Nations That Evolved From The Five Sons of Shem

NATIONS THAT EVOLVED FROM THE FIVE SONS OF SHEM

Olufolahan Olatoye Akintola

All rights reserved, except credited quotations of brief passages in criticism and research. No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author. All scriptural quotations from the King James Version of the Bible except otherwise stated (American Bible Society, New York).

Copyright © Olufolahan Akintola, 2010

ISBN: 979-8-3485-0231-7

INTRODUCTION

By comparing scriptural information with historical records, this book reveals how the present day nations of the world evolved from the families of the three sons of Noah that survived the antediluvian flood. These three sons of Noah that became the ancestors of the multiracial families of the earth were mentioned in the Scriptures as Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

‘And the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.’ (Genesis 9: 18, 19)

This edition focuses on the nations and multiracial families that evolved from the five sons of Shem, who was the first son of Noah. These five sons of Shem were mentioned in the scriptures by birthright as Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. ‘The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.’ (Genesis 10: 22)

In the chronological order of birthright, the name Shem comes first before the other sons of Noah just to signify his birthright as the firstborn.

‘…And Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth’(Genesis 5:32)

‘ Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.’ (1Chronicles 1:4)

In the introduction of the three sons of Noah that became the ancestors of the present day inhabitants on earth, it is worth emphasizing how Shem the first son of Noah was also mentioned as the father of all the children of Eber.

This special introduction of Eber was just to disclose how the most populous families on earth came out of Shem through Eber, who became the ancestor of the most populous nations of the world.

‘Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber….The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram…And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.’ (Genesis 10: 21-22, 24-25)

Mentioned above are the names of the five sons that were born directly to Shem after the antediluvian flood, which includes Arphaxad the grand father of Eber. The Chinese and Indians of East Asia are among the present day descendants of Eber through the lineage of his second son named Joktan, as we shall later unravel from the scriptures and historical records.

Today, Eber the great grandson of Shem through the lineage of Arphaxad is the ancestor of the most populous nations of the world. Peleg the first son of Eber became the ancestor of the Chaldeans in what is now Iraq. Other surviving nations that came out of the families of Eber through Peleg include the Hebrews and Arabian monarchies of southwest Asia, which we shall also consider in this edition.

Apart from the nations that evolved from Arphaxad the grandfather of Eber, there were many nations and kingdoms that also evolved from other sons of Shem, which included the nations formed by the Elamites, Assyrians, and the Arameans. Lud the fourth son of Shem also became the ancestor of many Turkic families of central Asia and Siberia such as the Turko-Mongols, Turks, and the Red Indians that wandered to the farthest Isles such as America.

Historically, these five sons of Shem originally dwelt in the Middle East until the families of his great grandson Joktan migrated beyond the northeastern boundaries of the Elamites in what is now Iran. From the mountain passes of Meshed in the northeastern regions of Iran that is close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan; these families of Joktan expanded eastwards to begin the Dravidian Indian and Indo-Chinese civilization in the direction of what is now known as the Himalayan mountain range (Mount Sephar).

‘And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.’ (Genesis 10:25-30)

This book reveals how the younger sons of Joktan began their civilization in the regions of Hindu-Kush Mountains of Afghanistan and the Indus valley of Pakistan that stretches into northwestern India. It also reveals how the older sons of Joktan migrated further eastwards into Asia established the Indo-Chinese civilization in the Far East.

As we shall soon unravel from both scriptural and historical records, the populous descendants of Eber through his second son Joktan include the Indo-Chinese and the Indians of East Asia; which currently constitute more than a third of the world’s population. As earlier mentioned, Eber the great grandson of Shem was introduced in the account of Genesis as a father of many children, who became the father of the most populous nations and multiracial families of the world.

‘Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber…’ (Genesis 10:21)

This book reveals the multiracial families and present-day nations that evolved from Shem the eldest among the three sons of Noah. It also exposes the inspired utterances concerning the earliest families of the five sons of Shem and the effects of these prophetic utterances on the present day situation of their descendants.

Let’s now begin to consider the nations that evolved from the families of each of the five sons of Shem beginning with Elam the first son of Shem.

CHAPTER ONE: ELAM THE FIRST SON OF

SHEM

Elam the first son of Shem was the forefather of the people known as the Elamites. After the antediluvian flood, the Elamites were among the first people to dwell east of the Tigris in the eastern boundary of the Sumerians in Mesopotamia when all the families of the earth began to spread abroad.

‘The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.’ (Genesis 10: 22)

Before 2000BC, the people known as the Elamites had been dwelling in the eastern parts of Mesopotamia, east of the River Tigris and north of the Persian Gulf. The ancient site of Elam covers the province of Khuzestan in what is now Iran and it was the earliest civilization in the region. Today, Khuzestan is the main source of Iran’s oil industry.

At the peak of the Elamites’ civilization, their ancient site once extended beyond the lowlands of Khuzestan because it was a combination of the lowlands and the immediate highland areas to the north and east. Thus, the ancient site of Elam included the hilly country, east of the River Tigris (Hiddekel) that was bordered by Assyria, the ancient land of Media on the north, Persia on the east and southeast; and the Persian Gulf on the south.

Let’s recall that the multiracial families of Joktan the great grandson of Arphaxad also migrated into East Asia to begin the Indian and Chinese civilization. The Dravidian families of Joktan’s younger sons were the first eastern neighbours of the Elamites and their ancient civilization had begun as early as 3000 BC in the valley of the Indus River, which shared some resemblance with the Elamites’ civilization.

These families of Joktan began a civilization in the northeastern boundaries of the Elamites in the borders of Afghanistan and Turkemenistan that extended eastwards into the Indus valley of Pakistan and northwestern India. Although scholars are yet to decipher the early scripts of the extinct language of the native Elamites but it is confirmed that these scripts have striking resemblance with the Indus scripts. We shall later discuss how the families of Joktan’s older sons later migrated further eastwards beyond the territories of their younger siblings in the Indus valley to continue the Indo-Chinese civilization in the Far East.

Historically, the Dravidian Indians of Joktan’s younger sons that were in the borders of Afghanistan and Indus valley were the nearest neighbors of the early Elamites until the Aryan families of the Medes began migrating into parts of present day Iran and Afghanistan.

By 2000 BC, the Elamites had already begun to exert their influence all over Mesopotamia. Susan or Shushan (Susa or Chusha) was the ancient capital of the Elamites, which was why the ancient Greeks sometimes referred to them as Susiana or Elymais. This Elamites’ capital of Shushan is now known as the city of Shush in present day Iran. Some ancient Elamite kings also derived their names or titles from Shushan such as Chushan-risha-thaim, who once reigned over Mesopotamia.

‘Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-risha-thaim king of Mesopotamia:’ (Judges 3:8)

Around 2000 BC, the Elamites once controlled the whole of Mesopotamia just as the scriptural context above also referred to the Elamite king Chushan-risha-thaim as king of Mesopotamia.

The word Mesopotamia means ‘the land between the rivers’ and the ancient Greeks used this name to describe the portion of land between between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which was the world’s earliest urban civilization.

Historical records reveal how the Elamites and some neighboring nations had formed a confederate that exerted a strong influence all over Mesopotamia as early as the days of Abram the ancestor of the Hebrew nation and Arabian monarchies. It was also recorded that another Elamite king named Chedorlaomer once led an Asian confederate of Mesopotamia in battle against the nations on the southwestern side of the Euphrates around the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) of the Jordan Plain. These Mesopotamian allies that were confederate with the king of Elam included Amraphel the king of Babylon that reigned from the land of Shinar in southern Mesopotamia; Arioch the Syrian king of the house of Eden that reigned from Elasar or T’ellasar in east central Mesopotamia (Amos 1:5; Isaiah 37:12); and Ti’dal (Tedal or Thadal) the king of nations of northern Mesopotamia.

‘And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar…Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.’ (Genesis 14: 1-2,4)

By controlling all the kingdoms of Mesopotamia as early as the days of Abram, the scripture above revealed how Chedorlaomer the king of Elam had taken control over all the nations of western Asia that were formerly under the yoke of the Sumerian king of Babylonia. With respect to above scriptural context, the independent city-states that were attacked by Cherdorlaomer the king of Elam were nations in the boundaries of southeastern Canaan, which included the city-states of Sodom, Gommorrah, Admah, and Zeboim. These victims of the Elamites in the southeastern boundary of Canaan were among the nations of Ham the second of Noah (Genesis10: 19-20). As confirmed above, Cherdorlaomer the king of Elam forced these vassal city states of the southeastern Canaan to pay tributes for twelve years till they rebelled against his rule in the thirteenth year.

As a result of this revolt from the five vassal states of the Elamite king in southeastern Canaan; four confederate kings led by Cherderlaomer the king of Elam came back in the fourteenth year to quell the rebellion in southern Palestine and to conquer more territories.

‘And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.’ (Genesis 14: 5-9).

During this renewed invasion spearheaded by the Elamite King against the revolt of the five vassal kings of the Jordan plains; Lot the nephew of Abram was captured along with some men of Sodom by the King of Elam and his allies.

‘And the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gommorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gommorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.’ (Genesis 14: 10-13)

The capture of Lot during the Elamites’ second invasion provoked Abram the Uncle of Lot, who dwelt in the neighbouring land of Canaan with the Amorites. In Abram’s mission to rescue his nephew from the Elamite king, the scriptures also reveal that some of the men that went with him came from the confederate of his Amorites’ neighbors. The names of these Amorite neighbors were recorded as men of Mamre, Eschol, and Aner (Genesis 14: 13-24). These Amorites joined the army of Abram and they successfully defeated the Elamite king Cherdaolamer and his Asian allies.

After the slaughter of Cherdalaomer by Abram’s army at the valley of Shaveh on west of Damascus, the Elamites continued to exist as a powerful nation in eastern Mesopotamia for many years.

Historical records reveal how the Elamites destroyed the Babylonian city of Ur around 2000BC. Besides, the scriptures also reveal how another Elamite king Chushan-risha-thaim later oppressed the nation of Abraham’s descendants around 1350 BC (Judges3: 8-10). The Elamites remained actively involved in the affairs of the Babylonians and politics of neighbouring Mesopotamia until they were crushed by the Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar I around 1120 BC.

THE FALL OF ELAM AND RISE OF THE MEDES

AND PERSIANS

Prior to the crushing defeat of the Elamites by the Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar I around 1120 BC, an ancient mountain race related to the Elamites had begun to migrate into the northern parts of Babylonia around 1700 BC. These Elamite neighbours in the eastern mountains of Mesopotamia were historically known as the Kassites, whose territory was the biblical Kir.

‘And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.’ (Isaiah 22:6)

After migrating into the northern parts of Babylonia around 1700 BC, the Kassites captured Babylonia around 1460BC and ruled the region but the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte I ended their rule around 1155BC. Thereafter, the Elamites ruled Babylonia for almost 350 years until the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar I (1125-1103BC) overthrew the dynasty of the Elamite kings around 1120 BC.

By 1000 BC, many bands of Indo-European nomads known as the Aryans had begun to migrate from southern Russia and western Asia into the land of Media in the northwest regions of the Iranian Plateau, near the Elamites territories. This ancient land of Media was named after Madai the third son of Japheth, who was the youngest son of Noah.

‘The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.’ (Genesis 10: 2)

Madai the father of the Medes derived his name from the word middle just as his Median homeland was a midpoint that separated the Indo Europeans of Western Asia from the Indians and Indo-Chinese civilization in East Asia.

As the forefather of the Medes, the name Madai means middle. Madai also implies a balanced measure in judgment just as the Medes were used as an instrument of judgment on Babylon.

‘TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.’ (Daniel 5:27, 28)

Media, the territory of Madai was the homeland of the Medes; which was an ancient region that roughly covered the northern parts of the Iranian Plateau in the country now known as Iran, and parts of present day Azerbaijan, Iranian Kurdistan, and western Tabaristan. Media was also bounded on the east by the great desert; on the south by Persia; on the west partly by Armenia and Assyria. Armenia formed its northwestern boundary while the land of the Assyrians in the northern parts of present day Iraq formed the southwestern boundary of the ancient land of Media. The Indo-Europeans known as the Medes were also the first Aryans to establish kingdoms in the mountainous regions of Iran and parts of Afghanistan before other Aryan bands from the families of Gomer began to migrate from regions of historical Armenia towards their neighboring relatives in the land of Media.

Many of these new Aryan bands settled in the regions of the Elamites in the southwestern parts of the Iranian plateau. These new Aryan relatives of the Medes were later called the Persians and they eventually took control of the neighboring Elamites’ territories, which also became known as Persia. In view of above, the Aryan relatives of the Medes that were called Persians originally began their civilization as an offshoot of the Medes before establishing the joint Aryan kingdom of the Medes and Persians in the provinces of Media and Elam (Isaiah 21: 2,9).

The rise of the Persians as an independent Aryan province of Media began with the Persian King Cyrus the Great around 550529BC.

Subsequently, Persia became the general name for the geographical regions that included Media and Elam and it was the old name of the country that is now known as Iran. The name Persia was derived from the word ‘Persis’ or ‘Parsa’, and it originally refer to the ancient region of southwest Iran between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The ancient Greeks later applied the name Persia in describing the inhabitants of the whole of the Iranian Plateau.

Interestingly, the Indo-European tribes that were called Persians by the Greeks initially called themselves ‘Aryans’ and their acquired territory was called the ‘land of the Aryans’. The IndoEuropean root word ‘Ar’ in Aryan means noble or superior, which suggests that the Aryans considered themselves superior to the indigenous Elamites and other people they met in what is now Iran.

Before Iran was adopted to replace Persia as the country’s new name in 1935, the early Aryans (Iranians) had long used the name to refer to themselves and their country. Till today, some people still refer to Iran as Persia, even though Persia originally refers to an Aryan province of Media that was formerly the land of the Elamites. Mentioned below are the three sons of Gomer, whose Indo European descendants include the Kurds, Armenians, and the Slavs that are still found in the regions of Eastern Europe such as the Russians.

‘And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.’ (Genesis 10:3)

As revealed above, Aschkenaz (Aschenaz), Riphath, and Togarmah were the Aryan families of the three sons of Gomer; who was the first son of Japheth; the youngest son of Noah. The three sons of Gomer mentioned above originally dwelt together in the ancient kingdoms of historical Armenia before migrating to different parts of Europe and Western Asia.

There is a southern district of historical Armenia named directly after Aschenaz the first son of Gomer. This southern kingdom of historical Armenia named Aschenaz was mentioned among the Aryan allies of the Medes that overthrew Babylon. The Armenians of today still speak a modern version of the historical Armenian language that is related to an Iranian dialect while their Kurdish relatives speak a western Iranian branch of the Indo-European language.

‘Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple…Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; Appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come as the rough cater pillars. Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.’ (Jeremiah 51:11, 27-28)

Aschenaz, Ararat, and Minni were mentioned above as southern kingdoms of historical Armenia that were the Aryan allies of the Medes. The kingdom of Ararat mentioned above was once a part of historical Armenia in the regions of Turkish-Armenia, near the place, Iran, Russia, and Turkey meet. Ararat (Urartu) was the nearest district of Armenia in the neighborhood of the Assyrians (Iraq) and it was also the ancient capital of historical Armenia (Isaiah 37:38). Historians refer to these early Armenians in the southernmost district of Ararat (Urartu) as the Hurrians. The Hurrians that remained in the southern districts of historical Armenia are the ancestors of the people now known as the Kurds. Although, Aschenaz, Minni, and Ararat were among the southern kingdoms of the sons of Gomer in historical Armenia that were mentioned among the chief allies of the Medes but Togarmah the third son of Gomer also had a name in the northern district of historical Armenia.

Most of these southern kingdoms of historical Armenia that were allies of the Medes have been absorbed into modern day Iran while the rest have been acquired as part of the land of the Turks. Today, the homeland of the historical Armenian people is partly shared between Iran, Russia, and eastern Turkey while the rest belongs to the modern day Armenian republic. However, the largest portion of historical Armenia now lies within the territory of present day Turkey, which covers most of the southwestern parts of historical Armenia while most of the southeastern part of historical Armenia is now a part of present day Iran.

According to tradition, the Armenians sometimes call their country Haisdan based on the claim that Haikh the son of Togarmah was their forefather. The territory of Togarmah in the northern district of historical Armenia was in the southern coast of the Black Sea but some of his Aryan families that became the ancestors of the Slavs lived around the northern shores of the Black Sea in the grassy plains of Eastern Europe and southern Russia. This explains the resemblance between the present day people of Russia and many native Armenians. In fact, the Scripture uses the phrase ‘the house of Togarmah of the north quarters’ to demarcate Togarmah’s descendants north of the Black Sea in southern Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe from the rest of his families that dwelt around the southern shores of the Black Sea in historical Armenia. ‘Gomer and all his bands, the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands; and many people with thee…’ (Ezekiel 38: 6)

In addition, the ancient Greeks gave the name Scythians to the early Aryan bands that became ancestors of the Slavs in Western Asia and Eastern Europe (Colossians 3:11). The people referred to as the Scythians were also known to have spoken an Iranian branch of the Indo-European tongue while they occupied the regions north of the Black Sea in places now known as Ukraine, Moldova, and eastern Russia.

Some of these Slavic families expanded westwards as far as northern