And now...a quick geocultural pitstop. After the flood and after Noah’s drunken incident, the sons of Noah departed and went in different directions. They obeyed God and his command to Noah and his descendants
“And you, be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it.” Genesis 9:7
The sons of Japheth had to have spread west because coastlands of the nations were separated everyone according to language, family and nation. Coastlands would indicate towards modern day Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Sea areas around Asia Minor/modern day Turkey.
The sons of Ham went east initially towards Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar from that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, and Resen (Mesopotamia) which is modern day Iraq near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Later generations (Canaanite clan) appear to have ended up, well, just about everywhere: Sidon (N. Israel), Gerar, Gaza (S. Israel), and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah (S. Dead Sea area), Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. According to the MacMillan Bible Atlas ultimately the descendants of Ham ended up in the sphere of influence around Egypt (Aharoni 15).
The sons of Shem went to the area of Mesha and Sephar, the hill country of the east or Mesopotamia and Arabia. It is obvious that these descendants were not complete separated. There are clear areas of overlap between Shem and ham in the Arabian and Mesopotamian areas. Ironically all of the divisions of these nations intersect at the region of the Holy Land (Aharoni 15).
Aharoni, Yohanan. "The Families Of The Nations In Their Lands." The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. Indianapolis: Macmillan USA, 1977. 15. Print.
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