The Armenian Lineage

THE DESCENDANTS OF JAPHETH
Genesis 10:2-5

        The descendants of Japheth, after the Tower of Babel, when God made man go out and populate the world migrated west and north. The sons of Japheth's sons are listed giving more detail than is found in the list of Ham's or Shem's sons. A study of names Japheth's sons and grandsons sheds some light on who are his descendants today.

Name of the Son	People Associated With the Name
Japheth	Greeks, Aryans of India
Gomer	People living in area of the Black Sea, Germany and Wales.
Magog	Reference to "Gog" referring to Georgia, a region near the Black Sea and Scythians.
Madai	Medes (Persia), Japheth through Madai father of peoples of India.
Javan	People of Greece and Cyprus.
Tubal	Russian, city of Tobolsk.
Meshech	Russian, (Name Muskovi) city of Moscow.
Tiras	Thracians, possibly the Etruscans of Italy.
Ashkenaz	Germany, Armenia, Scandinavia, Denmark, northern islands of Europe and European west coast.
Ripath	Generally Europe, Carpathians and Paphlagonians
Togarmah	Armenians, Germany and Turkey
Elishah	Greeks ("Hellas" is a form of word Elishah)
Tarshish	Spain, Carthage in North Africa
Kittim	Greeks, Cyprus, Macedonia
Dodanium	Greeks, Rhodes, Dardanelles

(The above information came from Henry M. Morris's book The Genesis Record, pages 247-249) 

The seven sons of Japheth

Genesis 10:1–2 reads:

‘Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras.

The first of Noah’s grandsons mentioned is Gomer. Ezekiel locates the early descendants of Gomer, along with Togarmah (a son of Gomer), in the north quarters (Ezekiel 38:6). In modern Turkey is an area which in New Testament times was called Galatia. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus records that the people who were called Galatians or Gauls in his day (c. AD 93) were previously called Gomerites.

They migrated westward to what are now called France and Spain. For many centuries France was called Gaul, after the descendants of Gomer. North-west Spain is called Galicia to this day.

Some of the Gomerites migrated further to what is now called Wales. The Welsh historian, Davis, records a traditional Welsh belief that the descendants of Gomer ‘landed on the Isle of Britain from France, about three hundred years after the flood’. He also records that the Welsh language is called Gomeraeg (after their ancestor Gomer).

Other members of their clan settled along the way, including in Armenia. The sons of Gomer were ‘Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah’ (Genesis 10:3). Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the Armenians traditionally claim to be descended from Togarmah and Ashkenaz.  Ancient Armenia encompassed the whole of Turkey as well as what is known as Armenia today. The name Turkey probably comes from Togarmah. Others of them migrated to Germany. Ashkenaz is the Hebrew word for Germany.

The next grandson mentioned is Magog. According to Ezekiel, Magog lived in the north parts (Ezekiel 38:15, 39:2). Josephus records that those whom he called Magogites, the Greeks called Scythians. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the ancient name for the region which now includes part of Romania and the Ukraine was Scythia.

The next grandson is Madai. Along with Shem’s son Elam, Madai is the ancestor of our modern-day Iranians. Josephus says that the descendants of Madai were called Medes by the Greeks. Every time the Medes are mentioned in the Old Testament, the word used is the Hebrew word Madai (maday). After the time of Cyrus, the Medes are always (with one exception) mentioned along with the Persians. They became one kingdom with one law—‘the law of the Medes and Persians’ (Daniel 6:8, 12, 15). Later they were simply called Persians. Since 1935 they have called their country Iran. The Medes also ‘settled India

The name of the next grandson, Javan, is the Hebrew word for Greece. Greece, Grecia, or Grecians appears five times in the Old Testament, and is always the Hebrew word Javan. Daniel refers to ‘the king of Grecia’ (Daniel 8:21), literally ‘the king of Javan’. Javan’s sons were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim (Genesis 10:4), all of whom have connections with the Greek people. The Elysians (an ancient Greek people) obviously received their name from Elishah. Tarshish or Tarsus was located in the region of Cilicia (modern Turkey).

Encyclopaedia Britannica says that Kittim is the biblical name for Cyprus. The people who initially settled around the area of Troy worshipped Jupiter under the name of Jupiter Dodonaeus, possibly a reference to the fourth son of Javan, with Jupiter a derivative of Japheth. His oracle was at Dodena. The Greeks worshipped this god but called him Zeus.

Next is Tubal. Ezekiel mentions him along with Gog and Meshech (Ezekiel 39:1). Tiglath-pileser I, king of Assyria in about 1100 BC, refers to the descendants of Tubal as the Tabali. Josephus recorded their name as the Thobelites, who were later known as Iberes.

‘Their land, in Josephus’ day, was called by the Romans Iberia, and covered what is now (the former Soviet State of) Georgia whose capital to this day bears the name Tubal as Tbilisi. From here, having crossed the Caucasus mountains, this people migrated due north-east, giving their tribal name to the river Tobol, and hence to the famous city of Tobolsk.’

 Meshech, the name of the next grandson, is the ancient name for Moscow. Moscow is both the capital of Russia, and the region that surrounds the city. To this day, one section, the Meshchera Lowland, still carries the name of Meshech, virtually unchanged by the ages.

According to Josephus, the descendants of grandson Tiras were called Thirasians. The Greeks changed their name to Thracians. Thrace reached from Macedonia on the south to the Danube River on the north to the Black Sea on the east. It took in much of what became Yugoslavia. World Book Encyclopaedia says: ‘The people of Thrace were savage Indo-Europeans, who liked warfare and looting.’ Tiras was worshipped by his descendants as Thuras, or Thor, the god of thunder.

Japheth.  Also Diphath.  Literal meanings are opened, enlarged, fair or light (father of the Caucasoid/Indo-Europoid, Indo-European, Indo-Germanic, or Indo-Aryan people groups - Japhethites).  

Japheth is the progenitor of seven sons:

 

     (1) Gomer "complete" (sons were Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah) - also Gamir, Gommer, Gomeri, Gomeria, Gomery, Goth, Guth, Gutar, Götar, Gadelas, Galic, Gallic, Galicia, Galica, Galatia, Gaulacia, Gael, Galatae, Galatoi, Gaul, Galls, Goar, Georgian, Celt, Celtae, Celticae, Kelt, Keltoi, Gimmer, Gimmerai, Gimirra, Gimirrai, Gimirraya, Kimmer, Kimmeroi, Kimirraa, Kumri, Umbri, Cimmer, Cimmeria, Cimbri, Cimbris, Crimea, Chomari, Cymric, Cymry, Cymru, Cymbry, Cumber (Cimmerians, Caledonians, Armenians, Phrygians, Turks, Picts, Milesians, Umbrians, Helvetians, Celts, Galatians, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Goths, Vandals, Scandinavians, Jutes, Teutons, Franks, Burgundians, Alemanni, Germans, Belgians, Dutch, Luxembourgers, Liechensteiners, Austrians, Swiss, Angles, Saxons, Britons, English, Cornish, Irish, Welsh, Scots, French, and other related groups);

 

     (2) Magog "land of Gog" (sons were Elichanaf, Lubal, Baath, Jobhath and Fathochta) - also Gog, Cog, Gogh, Gogue, Gogarene, Jagog, Yajuj, Majuj, Juz, Majuz, Agag, Magug, Magogae, Magogue, Ma-Gogue, Mugogh, Mat Gugi, Gugu, Gyges, Bedwig, Moghef, Magogian, Massagetae, Getae, Dacae, Sacae, Saka, Scyth, Skythe, Scythi, Scythii, Scythini, Scythia, Scythae, Sythia, Scythes, Skuthai, Skythai, Cathaia, Scythia, Skythia, Scynthia, Scynthius, Sythian, Skudra Sclaveni, Samartian, Sogdian, Slovon, Skodiai, Scotti, Skolot, Skoloti, Scoloti, Skolo-t, Skoth-ai, Skoth, Skyth, Skuthes, Skuth-a, Slavs, Ishkuzai, Askuza, Askuasa, Alani, Alans, Alanic, Ulan, Uhlan (Scythians, Scots); also Rasapu, Rashu, Rukhs, Rukhs-As, Rhos, Ros, Rosh, Rox, Roxolani, Rhoxolani, Ruskolan, Rosichi, Rhossi, Rusichi, Rus, Ruska, Rossiya, Rusian (Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Chechens, Dagestanis); also Mas-ar, Mas-gar, Masgar, Mazar, Madj, Madjar, Makr-on, Makar, Makaroi, Merkar, Magor, Magar, Magyar (Hungarians - also Huns, Hungar, Hunugur, Hurri, Gurri, Onogur, Ugor, Ungar, Uhor, Venger); Yugoslavians, Finns, Lapps, Estonians, Siberians, Voguls, Poles, Czechs, Croatians, Bosnians, Montenegrins, Mordvins, Serbians, Slovenians, Slovakians, Karelians, Komi-Zyrians, Udmurts, Izhorians, Livonians, Bulgarians, Avars, Tartars, Turks, Colchi, Armenians, Georgians and other related groups).

     (3) Madai "middle land" (sons were Achon, Zeelo, Chazoni and Lotalso) - also Mada, Amada, Madae, Madea, Manda, Maday, Media, Madaean, Mata, Matiene, Mitani, Mitanni, Minni, Megala (Medes, Aryans, Persians, Parsa, Parsees, Achaemenians, Manneans, Caspians, Kassites, Iranians, Achaemenians, Kurds, East Indians, Romani, Pathans, Hazaras), including the peoples of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Khazachstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan and Kyrgyzstan, and other related groups;

     (4) Javan "miry" (sons were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim) - also Jevanim, Iewanim, Iawan, Iawon, Iamanu, Iones, Ionians, Ellas, Ellines, El-li-ness, Hellas, Hellenes, Yavan, Yavanas, Yawan, Yuban, Yauna, Uinivu, Xuthus (Grecians, Greeks, Elysians, Spartans, Dorians, Tartessians, Britons, Aeolians, Achaeans, Myceneans, Macedonians, Albanians, Carthaginians, Cyprians, Cypriots, Cretans, Latins, Venetians, Sicanians, Italics, Romans, Valentians, Sicilians, Cilicians, Italians, Spaniards, Portugese, other related groups);

     (5) Tubal "brought" (sons were Ariphi, Kesed and Taari) - also Tabal, Tabali, Tubalu, Thobal, Thobel (Thobelites, Iberoi, Ibers, Iberians, Ivernians, Irish, Spanish, other related groups), Tbilisi, Tibarenoi, Tibareni, Tibar, Tibor, Sabir, Sapir, Sabarda, Subar, Subartu, Tobol, Tobolsk (Cossacks, Samoyeds, Siberians, other related groups);

     (6) Meshech "drawing out" (sons were Dedon, Zaron and Shebashnialso) - Me'shech, Mes'ek, Meshekh, Meshwesh, Meskhi, Meschera, Mushch, Muschki, Mushki, Mishi, Muski, Mushku, Musku, Muskeva, Muska, Muskaa, Muskai, Maskali, Machar, Maskouci, Mazakha, Mazaca, Mtskhetos, Modar-es, Moskhi, Moshkhi, Mosah, Mosher, Moshch, Moschis, Mosoch, Moschi, Moschian, Moshakian, Mo'skhoi, Moschoi, Mosochenu, Mosochean, Mossynes, Mosynoeci, Moskva, Moscovy, Moscow (Muscovites, Latvians, Lithuanians, Romanians, other related groups);

     (7) Tiras "desire" (sons were Benib, Gera, Lupirion and Gilak) - also Tiracian, Thracian, Thirasian, Thiras, Thuras, Tyritae, Thrasus, Thrace, Trausi, Tereus, Trecae, Troas, Tros, Troia, Troiae, Troyes, Troi, Troy, Troya, Trajan, Trojan, Taunrus, Tyras, Tyrsen, Tyrrhena, Illyrian, Ilion, Ilium, Rasenna, Tursha, Tusci, Tuscany, Etruria, Etruschi, Etruscan, Eturscan, Euskadi, Euskara (Basque), Erul, Herul, Heruli, Erilar, Vanir, Danir, Daner, Aesar, Aesir, Asir, Svear, Svea, Svie, Svioner, Svenonian, Urmane, Norge (Leleges, Carians, Pelasgians, Scandinavians, Varangians, Vikings, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Icelandics, Baltics, other related groups).

The Japhetic people are, in general, the peoples of India and Europe (Indo-European stock), with which any demographer is familiar.

 

¹  The whole Celtic race has been regarded as descended from Gomer, though history suggests modern Celts are descended from both Gomer and Magog.  Archaeologists and ethnologists agree that the first Indo-European group to spread across Europe were Celts.  The Irish Celts claim to be to the descendants of Magog, while the Welsh Celts claim to be to the descendants of Gomer.  Irish chronicles, genealogies, plus an extensive number of manuscripts which have survived from ancient times, reveal their roots.  The Irish were descendants of Scythians, also known as Magogians, which is strongly supported by etymological evidence.  Archaeological evidence shows that both the Celts (from Gomer) and Scythians (from Magog) freely shared and mingled cultures at their earliest stages.  Russian and eastern European excavations plainly reveal the blending of these two groups.  Their geographical locations (what is now eastern Europe, southern Russia and Asia Minor) were referred to by the Greeks under the name of Celto-Scythae, which was populated by the Celts to the south and west, and the Scythians to the north.  The ancient Greeks first called the northern peoples by the general name of Scythae; but when they became acquainted with the nations in the west, they began to call them by the different names of Celts, including the Celto-Scythae.  Celts and Scythians were considered essentially the same peoples, based on geography, though many independent tribes of Celts and Scythians existed.  The Latins called them "Galli," and the Romans referred to them as "Gauls," and considered them fiercely independent barbarians.  Later names used by Greeks were the Galatai or Galatae, Getae, Celtae and Keltoi.  In the third century before Christ (about 280 B.C.), the Gauls invaded Rome and were ultimately repelled into Greece, where they migrated into the north-central part of Asia Minor (Anatolia).  They conquered the indigenous peoples of that region and established their own independent kingdom.  The land became known as Galatia (Gaulatia).  The Apostle Paul wrote his famous epistle to their descendants, the Galatians.  Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote that the Galatians of his day (93 A.D.) were previously called Gomerites. Early Celtic tribes (from Gomer) settled much of the European theater, including present-day Spain, France, England and Germany, prior to contact with Scythians.  For many centuries France was called Gaul, after the Celtic descendants of Gomer, whom ceded the territory to Romans and Germanic/Teutonic Franks (whence France) in the 4th century A.D.  Northwest Spain is called Galicia to this day.  Some of the Gomerites migrated further to what is now called Wales.  The Welsh claim their ancestors "first landed on the Isle of Britain from France, about three hundred years after the flood."  The Celtic language survives intact today mainly in the two variants of Welsh and Irish/Scottish Gaelic.  The Welsh call their language Gomeraeg (after Gomer).  The Celts of today are descendants of Gomer, and of the blended tribes of Magog and Gomer. 

²  Present-day Germanic people groups are descendants of both Japheth and Shem, and there are several references from recent and ancient history.  Recent history records the descendants of Gomer migrated and settled in the region that is now northern Europe (Germany and Scandinavia).  These tribes became the Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Teutons and Burgundians, descendants of some of the first peoples to migrate to northern Europe from ancient times—the Askaeni.  The Askaeni were descendants of Ashkenaz, son of Gomer, son of Japheth.  When the Askaeni arrived in northern Europe, they named the land Ascania after themselves, which later translated Scandia, then Scandinavia.  Later in history, we find the Askaeni being referred to as Sakasenoi, which became Sachsen, and finally Saxon.  The Saxons played an large part in European and English history.  Ashkenaz has been one of the most well preserved names throughout European history.

Semitic peoples also migrated to central Europe (southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland).  These people were the descendants of Asshur, son of Shem, where early Germans originated.  Asshur is well known in history as the father of the Assyrians.  In the Aramaic language, "Aturaye" means Assyrian, and the land of the Assyrians is called "Atur," which became "Tyr" or "Teiw" by early Germanic peoples.  Later, the name linguistically changes to "Ziu."  Germans likely derived their identity and language from these ancestral names.  The earliest known name of the German language was called "Diutisc," which later becomes Dietsch, Deutsch or Deutsche (what Germans call themselves today).  Deutschland (land of the Deutsch) could be called "Asshurland."  The Romans referred to the Deutschen as Teutons or Teutones.  The Teutons were a tribe of Germans nearly wiped out by Romans in the second century B.C.

The term "German" comes from Latin (Roman) sources.  The Assyrians occupied a Mesopotamian city on the lower Tigris River called "Kir" and placed captive slaves there (also referenced in 2 Kings 16:9, Isaiah 22:5-6, Amos 1:5, 9:7).  The city was populated by the Assyrians for many years, and the inhabitants became known as "Kir-man."  The Assyrians (Kerman) were driven from their land shortly after their fall about 610 B.C.  They migrated into central Europe where they were called "German" or "Germanni," a general name used by the Romans to represent all Assyrian tribes.  The known Assyrian tribes were the Khatti (also, Chatti, Hatti and Hessian)—Chatti is still the Hebrew term for German, and Khatti was also used by the Romans to represent various Germanic tribes; the Akkadians (Latins called them Quadians); the Kassites (or Cossaei); and the Almani (or Halmani, Allemani was the Latin name).  Almani or Almain were historical terms for Germans living in southern Germany.  Without question, these Assyrian Germans assimilated with the previously established tribes of Askaeni (descendants of Gomer) and adopted their Indo-European language, becoming one people. 

³  One of the earliest references to Gog is thought to come from Assyrian inscriptions in the 9th century B.C. referencing "Mat Gugi," meaning "country of the Gugu."  Hesiod, considered the father of Greek didactic poetry and literature, identified Magog with the Scythians and southern Russia in the 7th century B.C., written prior the book of Ezekiel.  Hesiod likely derived this from the Colchi people (a Thracian tribe) where, in their ancient Chaldaic language, described the region of southern Russia as "Gog-chasan" or "Gog-hasan" (Arabic "Gog-i-hisn") meaning "fortress of Gog" or "Gog's fort."  There are scholars who also suggest that Gog and Magog, as a region, is where the name "Caucasus" originated.  Certain scholars speculate the name "Caucasus" was derived from "Gog-chasan" which the Greeks translated as Gogasus or Caucasus.  The Caucasus is generally considered the land between the Black and Caspian seas.

Greek historian Herodotus, whom historians call "the father of history," mentions in the 5th century B.C. a people living around the Caucasus mountains called "Gargarians."  Greek myth depicted the Gargarians as "Gorgons," which eventually became Gorgene or Gorgaene.  He also wrote extensively about the descendants of Magog by their Greek name, the Scythians, about 150 years after Ezekiel.  He wrote of "Royal Scythians" who ruled over all other Scythians of Scythia.  Herodotus describes them as living in the territory north of the Black Sea, and that they terrorized the southern steppes of Russia beginning in the 10th century B.C.  Numerous archaeological discoveries have confirmed Herodotus' reports in general, and his Scythian accounts in particular.  Flavius Josephus, Jewish and Roman historian, continued with that reference in the 1st century A.D. when he records that Magogians were called "Scythians" by the Greeks.  Philo, Greek and Jewish philosopher in the 1st century A.D., also identified Magog with southern Russia.

The Gargarians show up again in Greek history.  Strabo, early 1st century Greek historian, geographer and philosopher, famous for his 17-volume work Geographica which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known to his era, mentions "Gogarene" as a region in Iberia (present-day Armenia and Georgia).  Scholars agree Gogarene is one of the best preserved names from Gog, which belonged to the Caucasian Iberian kingdom (present-day Armenia and Georgia) up to the 2nd century B.C. Aelius Herodianus, Greek and Roman scholar of antiquity, called the region "Goerene" in the 2nd century A.D.  In the 5th century A.D., a viceroy in the region of old Armenia called himself Achoucha Gougarqtzi (Arshusha of Gogarene).  In the 6th century A.D., geographer Stephanus of Byzantium referred to the region as Gogarene, and in the 7th century the region was known as Gougarq.  Today it still exists as Gugark, a historical region in Armenia.  As noted earlier, commentators suggest Georgia also derived its name from Gogarene, and today the Turkish name for Georgia is Gurgistan.  In recent history, certain Georgians referred to themselves as "Gogi."  Interestingly, a peculiar Skythian people, who appear at the end of the 4th century A.D., called the Geougen (also Jou-jan, Jeu-jen, Juan-juan or Jwen-jwen), emerging as a powerful empire in the region of Tartary (Mongolia).  Scholars suggest they were a mixture of eastern Huns (Skythian) and Tungus (Manchu) peoples, who for a short time became a Central Asian group of historical importance.  The empire of the Geougen lasted from the end of the 4th century A.D. to the middle of the 6th century.

Magog's name is also preserved.  Albius Tibullus, Latin poet in the 1st century B.C., mentions a people living on the River Tanais (present-day River Don) called "Magini" or "Magotis", whom scholars say were from the colonies of Magog.  The Greeks called the area where the Magini lived along the Tanais, the "Maeotian marshes" where the river emptied into the Maeotian Lake (present day Sea of Azov).  The marshes served as a checkpoint to the westward migration of nomad peoples from the steppe of Central Asia.  The area was named after the Maitois or Maeotae people (as the Greeks and Latins called them) who lived around the Maeotian Lake or Sea.  Jerome (who translated the Latin Vulgate), an Illyrian Christian apologist of the late 4th and early 5th centuries, affirms "the Jews of this age understood by Magog the vast and innumerable nations of Scythia, about Mount Caucasus, and the Palus Maeotis (Latin for Maeotis Sea), and stretching along the Caspian Sea to India."  Scholars suggest that at the early stages Magogites assimilated with Skythians, thus making up a part of the early Scythian hordes.  In fact, wherever or whenever we see references to Gog and Magog in name or place, we also see the Skythians. Many of the mountains peaks in the Caucasian mountains and land areas there retained the place name "Gog" in medieval European and Armenian maps.  Scholars also regard Gog and Magog as the wild tribes of Central Asia, including the Scythians, Alans, Parthians, Turks, Tartars, Mongols, and Huns, who had been making incursions on various kingdoms and empires from very ancient times.  Russian traveller Jacob Reineggs, who visited the Caucasus five times in the 18th century, left many records of people groups he enountered.  He discovered in the central Caucasus a people called Thiulet, who lived amidst mountains called Ghef or Gogh.  The very highest of these mountains, lying to the north of their country, they knew by the name of Moghef or Mugogh.  These place names are Gog and Magog derivatives.

Some have mistakenly confused the term Mongol with Magog.  While the terms sound similar, Mongol was derived from a different source.  For hundreds of years the descendants of Magog arrived from the west and north from Siberia, settling in parts of northern China.  By by the 8th century A.D., we find the Chinese referring to these invading peoples as "Huangdou Shiwei" meaning "yellow (blonde) heads."  These Shiwei tribes were also called "Mengwu" or "Maoshou" which meant "hairy head or hairy face (bearded)" people.  The Mengwu/Maoshou tribes were the first to be called "Mongols", though they were not Mongoloid peoples of China.  The term would later apply to Mongolic peoples who migrated to the region and named it Mongolia. 

⁴  The Scythians are descended from Ashkenaz, son of Gomer, son of Japheth, and first appear in Assyrian records as "Askuza" or "Ishkuzai."  The Assyrians tell of the Askuza as being involved in a revolt and pouring in from the north some time around the beginning of the 7th century B.C., which is also mentioned in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 51:27).  The Askuza later became the Skythai (Scythians) of Herodotus.  According to scholars, ancient peoples known as the Sarmatians (not to be confused with the Samaritans) and Alans lived in the area around the Caspian Sea from about 900 B.C.  Sarmatian and Alani tribes were later called Scythians (Slavic peoples of today), who were also known as the Rukhs-As, Rashu, Rasapu, Rhossi, Rosh, Ros, and Rus.  There is no debate that they were the inhabitants of southern Russia, and the existence of the names of rivers, such as the "Ros," refer to Rus populations.  Much later, about 739 A.D., the word Rus appears again in eastern Europe, interestingly, from a different source.  Finnish peoples referred to Swedes as "Ruotsi," "Rotsi" or "Rus" in contrast with Slavic peoples, which was derived from the name of the Swedish maritime district in Uppland, "Roslagen," and its inhabitants, called "Rodskarlar."  Rodskarlar or Rothskarlar meant "rowers" or "seamen."  Those Swedish conquerors (called Varangians [Vikings] by the Slavs), settled in eastern Europe, adopted the names of local tribes, integrated with the Slavs, and eventually the word "Rusi," "Rhos" or "Rus" came to refer to the inhabitants.  Russia means "land of the Rus."  Scholars continue to debate the origin of the word Rus, which has derived from two sources:  the Ruotsi or Rhos, the Finnish names for the Swedes, and earlier from the Scythians known as Rashu or Rosh in southern Russia. 

⁵  The Aryans first come into historical view about a thousand years before Christ, invading India and threatening Babylonia.  Historians of old reference an Aryan chief called Cyaxeres, king of the Medes and Persians.  The Medes and Persians seem to have been tribes of one nation, more or less united under the rule of Cyaxeres.  Elam (son of Shem) is the ancient name for Persia.  Elamites are synonymous with Persians.  The Persians are thus descended from both Elam, the son of Shem, and from Madai, the son of Japheth.  The Medes and Persians had settled in what is now modern Persia, the Medes in the north, the Persians in the south.  The most notable Persians of today are the Iranians.  Interestingly, the word Iran is a derivative of Aryan.  The Medo-Persian people groups are divided into hundreds of clans, some sedentary and others nomadic.  All speak Indo-European languages, and some groups have pronounced Mongoloid physical characteristics and cultural traits, derived from Mongolian invasions and subsequent cultural integration.  An example today would be the Uzbeks of Uzbekistan, and remnant groups living in Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia. 

⁶  The history of Britain can be traced back to the sons of Japheth.  Historical evidence strongly suggests the first inhabitants of the British isles were the descendants of Javan (from his sons Elishah and Tarshish), and of Gomer and Magog.  Gomerites are today's modern Welsh.  Traditional Welsh belief is that the descendants of Gomer arrived about three hundred years after the flood, and the Welsh language was once called Gomeraeg.  The Welsh (Celts) are thought to have created Stonehenge.  Additionally, the descendants of Tarshish (Elishah's brother) appear to have settled on the British Isles in various migrations about the same time.  Genesis 10:4 refers to Tarshish as those of "the isles of the Gentiles."  The Phoenicians traded silver, iron, tin and lead with them (Ezekiel 27:7,12), and even mention the incredible stone monuments at Stonehenge.  Around 450 B.C., ancient historian Herodotus wrote about shipments of tin coming from the "Tin Isles" far to the north and west.  There is no question that the British isles, including the northern coast of Spain, were the seat of the tin trade.  King Solomon acquired precious metals from Tarshish (1 Kings 10:22).  English historians assert that British mines mainly supplied the glorious adornment of Solomon's Temple, and in those days the mines of southwestern Britain were the source of the world's supply of tin.

The name Briton originated from Brutus (a descendant of Elishah), the first king on Britain's mainland, arriving about 1100 B.C.  Two sons of Brutus, Kamber and Albanactus, are referenced in English prehistory.  From Kamber came Cambaria and the Cambrians (who integrated with the Gomerites [mostly Celts] and became the present-day Welsh).  The descendants of Albanactus were known as the Albans (or the Albanach whom the Irish commonly called them).  Geographers would later call the land Albion.  The Britons (also Brythons), Cambrians and Albans populated the British Isles, which later endured multiple invasions, beginning with successive waves of Celts about 700 B.C.  The Celts (or Gaels) called the land Prydain, their name for Briton.  Those Celts (descendants of Gomer) integrated with the descendants of Elishah and Tarshish (sons of Javan), creating what some scholars called "a Celticized aboriginal population" in the British Isles.  Some of the invading people groups were Scythians, descended from Magog, who became known as the Skoths or Scots.  The name for the Celts or Cymru was "Weahlas," from Anglo-Saxon origins, meaning "land of foreigners"—Wales.  The Welsh still call themselves Cymru, pronounced "Coomry."  Later the Romans referred to the land as Britannia, invading there about 50 years before the birth of Christ.  By the third century A.D., Jutes, Franks, Picts, Moors, Angles, Saxons and other groups were invading from surrounding Europe.  In the sixth century A.D., Saxons called the land Kemr (Cymru), and the language Brithenig (Breton).  The Angles eventually conquered Britannia, renaming the territory Angleland, which became England.  Vikings invaded in the 9th century, and the Normans (or Northmen—former Danish Vikings) conquered England in 1066.  Today, the British isles are settled by the ancestors of those people groups, which included Gomer and Javan (first inhabitants), plus Magog (later invasions by various people groups).

⁷  What of Romans and pre-Roman peoples?  Migrating nomadic peoples came from across the Alps and across the Adriatic Sea to the east of the Italian peninsula.  They were primarily herdsmen, and were technologically advanced.  They worked bronze, used horses, and had wheeled carts.  They were a war-like people and began to settle the mountainous areas of the Italian peninsula.  Historians called these people Italic, and they include several ethnic groups:  the Sabines, the Umbrians and the Latins, amongst others.  Rome was, in part, founded by these agrarian Italic peoples living south of the Tiber river.  They were a tribal people, and thus tribal organization dominated Roman society in both its early and late histories. The date of the founding of Rome is uncertain, but archaeologists estimate its founding to around 753 B.C., although it existed as a village or group of villages long before then.  As the Romans steadily developed their city, government and culture, they imitated the neighboring civilization to the north, the Etruscans (former Trojans).  Romans are sometimes referred to as "Etruscanized Latins."  Roman legend states that Aeneas, founder of the Roman race, was a prince of Troy who was forced to flee that city at the close of the Trojan war against Greece.  Rome's founder, Romulus, had a Latinized Etruscan name.  The Etruscans dominated central Italy, and had already founded many cities, having arrived some 500 years earlier after leaving the city of Troy around 1260 B.C.  The Etruscans were greatly influenced by the Greeks, and the Etruscans brought that influence to the city of Rome.  The Romans called Etruscans the Tusci, and Tuscany still bears the name.  The Etruscan language, once thought lost, is still spoken by the Basques, called Euskara.  The first two centuries of Rome's growth was dominated by the Etruscans.  The Romans were first a subject people of the Etruscans, but the Romans would later be their conquerors.  After many battles with the Etruscans, the city of Rome identified itself as Latin, eventually integrating the Estruscans and remaining peoples in the region.  Rome became a kingdom, then an empire.

⁸  The Irish were likely some of the first settlers of Great Britain.  The Irish derive their name from Tubal, son of Japheth.  Tubal's descendant's were called by various names, including Tabali (Tibarenoi in Greek), Tiberani (from the annals of the Assyrian Kings from which Iberian is derived), and Thobel from which the Thobelites came who were also called Iberes according to Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the 1st century AD.  Scholars note the Iberian and Ivernian peoples were a Mediterranean race from the east, possibly originating from the area of present-day Georgia.  Tabal, Tubal, Jabal and Jubal were ancient Georgian tribal designations.  The Iberians settled in what is now present-day Spain or Hispania, the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula.  The Ivernians settled in the British Isles, arriving by sea as early as the 5th century B.C.  Later invading Celts (called Goidels, later Gaels) encountered the tribes of Iverni (also Euerni), noting they were a small, dark-haired race, harsh-featured and long-headed.  Strabo's early 1st century work Geographia lists the Greek name of the isle as Iernh.  Ptolemy's 2nd century works describe the pre-Celtic tribes of Iverni as Eraind or Erainn who spoke a Proto-Celtic language known as Ivernic (Primitive Irish).  The Iverni were called Iouernoi by Greeks, also the Hiberni or Hibernians by Romans.  As their names transliterated through time, Iverni descendants would call themselves Everiu, and later Eire, from which the term Irish comes, and the land of Eire, or Ireland was derived. 

 

⁹  The Etruscans are controversial in history.  Their language, culture, and apparent departure from history are debated amongst scholars.  Descendants of Tiras, the Etruscans did not disappear entirely from history.  Their language and people, though a remnant, are the Basques of today.  Though the Basques mixed with local populations over the past few millennia, their language didn't die.  A number of scholars consider Euskara (Basque language) the closest living relative to ancient Etruscan.  Euskara is an isolate language, meaning it did not descend from an ancestor common to any other language family known today.  The original Etruscan language (from ancient Etruscans in northwestern Italy) is thought to be an extinct isolate language, and there is agreement that the current Euskara language was already present in Western Europe before the arrival of other Indo-European languages.  Another interesting connection is to Georgian (language of Georgians in southern Russia), each of which have linguistic commonalities, prompting scholars to hypothesize Euskara has a relationship to a lost Eurasian superfamily of languages.  This further supports the suggestion that Etruscans were originally Trojans.  After a succession of wars with the Greeks, around 1260 B.C. thousands of Trojans (speaking an ancient Thracian language) resettled abroad, which included Trojan warriors and families who sailed across the Black Sea to the Caucasus region in southern Russia, and also those who sailed to present-day northwest Italy.  Their descendants, the Basques, would eventually migrate into what is present-day southeast France and northeast Spain.

DNA (R1b Y-DNA haplogroup) findings also support a connection between Basques and peoples of Georgia.  As noted earlier, haplogroups (i.e., R1b) are used in DNA tests for markers that give a broad or regional picture; haplotypes are one person's results on various DNA tests.  Y-DNA is the theoretical most recent common male-lineage.  The greatest concentration of the R1b haplogroup maps found a heightened incidence in the Basque region of Spain and in the region east of the Black Sea in southern Russia (present-day Georgia).  Both DNA research and language commonalities provide a link to the history of the Basques, and thus the Etruscans.

 

¹⁰  Scandinavian predecessors have a unique history.  Scholars agree that Scandinavians (Danes, Norwegians, Swedes) came from early Germanic people groups, including the Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Teutons and Burgundians (descendants of Gomer).  Ashkenaz, son of Gomer, is ancestor of those Germanic peoples.  The descendants of Ashkenaz have many historical references.  Known as the Askaeni, they were some of the first peoples to migrate to northern Europe, naming the region Ascania (after themselves).  Latin writers and Greeks called the land Scandza or Scandia (now Scandinavia).  Roman records describe a large city on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea (about 350 A.D.) where a chain of mountains begins, and runs eastward along the shore and beyond it, forming a natural boundary.  Those mountains were called the Ascanimians, the region was called Sakasene (a form of Ashkenaz), and the dwellers of the city were the Saki.  The Saki tribes had been migrating north to Europe for some time.  The Saki called themselves the Sakasenoi, which we know as the Sachsens or Saxons.  Around 280 A.D. the Romans tell of the employment of Saxons to guard the eastern British coasts against barbarians.  About 565 A.D., the Saxons battled over territory in the Baltic region with another powerful people, the Svear.  Historical records indicate that descendants of Tiras also settled in Scandinavia, a people called the Svear.  The Svear are descendants of the first inhabitants of the ancient city of Troy, a people then known as the Tiracians (also Thracians, Trajans or Trojans).  They were described as a "ruddy and blue-eyed people."  The city of Troy was destroyed around 1260 B.C. after a succession of wars with the Greeks.  Thousands of Trojans resettled abroad, which included Trojan warriors who sailed across the Black Sea to the Caucasus region in southern Russia.  One of the most documented of Trojan settlements is along the mouth of the River Don on the Black Sea.  The locals (Scythians) named those Trojan settlers the "Aes," meaning "Iron" for their superior weaponry.  Later, the inner part of the Black Sea was named after them, called the "Iron Sea" or "Sea of Aesov" in the local tongue.  Today, the name continues as the "Sea of Azov."

The Aes or Aesir, traveled from the Caucasus region to the Baltic Sea in Scandinavia around 90 B.C., which is supported by scholars, modern archaeological evidence, and DNA.  A tribe that migrated with them were the Vanir.  The Aesir clans traded with local Germanic tribes, including the Gutar.  Romans called the Gutar "Goths," the Aesir "Svear"—Swedes, and the Vanir "Danir/Daner"—Danes.  The Svear and Daner populations were described specifically as taller and fairer (blonde) than other people groups in the Baltic region.  The Svear population flourished, and with the Goths they formed a powerful military alliance of well-known seafarers.  The Romans noted that Svear people together with the Goths were, from the 3rd century A.D., ravaging the Black Sea, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, using the same type of weapons as their Trojan ancestors.  The Svear and Goths dominated the Russian waterways, and by 739 A.D. together they were called Varyagans or Varangians (from the Swedish Vaeringar), according to written records of the Slavs near the Sea of Azov.  Like their ancestors, Scandinavians lived in large communities where their chieftains would send out maritime warriors to trade and plunder.  Those fierce warriors were called the Vaeringar, which literally meant "men who offer their service to another master."  We later know them by their popularized name, the Vikings.  Further evidence of Aesir (Asir) settlements in the Baltic region came from their Thracian language, which not only influenced, but is very close to the Baltic and Slavic (Balto-Slavic) languages of today.  By the 9th century A.D., the Svear state had emerged as the major power in Scandinavia.  The Svear, Daner and Goths, along with other Germanic tribes, settled in what is now present-day Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other parts of the Baltic region.  They were forefathers of the Scandinavians—the descendants of both Gomer and Tiras.  Y-DNA (the most recent common male-lineage) in Scandinavians was found to be grouped with the Basques mentioned above.

¹¹  Early history shows the Japhethites split into two groups.  One group settled in the region of present-day India and Central Asia, and the other group in the European theater.  Indo-European languages originate from those people groups who migrated throughout western Eurasia (Europe, the Near East, Anatolia, and the Caucasus).  Together they form what is known as the "Indo-European" family of nations.  Both of these divisions trace their ancestry back to Japheth.  For example, early Aryans knew him as Djapatischta (chief of the race), Greeks referred to Japheth as Iapetos or Japetos, East Indians called him Jyapeti or Pra-Japati, Romans used Ju-Pater or Jupiter, the Saxons perpetuated his name as Iafeth, subsequently transliterated as Sceaf (pronounced "sheef" or "shaif"—and recorded his name in their early genealogies as the son of Noah, the forebear of their various peoples), and the variant Seskef was used by early Scandinavians.  All of these peoples, we must remember, were pagans whose knowledge or even awareness of the book of Genesis had been lost, or was non-existent.
 

Endnote:  The information presented here is only an interpretation of historical research and Biblical data.  Certain assumptions may not be accurate, and new discoveries can change group references.  While many of the peoples and nations listed are easily identifiable, many remain obscure.  Numerous scholars have attempted to identify lost or unknown nations with varying degrees of success.  Much of the material is archaic, and there remains considerable ambiguity.  There are some who suggest problems within the Table of Nations when attempting to correlate specific people groups with modern comparative linguistics.  For example, we know Elamites descended from Shem, yet their language was not Semitic.  Canaanites descended from Ham, yet their language was Semitic.  These apparent conflicts are not conflicts at all.  Cultures from ancient times were constantly subject to foreign migrations and invasions.  Conquering powers often imposed their language and culture upon the defeated; this is what came to pass in Elamite and Canaanite civilizations.  There are many other examples in history.  The Israelites, who primarily spoke ancient Hebrew up until the Babylonian and Persian captivities, would eventually adopt Aramaic, the official language of the Persian Empire.  That resulted in the Jewish Talmud being written in Aramaic.  Aramaic was a language spoken by Jesus.  The famous Grecian conqueror, Alexander the Great, subdued Persia, and soon the Jews adopted Greek as a second language.  The result was the New Testament being written in Greek.

We are all directly related to either Shem and his wife, Ham and his wife, or Japheth and his wife.  History has long since confirmed abundantly this distribution of mankind, exactly as the Bible describes.  Every human being on earth today is your cousin, whether first, second or thousandth!  Nothing in the legendary or archaeological history of the ancient world denies the biblical account of the creation of the world, the entrance of sin and death, the judgment of Noah's flood, and the rise of the peoples from his descendants after their dispersal from Babel.  Furthermore, the historical dates used to determine the formation of people groups, nations or kingdoms does not in any way conflict with the Genesis account, but are well within the approximate dates for the creation of the world and mankind about 4000 B.C., the flood of Noah about 2350 B.C., and the dispersal from Babel around 2100 B.C.

 

This information is not intended to promote or reflect a particular theology, religious sect or genealogical group.  Don't dismiss the fact that with some of the Shemites, Hamites and Japhethites there would have been intermarriage and subsequent people groups.  For example, scholars note evidence that suggests the descendants of Lud (Shemites) migrated north and intermarried with the Greeks (descendants of Japheth), and were eventually absorbed in that culture.

 

The interaction of all three family contributions is the theme of history.  The remarkable thing is that they all can be substantiated to a degree, often unsuspected by students of history, up to the present time.  The descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth are evidenced, not only by Biblical history, but archeological, anthropological, biological, ethnographical, ethnological, etymological, geological and secular history.  The question is not one of levels of worth but of uniqueness of contribution, and though differences exist, not any one group is superior or inferior.