israel in warfare. The Gergesites took leave of the country and were given a country as beautiful as their own in Africa propria. The Tosefta (Shabbat 7 [8]:25) mentions the country in respect to the Amorites who went there.</ref> while the names of their diocese are Arabia, and Egypt, and Elīḥerūq<ref>Not identified. Possibly a region in Libya. Jastrow has suggested that the place may have been an Egyptian eparchy or nomos, probably Heracleotes. The name also appears in Rav Yosef's Aramaic Targum of I Chronicles 1:8–ff.</ref> and Canaan. The sons of Kūš are Sebā<ref>Sebā is thought to have left his name to the town of Saba, which name, according to Josephus (Antiquities 2.10.2.), was later changed by Cambyses the Persian to Meroë, after the name of his own sister. Sebā's descendants are thought to have originally settled in Meroë, along the banks of the upper Nile River.</ref> and Ḥawīlah<ref>According to R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32), this man's descendants are said to have settled in Zawilah, a place explained by medieval traveler Benjamin of Tudela as being "the land of Gana (Fezzan south of Tripoli)," situated at a distance of a 62-day caravan-journey, going westward from Assuan in Egypt, and passing through the great desert called Sahara. See Adler (2014), p. 61). The Arab chronicler and geographer, Ibn Ḥaukal (travelled 943-969 CE), says of Zawilah that it is a place in the eastern part of the Maghreb, adding that "from Kairouan (Tunis) to Zawilah is a journey of one month." Abarbanel (1960:174), like Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.2.), explains this strip of country to be inhabited by the Gaetuli, and which place is described by Pliny in his Natural History as being between Libya and a stretch of desert as one travels southward. The 10th-century Karaite scholar, Yefet ben Ali (p. 114 - folio A), identified "the land of Havilah" in Genesis 2:11 with "the land of Zawilah," and which he says is a land "encompassed by the Pishon river," a river which he identified as the Nile River, based on an erroneous, medieval-Arab geographical perspective where the Niger River was thought to be an extension of the Nile River. See Ibn Khaldun (1958:118). In contrast, Yefet ben Ali identified the Gihon River of Genesis 2:13 with that of Amu Darya (al-Jiḥān / Jayhon of the Islamic texts), and which river encircled the entire Hindu Kush. Ben Ali's interpretation stands in direct contradiction to Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, where it assigns the "land of Havilah" (in Gen. 2:11) to the "land of India."</ref> and Savtah<ref>According to R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 18), Savtah was the forebear of the peoples who originally settled in Zagāwa, a place thought to be identical with Zaghāwa in the far-western regions of Sudan, and what is also called Wadai. According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.2.), the descendants of Savtah were called by the Grecians "Astaborans," a northeastern Sudanic people.</ref> and Raʻamah and Savteḫā,<ref>According to R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32), Savteḫā was the progenitor of the inhabitants of Demas, probably the ancient port city and harbour in Tunisia, mentioned by Pliny, now an extensive ruin along the Barbary Coast called Ras ed-Dimas, located ca. Template:Convert from the island of Lampedusa, and ca. Template:Convert southeast of Carthage.</ref> [while the sons of Raʻamah are Ševā and Dedan].<ref>Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.2.) calls the descendants of Dedan "a people of western Aethiopia" and which place "they founded as a colony" (Αἰθιοπικὸν ἔθνος τῶν ἑσπερίων οἰκίσας). R. Saadia Gaon (1984:32 - note 22), in contrast, thought that the children of Dedan came to settle in India.</ref> The names of their diocese are called Sīnīrae,Template:Efn and Hīndīqī,Template:Efn Samarae,Template:Efn Lūbae,<ref>Also known as Byzacium, or what is now called Tunisia.</ref> Zinğae,Template:Efn while the sons of MauretinosTemplate:Efn are [the inhabitants of] Zemarğad and [the inhabitants of] Mezağ."<ref>Mezağ is now El-Jadida in Morocco.</ref> ---Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 10:6–7

"The sons of Shem are Elam,<ref>According to R. Saadia Gaon (1984:33 - note 47), the descendants of Elam settled in Khuzestan (Elam), and which, according to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.) were "the ancestors of the ancient Persians."</ref> and Ashur,<ref>According to R. Saadia Gaon (1984:33 - note 48), Ashur was the progenitor of the Assyrian race, whose ancestral territory is around Mosul in northern Iraq, near the ancient city of Nineveh. The same view was held by Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.).</ref> and Arphaxad,<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), Arphaxad's descendants became known by the Greeks as Chaldeans (Chalybes), who inhabited the region known as Chaldea, in present-day Iraq.</ref> and Lud,<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), Lud was the forebear of the Lydians. The Asatir describes the descendants of two of the sons of Shem, viz. Laud (Ld) and Aram, as also having settled in a region of Afghanistan formerly known as Khorasan (Charassan), but known by the Arabic-speaking peoples of Afrikia (North Africa) as simply "the isle" (Arabic: Al-gezirah). (see: Moses Gaster (ed.), The Asatir: The Samaritan Book of the "Secrets of Moses", The Royal Asiatic Society: London 1927, p. 232)</ref> and Aram.<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), Aram was the progenitor of the Syrians, a people who originally settled along the Euphrates River and, later, all throughout the region of Syria. R. Saadia Gaon (1984:33 - note 49), dissenting, thought that Aram was the progenitor of the Armenian people.</ref> [And the children of Aram are these: Uz,<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), the descendants of Uz founded the cities of Trachonitis and Damascus. R. Saadia Gaon (1984:33 - note 50) possessed a tradition that Uz's descendants also settled the region in Syria known as Ghouta.</ref> and Hul,<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), the descendants of Hul (Ul) founded Armenia. Ishtori Haparchi (2007:88), dissenting, thought that Hul's descendants settled in the region known as Hulah, south of Damascus and north of Al-Sanamayn (Ba'al Maon).</ref> and Gether,<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), the descendants of Gether founded Bactria. Josephus is most-likely referring here to the Kushans (of the Pamirs mountain range), who, according to the Chinese historian and geographer Yu Huan (2004: section 5, note 13), had overrun Bactria and settled there in the late second-century BCE. Prior to this time, the region had been settled by rulers of Greek descent and heritage who had been there since Alexander's conquest Template:Circa. The Bactrians of Kushan descent are known in Chinese as Da Yuezhi. The old Bactria (Chinese: Daxia) is thought to have included northern Afghanistan, including Badakhshan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as far as the region of Termez in the west. Prior to the arrival of the Yuezhi in Bactria, they had lived in and around the area of Xinjiang (Western China) where the first known reference to the Yuezhi was made in Template:Circa by the Chinese Guan Zhong in his work Guanzi ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Guanzi Essays: 73: 78: 80: 81). He described the Yúshì {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (or Niúshì {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), as a people from the north-west who supplied jade to the Chinese from the nearby mountains (also known as Yushi) in Gansu (see: Iaroslav Lebedynsky, Les Saces, Template:ISBN, p. 59).</ref> and Mash.<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4.), the descendants of Mash settled the region known in classical antiquity as Charax Spasini.</ref>] Now, Arphaxad begat Shelah (Salah), and Shelah begat Eber.<ref>Whose posterity were known as the "Hebrews", after the name of their forebear.</ref> Unto Eber were born two sons, the one named Peleg,<ref>From Peleg's line descended the Israelites, the descendants of Esau, and the Arabian nations (Ishmaelites), among other peoples - all sub-nations.</ref> since in his days the [nations of the] earth were divided, while the name of his brother is Joktan.<ref>In the South Arabian tradition, he is today known by the name Qaḥṭān, the progenitor of the Sabaean-Himyarite tribes of South Arabia. See Saadia Gaon (1984:34) and Luzzatto, S.D. (1965:56).</ref> Joktan begat Almodad, who measured the earth with ropes;<ref>According to Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), Almodad's descendants settled along the "coastal plains," without naming the country.</ref> Sheleph, who drew out the waters of rivers;<ref>According to Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983), p. 74, Sheleph's descendants settled along the "coastal plains," without naming the country.</ref> and Hazarmaveth,<ref>Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), a place now called in southern Yemen by the name Ḥaḍramawt. Pliny, in his Natural History, mentions this place under the name Chatramotitae.</ref> and Jerah,<ref>Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74) calls the place inhabited by Jerah's descendants "Ibn Qamar" ("the son of Moon") – an inference to the word "Jerah" (Heb. ירח) which means "moon," and where he says are now the towns of Dhofar in Yemen, and Qalhāt in Oman, and al-Shiḥr (ash-Shiḥr).</ref> and Hadoram,Template:Sfn and Uzal,<ref>The old appellation given to the city of Sana'a in Yemen was Uzal. Uzal's descendants are thought to have settled there. See Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74); Luzzatto, S.D. (1965:56); and see Al-Hamdāni (1938:8, 21), where it was later known under its Arabic equivalent Azāl.</ref> and Diklah,<ref>According to Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), Diklah's posterity were said to have founded the city of Beihan.</ref> and Obal,<ref>A place which Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), calls in Judeo-Arabic אלאעבאל = al-iʻbāl.</ref> and Abimael,<ref>According to Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), Abimael's posterity inhabited the place called Al-Jawf.</ref> and Sheba,Template:Sfn Template:Efn and Ophir,Template:Efn and Havilah,<ref>Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74) calls the land settled by Havilah's posterity as being "a land inhabited in the east". Targum Pseudo-Jonathan ascribes the "land of Havilah" in Genesis 2:11 to the "land of India." Josephus (Antiquities 1.1.3.), writing on the same verse, says that "Havilah" is a place in India, traversed by the Ganges River.</ref> and Jobab,<ref>Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:74), calls the land settled by Jobab's posterity as being "a land inhabited in the east".</ref> all of whom are the sons of Joktan."<ref>According to Josephus (Antiquities 1.6.4. [1.147]), the posterity of Joktan settled all those regions "proceeding from the river Cophen (a tributary of the Indus), inhabiting parts of India (Ἰνδικῆς) and of the adjacent country Seria (Σηρίας)." Of this last country, Isidore of Seville (2006:194) wrote: "The Serians (i.e. Chinese, or East Asians generally), a nation situated in the far East, were allotted their name from their own city. They weave a kind of wool that comes from trees, hence this verse 'The Serians, unknown in person, but known for their cloth'."</ref> ---Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 10: 22–28


Noahic descendant (Gen. 10:2 – 10:29)	Proposed historical identifications
Gomer	Cimmerians<ref>Cambridge Ancient History Vol. II pt. 2, p. 425</ref><ref>Barry Cunliffe (ed.), The Oxford History of Prehistoric Europe (Oxford University Press, 1994), pp. 381–382.</ref>
Magog	Lydia (Mermnad dynasty)<ref>Daniel Block (2013), Beyond the River Chebar: Studies in Kingship and Eschatology in the Book of Ezekiel, p. 107.</ref>
Madai	Generally reckoned as the Medes,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn but other proposals include Matiene, Mannaea, and Mitanni.<ref>Emmet John Sweeny, Empire of Thebes, Or Ages in Chaos Revisited, 2006, p. 11.</ref>
Javan	Ionians<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Tubal	Tabal<ref name="MilgromBlock2012">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Payne2012">Template:Cite book</ref>
Tiras	Uncertain, proposals include Troy, Thrace and the Sea Peoples known as the Teresh.Template:Sfn<ref name="Josephus">Josephus, Flavius. The Antiquities of the Jews 1.6.1. Translated by William Whiston. Greek original.</ref>
Meshech	Muski<ref name="MilgromBlock2012"/>
Ashkenaz	Scythians Template:Sfn
Riphath	Uncertain, proposals include Paphlagonia, and the semihistorical Arimaspi.<ref name="Gill">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible, Genesis 10:3.</ref>
Togarmah	Tegarama<ref name="MilgromBlock2012"/>
Elishah	Uncertain, usually reckoned as Alashiya,<ref>The expansion of the Greek world, eighth to sixth centuries B.C., John Boardman, Volume 3 Cambridge Ancient History, Cambridge University Press, 1982, Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="Granerød2010">"Now, this Elishah is often identified with Alashiya in the scholarly literature, an ancient name often associated with Cyprus or a part of the island." Template:Cite book</ref> but other proposals include Magna Graecia, the Sicels,<ref>Template:Cite Jewish Encyclopedia</ref> the Aeolians<ref name="Josephus" /> and Carthage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tarshish	Tarshish, though its location has been debated for centuries and remains uncertain.
Kittim	Kition<ref name="Josephus" />
Dodanim	Uncertain, further complicated by its later attestation as Rodanim. Those assuming Dodanim represents the original form have proposed Dodona,<ref name = "Barnes">Barnes' Notes on the Bible Gen. 10:4</ref><ref name = "Clarke">Clarke's Commentary on the Bible Gen 10:4</ref> Dardania,<ref name = "Barnes"/> and Dardanus;<ref name = "Kitchen">Template:Cite book</ref> whereas those assuming Rodanim represents the original have almost universally proposed Rhodes.<ref name = "Gill"/><ref name = "Clarke"/>
Cush	Kush Template:Sfn
Mizraim	Egypt Template:Sfn
Put	Ancient Libya<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Canaan	Canaan Template:Sfn
Seba	Sabaeans (eastern Ethiopia)Template:Sfn
Havilah	Uncertain, probably Ḫawlan, a region in southern Arabia.Template:Sfn<ref name="Muller 1992">Müller, W. W. (1992). "Havilah (Place)." In the Anchor Bible Dictionary. Volume 3, p. 82.</ref>
Sabtah	Uncertain, possibly Šabwat Template:Sfn
Raamah	Uncertain, possibly Ragmatum, an ancient city in southwest Arabia.Template:Sfn
Sabtecha	Uncertain, possibly Shabakat, an ancient city in Hadhramaut.Template:Sfn
Sheba	Sabaʾ<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Dedan	Lihyan Template:Sfn
Nimrod	Uncertain, various proposals exist imagining Nimrod as an ethnic group, person, city, and deity.
Ludim	Lydia,Template:Sfn sometimes amended to read Lubim (Libya)Template:Sfn
Anamim	Uncertain
Lehabim	Uncertain, sometimes suggested to represent Libya.Template:Sfn
Naphtuhim	Uncertain, possibly Memphis, or Lower Egypt as a whole.Template:Sfn
Pathrusim	Pathros Template:Sfn
"the Casluhites"	Kasluḥet of Egypt, modern identification uncertain.<ref name="Sayce2009">Template:Cite book</ref>
"the Caphtorites"	Caphtor, modern identification uncertain, proposals include Cilicia, Cyprus, and Crete.<ref name="Strange">Strange, J. Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation (Leiden: Brill) 1980</ref>
Sidon	Sidon Template:Sfn
Heth	Biblical Hittites
"the Jebusites"	Jebusites, traditionally identified as an ethnic people dwelling in Jerusalem.Template:Sfn
"the Amorites"	Amorites Template:Sfn
"the Girgashites"	Possibly Karkisa.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
"the Hivites"	Hivites, traditionally identified as a Canaanite people dwelling in northern Israel.Template:Sfn
"the Arkites"	Arqa Template:Sfn
"the Sinites"	Siyannu Template:Sfn
"the Arvadites"	Arwad Template:Sfn
"the Zemarites"	Sumur Template:Sfn
"the Hamathites"	Hama Template:Sfn
Elam	Elam Template:Sfn
Ashur	Assyria Template:Sfn Template:Sfn
Arpachshad	Uncertain, possibly Chaldea Template:Sfn
Lud	Lydia Template:Sfn
Aram	Aram Template:Sfn
Uz	"Land of Uz", hypothesized locations include Aram and Edom.Template:Sfn
Hul	Uncertain, possibly Houla Template:Sfn
Gether	Uncertain, sometimes suggested to represent Geshur.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn
Mash	Uncertain, sometimes equated with Massa,Template:Sfn Meshech Template:Sfn or Maacah (Genesis 22:24).Template:Sfn
Selah	Uncertain
Eber	Hebrews Template:Sfn Template:Sfn
Peleg	Uncertain, possibly Palgu, a site at the junction of the Khabur and Euphrates rivers.Template:Sfn
Joktan	Uncertain, perhaps related to the Qahtanites.Template:Sfn
Almodad	Uncertain
Sheleph	A South Arabian tribe referred to by Arab geographers as as-Salif or as-Sulaf.Template:Sfn
Hazarmaveth	Hadhramaut Template:Sfn
Jerah	Uncertain, possibly related to the place name WRḪN mentioned in a Sabean inscription.Template:Sfn
Hadoram	Uncertain, possibly related to the place name DWRN mentioned in Sabean inscriptions.Template:Sfn
Uzal	Uncertain, probably related to the place name ʾAzal, designating two different sites in South Arabia.Template:Sfn
Diklah	Uncertain, probably related to the place name NḪL ḪRF, in the region of Sirwah.Template:Sfn
Obal	Uncertain, probably related to the tribe BNW ʿBLM ("sons of ʿAbil"), mentioned in Sabean inscriptions and probably settled in the Yemeni highlands.Template:Sfn
Abimael	Uncertain, it may be related to the tribe ʾBM ṮTR mentioned in Sabean inscriptions.Template:Sfn
Ophir	Uncertain, proposals include the Farasan Islands,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sumatra, Sri Lanka, Poovar,<ref>Ramaswami, Sastri, The Tamils and their culture, Annamalai University, 1967, pp.16</ref><ref>Gregory, James, Tamil lexicography, M. Niemeyer, 1991, pp.10</ref><ref>Fernandes, Edna, The last Jews of Kerala, Portobello, 2008, pp.98</ref> numerous locations in Africa, Mahd adh Dhahab,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Zafar.Template:Sfn
Jobab	Uncertain, probably related to the Sabaean tribe YHYBB (*Yuhaybab), mentioned in Old South Arabian inscriptions.Template:Sfn

Problems with identificationEdit

Because of the traditional grouping of people based on their alleged descent from the three major biblical progenitors (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) by the three Abrahamic religions, in former years there was an attempt to classify these family groups and to divide humankind into three races called Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid (originally named "Ethiopian"), terms which were introduced in the 1780s by members of the Göttingen school of history.<ref>D'Souza (1995), p. 124</ref> It is now recognized that determining precise descent-groups based strictly on patrilineal descent is problematic, as nations are not stationary. People are often multi-lingual and multi-ethnic, and people sometimes migrate from one country to another<ref>According to Eusebius' Onomasticon, after the Hivites were destroyed in Gaza, they were supplanted by people who came there from Cappadocia. See Notley, R.S., et al. (2005), p. 62</ref> - whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Some nations have intermingled with other nations and can no longer trace their paternal descent,<ref>According to an ancient Jewish teaching in Mishnah (Yadayim 4:4), Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came up and put all the nations in confusion. Therefore, Judah, a person who thought he was of Ammonite descent, was permitted to marry a daughter of Israel.</ref> or have assimilated and abandoned their mother's tongue for another language. In addition, phenotypes cannot always be used to determine one's ethnicity because of interracial marriages. A nation today is defined as "a large aggregate of people inhabiting a particular territory united by a common descent, history, culture, or language." The biblical line of descent is irrespective of language,<ref>A case study are the Bulgar tribes who, in the 7th-century, migrated to the lower courses of the rivers Danube, Dniester and Dniepr. Being influenced by the Goths, they at one time spoke a Germanic language, evidenced by the 4th-century translation of the Wulfila Bible by a small Gothic community in Nicopolis ad Istrum (a place in northern Bulgaria). Later, because of an influx of south Slavs in the region from the 6th century, they adopted a common language on the basis of Slavonic.</ref> place of nativity,<ref>A case in point is Bethuel the Aramean ("Syrian") in Gen. 25:20, who was called an "Aramean", not because he was descended from Aram, but because he lived in the country of the Aramaeans (Syrians). So explains Nethanel ben Isaiah (1983:121–122).</ref> or cultural influences, as all that is binding is one's patrilineal line of descent.<ref>Babylonian Talmud, Yebamot 62a, RASHI, s.v. חייס; ibid. Baba Bathra 109b. Cf. Maimonides, Mishne Torah (Hil. Nahalot 1:6).</ref> For these reasons, attempting to determine precise blood relation of any one group in today's Modern Age may prove futile. Sometimes people sharing a common patrilineal descent spoke two separate languages, whereas, at other times, a language spoken by a people of common descent may have been learnt and spoken by multiple other nations of different descent.

Another problem associated with determining precise descent-groups based strictly on patrilineal descent is the realization that, for some of the prototypical family groups, certain sub-groups have sprung forth, and are considered diverse from each other (such as Ismael, the progenitor of the Arab nations, and Isaac, the progenitor of the Israelite nation, although both family groups are derived from Shem's patrilineal line through Eber. The total number of other sub-groups, or splinter groups, each with its distinct language and culture is unknown.

Ethnological interpretationsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Further Template:MeyersLexikonEthnographicMap

Identifying geographically-defined groups of people in terms of their biblical lineage, based on the Generations of Noah, has been common since antiquity. By the end of the 19th century, the influential German encyclopaedia, Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, divided humanity into three major races called Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid, each comprising various sub-races. While the "Hamites" of northern Africa were seen as Caucasoid, "Australians", "Melanesians", and "Negritoes" were seen as Negroid sub-races, although living outside the African continent. The only sub-races attributed to Africa were the "African Negroes" and the "Hottentots".<ref>The German legend of the map shows the following names: Hamiten, Australier, Melanesier, Negritos, Afrikanische Neger, Hottentotten.</ref>

The early modern biblical division of the world's "races" into Semites, Hamites, and Japhetites was coined at the Göttingen school of history in the late 18th century, in parallel with the color terminology for race which divided mankind into five "colored" races ("Caucasian or White", "Mongolian or Yellow", "Aethiopian or Black", "American or Red", and "Malayan or Brown").

Extrabiblical sons of NoahEdit

There exist various traditions in post-biblical and talmudic sources claiming that Noah had children other than Shem, Ham, and Japheth who were born before the Deluge.

According to the Quran (Hud 42–43), Noah had another unnamed son who refused to come aboard the Ark, instead preferring to climb a mountain, where he drowned. Some later Islamic commentators give his name as either Yam or Kan'an.<ref>This was observed as early as 1734, in George Sale's Commentary on the Quran.</ref>

According to Irish mythology, as found in the Annals of the Four Masters and elsewhere, Noah had another son named Bith who was not allowed aboard the Ark, and who attempted to colonise Ireland with 54 persons, only to be wiped out in the Deluge.Template:Cn

Some 9th-century manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle assert that Sceafa was the fourth son of Noah, born aboard the Ark, from whom the House of Wessex traced their ancestry; in William of Malmesbury's version of this genealogy (Template:Circa), Sceaf is instead made a descendant of Strephius, the fourth son born aboard the Ark (Gesta Regnum Anglorum).Template:Cn

An early Arabic work known as Kitab al-Magall "Book of Rolls" (part of Clementine literature) mentions Bouniter, the fourth son of Noah, born after the flood, who allegedly invented astronomy and instructed Nimrod.<ref>Template:Cite book, page 54</ref> Variants of this story with often similar names for Noah's fourth son are also found in the c. fifth century Ge'ez work Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (Barvin), the c. sixth century Syriac book Cave of Treasures (Yonton), the seventh century Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius (Ionitus<ref>S.P. Brock notes that the earliest Greek texts of Pseudo-Methodius read Moneton, while the Syriac versions have Ionţon (Armenian Apocrypha, p. 117)</ref>), the Syriac Book of the Bee 1221 (Yônatôn), the Hebrew Chronicles of Jerahmeel, c. 12th–14th century (Jonithes), and throughout Armenian apocryphal literature, where he is usually referred to as Maniton; as well as in works by Petrus Comestor Template:Circa (Jonithus), Godfrey of Viterbo 1185 (Ihonitus), Michael the Syrian 1196 (Maniton), Abu al-Makarim Template:Circa (Abu Naiţur); Jacob van Maerlant Template:Circa (Jonitus), and Abraham Zacuto 1504 (Yoniko).

Martin of Opava (Template:Circa), later versions of the Mirabilia Urbis Romae, and the Chronica Boemorum of Giovanni de' Marignolli (1355) make Janus (the Roman deity) the fourth son of Noah, who moved to Italy, invented astrology, and instructed Nimrod.Template:Cn

According to the monk Annio da Viterbo (1498), the Hellenistic Babylonian writer Berossus had mentioned 30 children born to Noah after the Deluge, including Macrus, Iapetus Iunior (Iapetus the Younger), Prometheus Priscus (Prometheus the Elder), Tuyscon Gygas (Tuyscon the Giant), Crana, Cranus, Granaus, 17 Tytanes (Titans), Araxa Prisca (Araxa the Elder), Regina, Pandora Iunior (Pandora the Younger), Thetis, Oceanus, and Typhoeus. However, Annio's manuscript is widely regarded today as having been a forgery.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Historian William Whiston stated in his book A New Theory of the Earth that Noah, who is to be identified with Fuxi, migrated with his wife and children born after the deluge to China, and founded Chinese civilization.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>