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Similarly, in Greek myth, Hellen, the son of Deucalion, the Greek Noah, and eponym of the Hellenes had three sons, named Dorus and Æolus, the ancestors of the Dorians and Æolians, and Xuthus, whose sons Achæus and Ion, were the progenitors of the Achæans and Ionians.
These genealogies, like the similar ones expressed in Greek myth and legend, should not be dismissed out of hand. For the times in which they were memorized and recited, they were presenting a structure for primitive efforts towards creating an ethnology that would express the degrees of alienness or relatedness the authors of such genealogies sensed among those neighboring peoples of whom they were aware.
Interesting comparisons may be made with the WelshFor alternate meanings, see Wales (disambiguation Wales ( Welsh: Cymru pronounced /"k@mrI/ SAMPA, km IPA, 'Kumree' approximate pronunciation) is one of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom (the other three being England, Scotland and Northern Ir folk genealogies that trace their king-lines back to Troy.
According to Genesis chapter 10, the present population of the world was decended from Noah's three sons. Broadly speaking, Japeth is the father of the European races, Shem is the father of the Semites, and Ham is the father of the Asiatic and Negroid peoples. The listed children of Ham, Shem, and Japeth correspond to various historic nations and people groups.
These genealogies cover many of the ancient peoples who lived in the eastern Mediterranean Basin, including the Aegean islands, North AfricaNorth Africa is the region of the continent of Africa north of the Sahara desert, comprising the Maghreb, including Libya and Egypt, and also by some definitions the Sudan. North Africa is vastly more uniform ethnically than anywhere in Africa south of th, AnatoliaAnatolia ( Greek ανατολη anatole for "rising of the sun" or "East"; compare " Orient" and " Levant", by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana "mother" and dolu "filled"), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, the Near EastThe Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing the Levant (modern Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Anatolia (modern Turkey), Mesopotamia ( Iraq, PersiaPersia is the historical name for the state of Iran. The name was used in the West due to the ancient Greek name for Iran, Persis''. Persia is used to describe the nation of Iran, its people, or its ancient empire. The name Persia comes from a province in, and the CaucasusThe Caucasus is a region in eastern Europe and western Asia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands. It is occasionally considered part of Central Asia. The highest peak is Elbrus (5642m), w. Nevertheless, while some of the eponymous ancestors of the peoples mentioned in these lists are easily identifiable (e.g. the grammatical plural Mizraim, which is identified with the people of Egypt is given the character of a single individual), the intended identities of others are subjects of dispute among scholars. In some instances, similar names reappear in different contexts, possibly reflecting different traditions among the Hebrew tribes or different people with the same name. For example, Noah himself is given conflicting descent, equally a "son" of Cain or a "son" of Seth. "Dodanim" (10:4) (another grammatical plural) is listed as a son of Javan (possibly identified with the Ionians) the son of Japheth, yet "Dodanim" is also the plural form of Dedan (Genesis 10:7), who appears as the son of Cush, who was the son of Ham. Similar replication of names occurs with Ashur, the legendary eponymous ancestor of the Assyrians, and the name also appears in the Ham narrative (10:11) and as a descendant of Shem (10:22). Also Aram the son of Shem is not to be confused with the Aramean descendants of Kemuel (22:21) line. It appears also that places were named for people, or shared names (e.g. Tarshish, or Tarsus), and personal names (e.g. Nimrod) also appear in the groupings.
The biblical grouping into three "families" of nations in a primitive form of ethnology, which was shared by the Greeks and other peoples of antiquity, is not followed by any of the modern methods of classifying ethnicities by common origins, language, or other cultural components. Rather, it seems to reflect the attitudes of the ancient Hebrew authors of the Bible toward their neighbors. Those with whom the authors felt the closest affinity were grouped as descendants of Shem, those with whom there was the deepest animosity were grouped as sons of Ham (whose son Canaan was cursed by Noah), and the foreigners who were invading their shores from across the sea (Yavan) or from the East (Medes) were identified with Japheth. This latter identification is corroborated by Genesis 9:27, "God shall enlarge Japheth (literally: 'beautify Japheth'), and he shall dwell in the house of Shem." In Hebrew, this verse uses a pun on the name Japheth, which comes from the Semitic root Y-Ph-T and means beauty: the verse is apparently a reference to the cultural innovations that these newcomers brought to the region.
Today scholars are practically unanimous that the genealogy reflects the ethnic groupings and changing socio-political alliances of the time and places of the oral traditions, perhaps re-edited at the time of the text's final composition in the 7th century BC, rather than any genuine history of human origins. A vocal minority of fundamentalists dissent from this view with the assertion that every word of Scripture is literally true.