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OF THE GENERATIONS OF NOAH2.
The children of Shem. The people of Shem are twenty and seven families. Elam, from whom sprang the Elamites; Asshur, from whom sprang the Assyrians (Âthôrâyê); Arphaxar3, from whom sprang the Persians; and Lud (Lôd) and Aram, from whom sprang the Arameans, the Damascenes, and the Harranites. Now the father of all the children of Eber was Arphaxar. Shâlâh begat Eber (Abâr), and to Eber were born two sons; the name of the one of whom was Peleg (Pâlâg), because in his days the earth was divided. From this it is known that the Syriac language remained with Eber, because, when the languages were confounded and the earth was divided, he was born, and was called Peleg by the Syriac word which existed in his time. After Peleg, Joktân (Yaktân) was born, from whom sprang the thirteen nations who dwelt beside one another and kept the Syriac language. And their dwelling was from Menashshê (or Manshâ) of mount Sepharvaïm4, by the side of the land of Canaan, and towards the east, beginning at Aram and Damascus, and coming to Baishân [Maishân ?] and Elam, and their border (was) Assyria, and the east, and Persia to the south, and the Great Sea5. Now the Hebrew has Maishân instead of Menashshê (or Manshâ), in the verse, 'The children of Joktân dwelt from Maishân to Sepharvaïm6.'
The children of Ham. The people of Ham are thirty and six families, besides the Philistines and Cappadocians. Cush, from whom sprang the Cushites; Misraim, from whom sprang the Misrâyê (or Egyptians); Phut (or Pôt), from whom sprang the Pôtâyê; Canaan, from whom sprang the Canaanites; the seven kings whom Joshua the son of Nun destroyed1; the children of `Ôbâr2, Shebâ and Havîlâ, from whom sprang the Indians, the Amorites, the Samrâyê, the Metrâyê, and all the dwellers of the south. And of Cush was born Nimrod, who was the first king after the flood. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel (Babylon), which he built, and in which he reigned; and then, after the division of tongues, he built the following cities: Ârâch (Erech), which is Orhâi (Edessa), Âchâr (Accad), which is Nisîbis, and Calyâ (Calneh), which is Ctesiphon3. The land of Babel he called the land of Shinar4, because in it were the languages confounded5, for 'Shinar' in the Hebrew language is interpreted 'division.' From that land the Assyrian went forth and built Nineveh and the town of Rehôbôth, which is the town of Arbêl (Irbil). It is said that Belus, the son of Nimrod, was the first to depart from Babel and to come to Assyria; and after Belus, his son Ninus built Nineveh, and called it after his name, and Arbêl and Câlâh, which is Hetrê (Hatrâ)6, and Resen, which is Rêsh-`ainâ (Râs`ain). Misraim begat Ludim, from p. 38 whom sprang the Lôdâyê; La`bîm, from whom sprang the Lûbâyê; Lahbîm, from whom sprang the Tebtâyê; Yaphtuhîm, Pathrusîm, and Casluhîm, from whom went forth the Philistines, the Gedrâyê (Gadarenes), and the people of Sodom. Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, from whom sprang the Sôrâyê (Tyrians) and Sidonians, ten nations who dwelt by the side of Israel, from the sea (i.e. the Mediterranean) to the Euphrates; the Kîshâyê, the Kenrâyê (or Kîrâyê), and the Akdemônâyê (or Kadmônâyê), who were between the children of Esau and Amnâ of Ireth1. The children of Lot are children of Ham2.
The children of Japhet. The people of Japhet are fifteen families. Gomer, from whom sprang the Gêôthâyê (Gôthâyê, Goths ?); Magog, from whom sprang the Galatians; Mâdâi, from whom sprang the Medes; Javan, from whom sprang the Yaunâyê (Greeks); Tûbîl (Tubal), from whom sprang the Baithônâyê (Bithynians); Meshech, from whom sprang the Mûsâyê (Mysians); Tîras, from whom sprang the Tharnekâyê (or Thrêkâyê, Thracians), the Anshklâyê (or Asklâyê), and the Achshklâyê. The children of Gomer: Ashkenaz, from whom sprang the Armenians; Danphar, from whom sprang the Cappadocians; Togarmah, from whom sprang the Asâyê (Asians) and the Îsaurâyê (Isaurians). The sons of Javan: Elisha, that is Halles (Hellas); Tarshîsh, Cilicia, Cyprus, Kâthîm (Kittîm), Doranim3, and the Macedonians; and from these they were divided among the islands of the nations. These are the families of the children of Noah, and from them were the nations divided on the earth after the flood; they are seventy and two families, and according to the families, so are the languages.
1 In the Oxford MS. chap. xxiii.
3 So always, as in the Peshîttâ, for Arphaxad.
4 The Peshîttâ has 'and their dwelling was from Manshâ, which is at the entering in of mount Sepharvaïm in the east.'
5 Perhaps we might read, 'Assyria to the east, and Persia, and the Great Sea on the south.'
6 Gen. x. 30. In the Oxford MS. chap. xxiv begins here.
1 Perhaps Solomon means the 'five kings of the Amorites,' Josh. x. 5; or else he refers to the 'seven nations,' Deut. vii. 1.
2 According to Gen. x. 7, we should read Cush.
3 See Gen. x. 10. Solomon's ideas as to what is meant by Erech, Accad, and Calneh are, of course, utterly erroneous. Erech is the ruins of Warkâ, on the left bank of the lower Euphrates, S.E. of Babylon; Accad is a name for Upper Babylonia, as opposed to Sumir or Lower Babylonia; Calneh has not yet been identified. See also Schrader, The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, p. 78.
4 Some Assyriologists consider the biblical Shinar to be the same as Sumir or Lower Babylonia. See Lenormant, Études Accad. ii. 3, p. 70.
5 It is certain that the name Babel or Babylon has no connection with the Heb. כָּלַל {Hebrew: BâLaL} or כַּלְכֵּל {Hebrew: BaLaBeL}; in the cuneiform inscriptions bâb-ilu means 'Gate of God,' and is the Semitic equivalent of the Akkadian ka-dingirra-ki.
6 See Hoffmann, Auszüge aus syr. Akten pers. Märtyrer, pp. 184-186.
1 Or possibly, 'and the Amnê (Emim), whom he inherited.'
2 In the Oxford MS. chap. xxv begins here.
3 For Dodanîm or Rodanîm. See Gen. x. 4.