SHEM

Here's what we learn from Genesis 10 about Shem:

Firstly, in Genesis 10:1, the names of Noah's sons are listed in the traditional order, i.e. from eldest to youngest: Shem, Ham and Japheth, but the listing of their descendants is reversed, as it begins with Japheth (10:2-5), then Ham (10:6-20) and finally Shem (10:21-31).

Shem begat Elam, Assur, Arpacshad, Lud and Aram. They settled in the East. The word “East” can refer to the Middle East, eastern Persia, India or eastern Asia.

Genesis 10:30 "And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east."

How on earth did medieval scholars and contemporary theologians manage to draw up the table of nations on the basis of these vague pieces of information?

It's obvious that biblical texts were composed in the light of the geographical knowledge of later eras. Yet it seems that when Christianity established itself within the Roman Empire, scholars failed to cover the planet in its entirety. Claiming to encompass the whole of humanity, they focused solely on Europe, Arabia and the Mesopotamian lands. But what about America, sub-Saharan Africa and Australia, where numerous empires like Olmec, Aztec, Inca, Maya and kingdoms like Kongo, Bantu, Igbo, Hausa, Ovambo, etc., existed and lived in their regions for thousands of years? From whom did the natives of these vast parts of the world really descended?

In the Ethiopian biblical canon, we find books such as the Book of Jasher, and the Book of Jubilees (known as “Little Genesis”), which were once held in esteem by many Church Fathers but now dismissed as apocryphal by most modern Christian groups. Yet it seems somewhat odd that these books, which recount in great detail the Flood and the division of the Earth among Noah's sons, were not entirely accepted by the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches, which, in spite of having quoted several biblical verses from these books, still opted to remove them from their canon.

But when we take a closer look at the division of the earth from the perspective of the Book of Jubilees, a different reality emerges.

Here is our analysis of what is written in the book of Jubilees about Shem and his descendants.

Division of SEM's lands according to the Book of Jubilees - Chapter 8:12-21

Verses 12-13

"There came out on the writing as Shem’s lot the middle of the earth that he should take as an inheritance for himself and for his sons for the generations of eternity. From the middle of the mountain range of Rafa, to the mouth of the water from the river Tina, and his portion goes towards the west through the middle of this river, and it extends until it reaches the water of the abysses, out of which this river goes out and pours its waters into the sea Me’at, and this river flows into the great sea. All that is towards the north is Japheth’s, and all that is towards the south belongs to Shem. And it extends until it reaches Karaso, this is in the center of the tongue of land that looks towards the south."

The Sea Meat and the Great Sea

The Great Sea is either the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean. The Mediterranean Sea is the only sea that draws a visible line between the North (the European continent) and the South (the African continent). Knowing that the Mediterranean Sea flows into the Atlantic Ocean, we can deduce that, in this context, the Great Sea refers to the Atlantic Ocean and the Sea Meat is the Mediterranean Sea. This would mean that Sem would have inherited the continent directly south of the Meat/Mediterranean Sea, i.e. Africa.

The middle of the Earth

Concerning the middle of the earth, when we consult ancient maps dating from the 14th to 16th centuries, we find a multitude of maps inscribed on parchment, with wind roses and crossed rhumb lines. These wind roses were the basic elements used for navigation. Yet they all feature a very large compass rose at the center of Africa, indicating that this is not only the center of the Earth, but also the throne of a high priest. See the video below.

Karaso and river Tina

Karaso is an intermittent stream in Northern Province, Rwanda
Tina is a stream in Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Interestingly, in Tabula X of his African maps in books 10 and 12, Livio Sanuto, the famous geographer to the king of the time, described the habits and customs of Africa and listed the names of all the populations of Ethiopia and Lower Ethiopia, referring to their territory as “Judaeorum Terra” in Latin, i.e. “the Land of the Jews”. The map was published posthumously by his brother Giulio in 1588.

This implies that Africans are the true Semitic peoples from the lineage of SHEM.

Livio Sanuto (1520-1576), son of Senator Francesco Sanuto of Venice, was a cosmographer, mathematician and maker of globes. He was a member of the Lafreri school of engravers, whose output marked the transition from Ptolemy's maps to those of Mercator and Ortelius. Livio and his brother Giulio designed a massive, comprehensive atlas featuring maps and descriptions of the entire world, which they believed to be more accurate than any previously published atlas. When Livio noticed that Africa was imperfectly described, he set to work on a book containing 12 large maps he had drawn himself and which were engraved by his brother. When compiling his African maps, Sanuto relied on Gastaldi's map of 1564 and Portuguese nautical charts for coastal mapping and inland information, using the accounts of Duarte Barbosa and João de Barros.

Verses 14-16

"His portion extends along the great sea, and it extends in a straight line until it reaches the west of the tongue that looks towards the south, for this sea is named the tongue of the Egyptian Sea. And it turns from here towards the south towards the mouth of the great sea on the shore of its waters, and it extends to the west to Afra, and it extends until it reaches the waters of the river Gihon*, and to the south of the waters of Gihon, to the banks of this river. It extends towards the east, until it reaches the Garden of Eden, to the south of it and from the east of the whole land of Eden and of the whole east, it turns to the east and proceeds until it reaches the east of the mountain named Rafa, and it descends to the bank of the mouth of the river Tina."

The tongue of the Egyptian Sea

Seems to designate either the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba or the Red Sea.

Afra

Afra has often been considered as another form of the toponym “Africa”.

The Gihon

In Genesis 2:13 it is written that the Gihon surrounds the land of Cush. According to ancient maps, the land of Cush encompassed central and southern Africa, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. - Genesis 2:13 "The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush."
In the Book of Jasher, it is written that the French River Loire flows into the Gihon, but in reality the Loire flows into the Atlantic Ocean "The children of Riphat are the Bartonîm (Bretons) who live in the land of Bartonia (Brittany) near the Ledah river (Lira or La Loire), which pours its waters into the great sea of Gehon, which is the Ocean." |The Book of Jasher, Chap 10:9|

Firstly, these passages suggest that Gihon is the Atlantic Ocean. They also suggest that Shem's portion of the land is bordered by the waters of Gihon (the Atlantic Ocean) and extends to the southeast of the land. So, in essence, this passage establishes that Shem would have inherited the African continent.

Verses 17-20

"This portion came out by lot for Shem and his sons, that they should possess it forever to his generations forever. Noah rejoiced that this portion came out for Shem and for his sons, and he remembered all that he had spoken with his mouth in prophecy; for he had said, “Blessed be Yah Elohim of Shem and may Yah dwell in the dwelling of Shem.” He knew that the Garden of Eden is the purest place, and the dwelling of Yah, and Mount Sinai the center of the desert, and Mount Zion which is the center of the navel of the earth, these three were created as pure places facing each other. And he blessed the Elohim of elohim, who had put the word of Yah into his mouth."

The Bible reveals that the biblical Mount Zion and the tribe of Judah are closely linked.

Psalm 78:68 "Il choisit la tribu de Juda, la montagne de Sion qu'il aime."

And yet the Bible associates Mount Zion with the descendants of Ham (the Africans) and specifies that it was in Zion that they were born.

Psalm 87:4 "Je proclame l'Égypte et Babylone parmi ceux qui me connaissent; Voici, le pays des Philistins, Tyr, avec l'Éthiopie: C'est dans Sion qu'ils sont nés."

It should be noted that Misraim represents Egypt, Nimrod (son of Cush) represents Babylon, Canaan represents the Philistines, Puth represents Tyre and Cush represents Ethiopia.

To find out more about Mont Sion, click on the link below.

Mount Zion

Verse 8: 21

"And he knew that a blessed portion and a blessing had come to Shem and his sons and to their generations forever which was the whole land of Eden and the whole land of the Red Sea, and the whole land of the east and India, and on the Red Sea and the mountains of it, and all the land of Bashan, and all the land of Lebanon and the islands of Kaftur, and all the mountains of Sanir and Amana, and the mountains of Asshur in the north, and all the land of Elam, Asshur, and Babel, and Susan and Ma’edai, and all the mountains of Ararat, and all the region beyond the sea, which is beyond the mountains of Asshur towards the north, a blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it is very good."

All these facts imply that Shem and his descendants would have inherited the African continent and all the eastern lands below the Mediterranean Sea, including the Middle East, eastern Persia, India and eastern Asia.

The case of Abraham

In Genesis 13:1, we read that Abraham (a descendant of Shem) journeyed from Egypt to the south. Some Bibles mention that he went to the Negev, i.e. northeast Arabia.

Genesis 13:1 "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south."

However, the Apocryphon of Genesis, another book classified as apocryphal, gives a detailed description of Abraham's journey. And the text suggests that he began his journey on the shores of the North Atlantic Ocean (west of North Africa), went eastwards and skirted the Mediterranean coast as far as Mount Taurus. It then skirted the shores of the Red Sea, and the junction of the Reed Sea (Gulf of Suez or Gulf of Aqaba), before continuing its route towards southern Africa before reaching the South Atlantic Ocean. While this may seem an impossible accomplishment, we have to bear in mind that just like the other patriarches of old, Abraham was also a human being of gigantic height.

Genesis Apocryphon: 1Q20

Thereafter God appeared to me in a vision of the night and told me, "Go up to Ramath-Hazor, which is on the north of Bethel where you now live, and lift up your eyes. Look to the east, west, south, and north. Survey all this land that I am about to give to you and your descendants forever.' So I went up the next day to Ramath-Hazor and surveyed the land from that height from the River of Egypt to Lebanon and Senir, and from the Mediterranean to the Hauran, and all the land of Gebal as far as Kadesh, and all the Great Desert to the east of the Hauran and Senir as far as the Euphrates. And He said to me,"I will give all this land to your descendants; they will inherit it forever. Moreover, I will multiply your descendants like the dust of the earth that none can count. Your descendants shall be numberless. Arise, walk about, go see how long and how wide it is, for I wilI give it to you and to your descendants after you, forever."

Then I went -- I, Abraham traveling in a circuit to survey the land. I began the circuit at the Gihon River, traveling along the Mediterranean until I reached the Mount of the Ox. I circled from the coast of this great saltwater sea, skirting the Mount of the Ox, and continued eastward through the breadth of the land until I came to the Euphrates River.I journeyed along the Euphrates until I reached the Red Sea in the east, whence I followed the coast of the Red Sea until I came to the tongue of the Reed Sea, jutting out from the Red Sea. From there I completed the circuit, moving southward to arrive at the Gihon River. Afterwards I returned home safely and found all my men well.

These are the kinds of discoveries that have led many biblical critics to suggest the possibility of textual corruption, or that something in human history has been altered or obscured.

You be the judge, and we encourage you to do your own research.