The descendants of Shem are placed last in the list of the table of nations, not because their founder was the youngest, but because out of their lines one family is chosen as the especial theme of the history, which thus receives a fitting introduction. Shem was the founder of five great races, and of many subordinate tribes.
1. Elam everywhere is recognized as the name of a province east of the Tigris and north of the Persian Gulf, called by the Greeks Elymais. The name was often applied, in later times, to the whole of Persia, whose capital stood within its territory.
2. Asshur is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. It was located on the Tigris, having Nineveh as its capital, and its people at one time were rulers of all the lands westward to the Mediterranean.
3. Arphaxad, or Arpachshad (as in the margin of Gen. 11:10), has been supposed to be the ancestor of the Chaldeans, whose home was at the head of the Persian Gulf. The patriarch Abraham belonged to his race, and was born in "Ur of the Chaldees." Another of Arphaxad's descendants was Joktan, from whom arose thirteen tribes, named after Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba (the most important of all in after history, absorbing most of the rest), Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these occupied the southeastern and southern sections of the great Arabian peninsula. The fact that some of these names have already been mentioned in the Hamite genealogies may indicate that the two races became mingled.
4. Lud. This is believed by most scholars to refer to the Lydians, who dwelt on the southwestern border of Asia Minor, and under their king, Crœsus, became a powerful nation. Their history was short, as their empire was conquered by Cyrus the Great.
5. Aram. This is the word uniformly rendered Syria throughout the Bible. The Arameans, or Syrians, occupied the region between Canaan and Phœnicia, on the east, the Euphrates on the north, and the great desert on the west and south. Four branches of this race formed separate tribes. Uz, the race of the ancient Job, was settled in the middle of North Arabia, near Nejd. Hul and Gether are supposed (but with slight evidences) to have occupied the country near Lake Merom, where the Geshurites were afterward found. Mash, or, as called in 1 Chron. 1:17, Meshech, may have merged with the Meshech of the Japhetic line.
OUTLINE MAP FOR REVIEW.
OUTLINE FOR TEACHING.
1. The principal authorities for the map on [page 24], and its explanations, are: "Ethnic Affinities," by Canon George Rawlinson; E. H. Browne, in "The Speaker's Commentary"; J. G. Murphy's "Notes on Genesis"; Dillmann, "Commentary on Genesis"; and "The Races of the Old Testament," by A. H. Sayce. To these the student is referred for more thorough discussion of the subject.