Also Sem. Literal
meanings are named or renown (father of the Semitic races -
Shemites). The sons of Shem were:
(1)Elam
"eternity" (sons were Shushan, Machul and Harmon) - (Elamites,
Persians);
(2) Asshur "a step" or "strong" (sons were Mirus and
Mokil) - (Assyrians/Northern Iraqis);
(3)Arphaxad "I shall fail" (sons were Shelach,
Anar and Ashcol) - (Chaldeans/Southern Iraqis,
Hebrews/Israelis/Jews1,
Arabians/Bedouins, Moabites/Jordanians/Palestinians, and related
groups);
(4)Lud "strife" (sons were Pethor and Bizayon) -
(Ludim, Lubim, Ludians, Ludu, Lydians, Chubs, other related
groups in Asia Minor and North Africa);
(5)Aram "exalted" (sons were Uz, Chul, Gather and
Mash) - (Aramaeans/Syrians, Lebanese, other related groups), and
remnant groups throughout Asia, the Middle East, and North
Africa.
1
Hebrews descended from Eber (Heber), a great-grandsons of Shem. Both
Sunnite Arabs and Jews are Semites and Hebrews. Six generations
after Heber, Abram (Abraham) was born, so Abraham was both a Hebrew
and a Semite, born of the line of Heber and Shem. Ishmael and Isaac
were born of Abraham. Sunnite Arabs (specifically Arabian Muslims)
consider themselves to be descendants of Ishmael, often calling
themselves Ishmaelites, and thus are both Semitic and Hebrews. Isaac
had twin sons named Esau and Jacob. Esau was firstborn, and thus had
the right to inheritance (as was custom), but instead sold his
birthright to Jacob during a time of hunger. Esau's name was changed
to Edom, and Jacob's name was changed to Israel.
The descendants of
Esau (Edom) became known as Edomites, and the descendants of Jacob
(Israel) became known as Israelites. Jacob fathered 12 sons which
became the twelve tribes of Israel. Those who interchange the words
"Jew" and Israelite, call Abraham a Jew, though Abraham was not an
Israelite or a Jew. The word "Jew" is not used in the Bible until
nearly 1,000 years after Abraham. One of Jacob's (Israel's) children
was Judah (Hebrew "Yehudah"). His descendants were called Yehudim ("Judahites").
In Greek the name is Ioudaioi ("Judeans"). Most all Bible
translations use the word "Jew," which is a modern, shortened form
of the word "Judahite." A "Jew" in the Old Testament would be a "Judahite;"
and a "Jew" in the New Testament would be a "Judean."
Ham
Also Kham.
Literal meanings are hot, burnt or dark (father of the
Mongoloid and Negroid races - Hamites).
He was the progenitor of:
(2) Cush "black" (sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabta,
Raama and Satecha) - also Chus, Kush, Kosh (Nubians, Ethiopians,
Sudanese, Ghanaians, Africans4,
Bushmen, Pygmies, Australian Aborignies, New Guineans, other
related groups);
(3) Mizraim "double straits" (sons were Lud, Anom,
Pathros, Chasloth and Chaphtor) - also Misraim, Mitzraim,
Mizraite, Mitsrayim (Egyptians, Copts);
(4) Phut "a bow" (sons were Gebul, Hadan, Benah and
Adan) - also Putaya, Putiya, Punt, Puta, Put, Libia, Libya
(Libyans, Cyrenacians, Tunisians, Berbers, Somalians, North
Africans, other related groups).
Tribes in other parts of Africa, Arabia and Asia, aboriginal
groups in Australia, native Pacific Islanders, American Indians
and Eskimos were birthed from descendants of Canaan, Cush,
Mizraim, and Phut.
1
Zidon (or Sidon)
and his descendants settled on the Mediterranean coast of
present-day Lebanon, then known as the land of Canaan. The Sidonians
called themselves Kena'ani, or Canaanites. Interestingly, the
Canaanites spoke a Semitic language, probably adopted from a large
migration of Semites who came from land and sea, and introduced
their language and a sophisticated maritime technology about 1800
B.C. Historians suggest the first Cannaanites succumbed to racial
and linguistic intermixture with the invading Semites, which led to
the loss of their own ethnic predominance, as evidenced by modern
excavations. They eventually moved westward and occupied a very
narrow coastal strip of the east Mediterranean, building new cities,
and establishing significant trade with neighboring nations. In
fact, the Israelite name for "Canaan" came to mean "traders", though
some suggest the name Canaan is from the Hebrew name Hurrian,
meaning "belonging to the land of red purple."
The Canaanites were known for their red and purple cloth (a purple
dye was extracted from murex snails found near the shores of
Palestine, a method now lost). The Greeks called the land of Canaan
"Phoenicia", which meant "purple". The Phoenicians became a nation
of great trade, language, and culture. Phoenician, Hebrew, and
Moabite were a group of west Semitic languages, all dialects from
Canaan, as referred to in Isaiah 19:18. The writing system of the
Phoenicians is the source of the writing systems of nearly all of
Europe, including Greek, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, and the Roman
alphabet. The Phoenician empire fell under Hellenistic rule after
being conquered by Alexander the Great about 332 B.C. In 64 B.C. the
name of Phoenicia disappeared entirely, becoming a part of the Roman
providence of Syria. At the beginning of the Christian era,
remaining Phoenicians were the first to accept the Christian faith
after the Jews. Zidon's name is still perpetuated in the modern-day
city of Sidon (Saidoon is the Phoenician name, Saida in Arabic) in
southern Lebanon.
2
Evidence for
diverse migrations into the Americas comes from research on living
American Indian populations, which includes data from Mitochondrial
DNA. These studies have consistently shown similarities between
American Indians and recent populations in Asia, Siberia and
northern Scandinavia. These groups include the Lapps in northern
Europe/Scandinavia, the Yukaghir in Siberia, plus Indians and
Eskimos/Aleuts throughout Canada and America. Ancient skeletal
remains show a range of physical attributes (round-headed)
suggesting separate migrations of different populations from Asia
and the South Pacific, representing 95 percent of all modern
American Indian populations. What of the other 5 percent?
There are exceptions. For example, the Siouan family of tribes
(Sioux Indians), the popular red-skinned tribes having a long-head
shape similar to that of early Italic peoples in Europe. They are
thought to be descendants of Canaanites who intermarried with
Indo-Europeans while migrating across Europe, and subsequently
sailing to America. Settling along the eastern shores of America,
and according to tradition, they populated the Carolinas, then
migrated to the regions of Mississippi, Missouri, and eventually
Minnesota and the Dakotas. Many of these tribes had fortified
villages similar to ancient Canaanites. Archaelogical evidence shows
they constructed towns and cities with pyramids and vast road
systems throughout the Mississippi Valley. Many groups migrated
southwest into Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and eventually Mexico,
establishing the powerful Aztec tribes with their beautiful
fortified cities. The Aztec's traditions and legends are largely
ignored by modern scholars as myths and fables.
The Aztecs,
according to their own legends, departed from a region in the north
called Chicomoztoc, a region that is today the areas of Texas,
Oklahoma and New Mexico. They reached the valley of Mexico in the
12th century A.D. Their language, Nahuatl, was linguistically
related to other native language groups throughout the U.S.
southwest and northern Mexico. Linguists note, for instance, the
Shoshoni language in the Utah-Nevada region was understood by all
the tribes from Mexico, without difficulty. Other related tribes
included the Paiute, Hopi, Pima, Yaqui/Apache, Tepehuan, Kiowas and
Mayos. Catholic missionaries in the 1850's established the fact that
all of those peoples were of one language family. While there are
other examples of language similarities, studies of the native
languages of the Americas have shown them to be extremely diverse,
representing nearly two hundred distinct families, some consisting
of a single isolated language.
3
The vast
aggregate of peoples who are generally classified as Mongoloid, who
settled the Far East, have been a question as to where they fall
into the Table of Nations. The evidence shows they are Hamitic, even
though some have incorrectly reasoned that the Chinese were of
Japhetic stock, and the Japanese were either Japhetic or Semitic.
There are two names which provide clues. Two of Canaan's sons, Heth
(Hittites) and Sin (Sinites), are presumed to be the progenitors of
Chinese and Mongoloid stock. The Hittites were known as the Hatti or
Chatti. In Egyptian monuments the Hittite peoples were depicted with
prominent noses, full lips, high check-bones, hairless faces,
varying skin color from brown to yellowish and reddish, straight
black hair and dark brown eyes.
The term Hittite in Cuneiform (the earliest form of writing invented
by the Sumerians) appears as Khittae* representing a once powerful
nation from the Far East known as the Khitai, and has been preserved
through the centuries in the more familiar term, Cathay. The Cathay
were Mongoloids, considered a part of early Chinese stock. There are
links between the known Hittites and Cathay, for example, their
modes of dress, their shoes with turned-up toes, their manner of
doing their hair in a pigtail, and so forth. Representations show
them to have possessed high cheekbones, and craniologists have
observed that they had common characteristics of Mongoloids.
*Khittae has, at times, been incorrectly associated with Kittim or
Chittim (Greek Kition, Roman Citium, Jewish Cethimus), son of Javan,
son of Japheth. Interestingly enough, Javan has been incorrectly
interpreted to mean Japan. History distinctly shows Javan to be the
ancestor of the Greeks and other related Mediterranean people
groups.
Sin (or Seni), a brother of Heth, has many occurrences in variant
forms in the Far East. There is one significant feature concerning
the likely mode of origin of Chinese civilization. The place most
closely associated by the Chinese themselves with the origin of
their civilization is the capital of Shensi, namely, Siang-fu
(Father Sin). Siang-fu appears in Assyrian records as Sianu. Today,
Siang-fu can be loosely translated, "Peace to the Western Capital of
China". The Chinese have a tradition that their first king, Fu-hi or
Fohi (Chinese Noah), made his appearance on the Mountains of Chin,
was surrounded by a rainbow after the world had been covered with
water, and sacraficed animals to God (corresponding to the Genesis
record). Sin himself was the third generation from Noah, a
circumstance which would provide the right time interval for the
formation of early Chinese culture.
Furthermore, those who came from the Far East to trade were called
Sinæ (Sin) by the Scythians. Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer, referred
to China as the land of Sinim or Sinæ. Reference to the Sinim in
Isaiah 49:12 notes they came "from afar," specifically not from the
north and not from the west. Arabs called China Sin, Chin, Mahachin,
Machin. The Sinæ were spoken of as a people in the remotest parts of
Asia. For the Sinæ, the most important town was Thinæ, a great
trading emporium in western China. The city Thinæ is now known as
Thsin or simply Tin, and it lies in the province of Shensi. Much of
China was ruled by the Sino-Khitan Empire (960-1126 A.D.), which
Beijing became the southern capital. The Sinæ became independent in
western China, their princes reigning there for some 650 years
before they finally gained dominion over the whole land.
In the third century B.C., the dynasty of Tsin became supreme. The
word Tsin itself came to have the meaning of purebred. This word was
assumed as a title by the Manchu Emperors and is believed to have
been changed into the form Tchina. From there the term was brought
into Europe as China, probably from the Ch'in or Qin dynasty
(255-206 B.C.). The Greek word for China is Kina (Latin is Sina). As
well, Chinese and surrouding languages are part of the Sino-Tibetan
language family. Years ago, American newspapers regularly carried
headlines with reference to the conflict between the Chinese and
Japanese in which the ancient name reappeared in its original form,
the Sino-Japanese war. Sinology refers to the study of Chinese
history.
With respect to the Cathay people of historical reference, it would
make sense to suppose that the remnants of the Hittites, after the
destruction of their empire, traveled towards the east and settled
among the Sinites who were relatives, contributing to their
civilization, and thus becoming the ancestors of the Asian people
groups. Still others migrated throughout the region and beyond,
making up present-day Mongoloid races in Asia and the Americas. The
evidence strongly suggests that Ham's grandsons, Heth
(Hittites/Cathay) and Sin (Sinites/China), are the ancestors of the
Mongoloid peoples.
4
There are
many native African tribes which trace themselves back traditionally
to Ham. The Yoruba, who are black skinned, for example, claim to be
descendants of Nimrod, son of Cush, whereas the Libyans, who are
much lighter skinned, are traced back to Phut. The Egyptians were
direct descendants of Mizraim. Ancient Egyptians have been
considered the greatest technicians in all human history. Other
African groups trace their roots back to Ham or one of his
descendants. It is therefore suggested that all of Africa, despite
the different shades of color of its native populations, was
initially settled by various members of this one Hamitic family.
The evidence appears to point consistently in the same direction,
supporting that not only Africa with its black races, but the Far
East, the Americas, and other Island nations with their colored
races were all descendants of Ham. The Hamitic people were the first
to reach the far and distant lands of the world, preparing the way
for the future. Their inventions and discoveries made a significant
impact on the world, and provided inspiration for the Japhethites.
Japheth
Also Diphath.
Literal meanings are opened, enlarged, fair or light (father of the
Caucasoid/Indo-Europoid, Indo-European,
Indo-Germanic, or Indo-Aryan races - Japhethites). Japheth is the progenitor of seven
sons:
The Japhetic people are, in general, the peoples of India and
Europe (Indo-European stock), with which any demographer is
familiar8.
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 the Galli, and the Romans referred to them as the Gauls. 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).
Known as fiercely independent peoples, they conquered the indigenous
peoples of that region and established their own independent
kingdom. The land became known as Galatia. The Apostle Paul wrote
his famous epistle to their descendants, the Galatians. Jewish
historian Flavius Josephus wrote that the Galatians or Gauls 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 big 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, and is where the name "German" originates.
Asshur is well known in history as the father of the Assyrians. 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). The city was populated by the Assyrians for many years,
and the inhabitants became known as "Kir-men". The Assyrian "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
Hatti, Hessians)—Chatti is still the Hebrew term for German, and
Khatti was often used by the Romans to represent Germanic tribes;
the Akkadians (Latins called them Quadians); the Kassites (or
Cossaei); and the Almani (or Halmani, Allemani was the Latin name).
Today, Germans refer to themselves as the "Deutschen", which is
derived from the Saxon word for an "Assyrian". Their country name is
Deutschland. The Romans referred to the Deutschen as Teutons.
Ancient Hindu literature uses both the word "Asgras" and "Daityas"
to refer to the Assyrians. "Daityas" is a Sanskrit word for
"Deutsch"—a name applied to the Assyrians over 1500 years before the
birth of Christ.
3
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 (Slavs of today), who were also known as the Rukhs-As,
Rashu, Rasapu, 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
conquerers (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 called the Rashu or Rosh in
southern Russia.
4
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.
5
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 Elisha
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 (Elisha's
brother) apprear 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 27:12), 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 Elisha), the
first king on Britain's mainland, arriving about 1100 B.C. Two sons
of Brutus, Kamber and Albanactus, are referenced in English
pre-history. 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, 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 Elisha 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).
6
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 the social logic of 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, the 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 first two
centuries of Rome's growth was dominated by the Etruscans. 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.
7
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 land
Ascania. 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 several
scholars and modern archaeological evidence. 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.
8
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 (procounced "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.
