After the Tower of Babel:  Which People Went Where?  The Bible Tells Us.  And Josephus Said He Knew Also!

 

 

 

 

 

A Bust of Josephus  (approx 37 AD? - 100 AD?)

 

     This article describes who Josephus was, speaks a little about his background, and shares how about 2,000 years ago he described specifically, father to son to son, etc., how it was - to his knowledge and learning - that many of the nations known to Rome had descended from Noah's sons.  His explanation did not conflict with the Bible, but added quite a lot of additional information.  You'll see an excerpt from his writing called 'The Antiquities of the Jews' where he offers his knowledge on this subject.  And after that is excerpted the Bible's 'Table of the Nations' for the reader to consider.  Josephus' writings were, for hundreds of years, second only to the Bible as the most read of writings.  He was VERY well respected, VERY widely read, but is now somewhat forgotten in our day.  That may be a great loss for our understanding of world history.  Last I knew you could go to most large bookstores or online and buy his translated writings.

 

  To begin, there was a most excellent (in my opinion) ancient Jewish historian named Joseph ben Matityahu who was renamed Titus Flavius Josephus by the Roman rulers of his time.  Vespasian and his son Titus (both would become Roman Emperors in their lifetimes) first waged war against him as Josephus tried to defend a strong walled city in Israel against the besieging military might of Rome.  He did not succeed, but his imaginative and determined defense strategies won their admiration.  Then they were going to execute him, but they feted him with a dinner first - a nod of respect to a defeated General.  At that dinner Josephus prophesied to Vespasian that God had very good news on its way for Vespasian.  Was Josephus stalling for time to save his life?  They must have wondered.  But they delayed Josephus' execution just in case...what if some mighty God was speaking through this man?  And it was good that they did delay.  Soon they were forced to conclude by the prophecy he uttered, a prophecy that a messenger from Rome would soon arrive to tell Vespasian that the Romans wished Vespasian as their Emperor, that Josephus had spoken for a God.  The prophecy came true, the Roman messenger did show up.  There was a wish for Vespasian to return to Rome to become the new Emperor. 

  Perhaps Josephus was a great favorite of some powerful God, this mysterious God that the Jews worshiped.  And so they thought it wiser not to execute him.  Why anger a powerful God? 

  And then later, as a sort of celebrity prisoner on the Roman front lines as they destroyed the cities of Israel and eventually decimated his people the Jews, they took Josephus back to Rome as a friend they had come to admire.  The Romans had destroyed Israel, and Josephus, in their 'friendly' custody, had watched it all with anguish. 

  He spent many of the later years in his life as a court regular and acquaintance of the leading Romans - including Emperors - of his time period.  The Jews and their mysterious God had become something of a fascination to the Romans during this time period.  Many stories about their heritage had been brought back from the war in Israel.  And so, while there at the Roman Imperial Court as a court favorite for quite a time he ended up writing, at the Romans' request, a history of the world and of history as the Jews understood it.  This is the writing that is excerpted from below, called 'the Antiquities of the Jews'.  

 Josephus lived about 2,000 years ago.  Accepted Bible chronology suggests Josephus lived about 2400 years after the Great Flood.  He felt, 2000 years ago as we sit today, that it was a very easy matter to explain where the sons and nearest descendants of Noah had gone.  Josephus felt he could accurately describe how the founding fathers of many of the great ancient Mediterranean nations of 2,000 years ago could trace their lineage back to Noah, though those very nations had, in many cases actually, lost track of, or had accepted corrupted versions of, their own history.

   His writing, 'the Antiquities of the Jews', also explained that Josephus thought he knew the specific lines of descent and their geographical migrations from Noah to the time of Josephus' own life.   Josephus was a well educated 1st century historian, a Jewish Levite by birth, meaning 'from the tribe of Levi'', and only that specific tribe could be priests to God in the Mosaic Covenant days - so his writings explained that he felt himself a qualified historian among many other things ( I say 'among other things' because this guy was extremely accomplished!) He did not feel that the origins of the peoples and nations of the Mediterranean world should be any great mystery.  He felt that from his academic learnings he could confidently walk the lineage of many if not most of the Mediterranean nations of his time back to one or another of the sons of Noah with quite a high degree of certainty.  In fact, he attributed most of the confusion about the origin of the nations, which was already a problem in his time, to the Greeks!  They were guilty of altering history and renaming peoples and places to flatter and be compatible with Greek notions of Greek greatness.  Josephus was the 2nd most widely read book after the Bible during some recent centuries.  The Willian Whiston translation is the only one I have read.  In that translation Josephus acknowledges that Jesus might have been the son of God.  There is also a tradition that in his old age he became Christian and even became an important Christian figure among the Jews who had become Christian.  I do not know that this is true, and odds are probably against it.  I'm not sure.  But Josephus' very life was saved by a miracle provided to him by God, so...?  

 

     So far as I can tell, Josephus is the real deal.  He is also famous for a writing called 'the Wars of the Jews' which describes, among other things, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  His description below concerning the spreading out of the descendants of Noah to the various places might be the best extra-Biblical sources on that subject that there is.  But, you decide:

   

 

CHAPTER 6.

HOW EVERY NATION WAS DENOMINATED FROM THEIR FIRST INHABITANTS.

1. Now they were the grandchildren of Noah, in honor of whom names were imposed on the nations by those that first seized upon them. Japhet, the son of Noah, had seven sons: they inhabited so, that, beginning at the mountains Taurus and Amanus, they proceeded along Asia, as far as the river Tansis, [also referred to as the Tanais I believe...now called the Don River.  It pours into the Sea of Azov at its East end, into a part of the Sea of Azov which looks sort of like the tip of a pointing finger.  Near that Sea, to the north of the Tanais/Don River was referred to as mostly Japhet's descendants' settlements and to the south mostly Shem's descendants' lands, in that particular area.  The Tanais River/Don River used to also be thought of as the divider between Europe and Asia during some ancient periods. Deeds of God author]

                                                           

 

To the upper right of the map above is the Sea of Azov that the Tansis or Don River pours into.  It is the thin blue-colored river off of the very east end of the Sea of Azov above the Black Sea.  You may need to scroll 'left' to see it.   

 

                                                  

                                  The Tansis (Tanais or presently the Don) River depicted where it flows into the Sea of Azov, which looks like a pointing hand in some ways.  This is initially a more Eastward edge of Japhet's descendants per Josephus.

 

                                                                                                                                                                            

 

                Cadiz is at the very south of Spain, almost touching Africa.  Think North side of the Strait of Gibralter.  This is generally identified by Josephus as the westward edge of the original spreading out of the descendants of Japhet.  They have spread much more since then!  All the descendants of all of Noah's sons and daughters have covered the face of the Earth!

 

and along Europe to Cadiz; [this Cadiz is in Spain on its Atlantic coast, and is considered one of Europe's oldest cities : Deeds of God author] and settling themselves on the lands which they light upon, which none had inhabited before, they called the nations by their own names. For Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians, [Galls,] but were then called Gomerites.

 

                                                                                                                           

[These are the same people as later migrated,in part, such that they became known as the same Gauls that dwelt in portions of France/Germany.  There is a short quote in a Wikipedia article about Galatia reporting that St. Jerome,  writing in the 4th century, mentioned that some of the Gauls in Rhineland, Germany spoke the same language as remaining Galatians in what is now Ankara, Turkey (Turkey's present capital city, in about the center of the map above.) which once was a chief town in Galatia, bringing credible evidence that the French Gauls and the Galatians of present day Turkey, the Galatians of the Bible, were of the same people-stock and therefore both sons and daughters of Japheth.  And (Julius Caesar 100 BC to 44 BC) spoke of fighting the Gauls in the area of France/Germany in Europe during what is referred to as his Gallic Campaigns.  So the Galatians/Gauls , descendants of Japheth through Gomer, must have been living as a geographically divided people even then.: Deeds of God author] 

 

 

Vercingatorix, a famous war leader of the European Gauls.  Gauls were described as often pale and tall with blue eyes and commonly red hair. But it is hard to find pictures of modern Gallic people of descent that is known for certain to be nearly pure Gallic.  Who can help find such photos?  812-564-9421 USA

 

 

Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians. [Scythians were a horse riding warrior type people, feared and respected.  They are closely associated with Cimmerians by some experts.  A young Scythian warrior prospect needed to ride swiftly beside a lake or waterway and show that he could down waterfowl from the sky with his arrows as he rode.  Today the Ossetes people are held to be from the original Scythians, Deeds of God author] 

 

 

 

Two photos of certain Ossetes people.  Ossetes are believed to be some of the last intact modern day Scythian peoples, sons and daughters of Magog, of Japheth, son of Noah, who live in the Caucasus Mountains region in the nation of Georgia's vicinity.

 

 

 

     Now as to Javan and Madai, the sons of Japhet; from Madai came the Madeans, who are called Medes, by the Greeks;

 

 

A picture of some Kurdish people at what looks to be a wedding.  Many scholars think today's Kurds are the descendants of the Medes (descendants of Madai.)  So Noah to Japheth to Madai to eventually the Kurds?  Maybe future genetic technology can teach us the truth about it.   Maybe someone already knows? It would be around 175 25-year generations from today to Noah.  Many bloodlines could have been blended in with the actual descendants of Madai if the premise is even right in the first place.  That's true of every people spoken of in this article!  This article is trying to provide good information though!

  

 

but from Javan, Ionia, and all the Grecians, are derived. [It is said in ancient Greek history that the sons of a man named 'Hellen' were the founders of the 4 great foundational tribes of the earliest Greeks.  Some believe Ion, Hellen, and Javan are three names for the same ancestral man.  It could be noted that the word 'Javan' and the word 'Hellen' share similarities, especially if you pronounce the 'J' in Javan as an 'h' sound, such as the Spanish language and certain others do.  Could these 3 names refer to the same person?  Ion was sometimes referred to as a Son of Apollo according to some things you will read.  Deeds of God author] 

 

 

 

 

Statues of Some Known Ancient Greeks, left to right were labeled as Socrates, 470 - 399 BC, a famous Athenian philosopher,   Antisthenes, 445 - 365 BC, an Athenian Cynic philosopher,  Chrysippus, 279 - 206 BC, Athenian philosopher, and Epicurus, 341 BC - 270 BC., an Athenian philosopher.  Scroll right to see all four of them.   So they were Greeks, they lived important parts of their life in Ionia, but they definitely may or may not be descendants of Javan though since they were Ionians, they may be.  But they lived about 1,500 years after Javan's death, so...much genetic mixing might have already occurred!

 

 Many conquests and displacements have occurred in Greece!  I did not locate word of a people that is considered fairly pure Javan Greek.  Anyone know of of such? 812-564-9421

To watch a You Tube video on ancient Greek reconstructed faces, but perhaps not Ionic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq5JvWUMJE4

 

 

A Beauty Queen Contestant (and winner!) of modern Greece.  Perhaps she has a fair amount of the Javan (Ionian) bloodline in her family, who knows?

 

     Thobel founded the Thobelites, who are now called Iberes [the 'Iberian Peninsula' is a well known name for Spain even today!  Deeds of God author] ;

 

 

A reconstruction of an ancient Iberian man.  Very well done reconstruction.  Hopefully an accurate likeness!

and the Mosocheni were founded by Mosoch; now they are Cappadocians. [Some historians write that Moscow the city is named from this word Masoch.  Deeds of God author] There is also a mark of their ancient denomination still to be shown; for there is even now among them a city called Mazaca [Today this is Kayseri, Turkey.  It was once the abode of the kings of Cappadocia] which may inform those that are able to understand, that so was the entire nation once called. Thiras also called those whom he ruled over Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into Thracians.  [Thracians are said to have divided into a great many tribes...some say over 200.  Western Turkey, portions of Bulgaria, and nearby areas of Greece have peoples who believe themselves of Thracian origin today.  Ancient Troy was at least allied with Thracians, and some researchers think Troy was founded by Thracian related peoples.  Some say Alexander the Great and his father Phillip II had Thracian lineage that had led to a Macedonian branch.  Some sources say that portions of their ancient homelands within today's South-Eastern Europe were the first area to actually be called Europe, though today's Europe is much larger, of course.  Deeds of God author]  And so many were the countries that had the children of Japhet for their inhabitants. Of the three sons of Gomer, Aschanax founded the Aschanaxians, who are now called by the Greeks Rheginians. [And these Ashchanaxians are said to be the same as Cimmerians by some historians.  Deeds of God author].  So did Riphath found the Ripheans, now called Paphlagonians [Named as allies to ancient Troy back in the 1200 BC time frame, and who in part later emigrated to the area of Italy called Venetia with a defeated and escaped Trojan prince searching for a new home land.  They displaced local inhabitants and settled there, flourishing for many centuries and probably have many descendants there today.  Deeds of God author] ; and Thrugramma the Thrugrammeans [Some relate this to the name Togarma, a grand-son of Japhet], who, as the Greeks resolved, were named Phrygians. [Phrygians are the people that had Midas, of the mythological Golden touch, for their king at one point.  The fabled Gordian knot was also a puzzle of interwoven rope located in their kingdom.  They were conquered by many as the centuries rolled by, and after the 400's A.D. it is said that there is little mention of them.]  Of the three sons of Javan also, the son of Japhet, Elisa gave name to the Eliseans, who were his subjects; they are now the Aeolians. [Aeolians were one of the 4 founding people groups of the Greeks.  Deeds of God author.]  Tharsus to the Tharsians, for so was Cilicia of old called; the sign of which is this, that the noblest city they have, and a metropolis also, is Tarsus, the tau being by change put for the theta. [The Apostle Paul was from Tarsus]. Cethimus possessed the island Cethima: it is now called Cyprus; and from that it is that all islands, and the greatest part of the sea-coasts, are named Cethim by the Hebrews: and one city there is in Cyprus that has been able to preserve its denomination; it has been called Citius by those who use the language of the Greeks, and has not, by the use of that dialect, escaped the name of Cethim. And so many nations have the children and grandchildren of Japhet possessed. Now when I have premised somewhat, which perhaps the Greeks do not know, I will return and explain what I have omitted; for such names are pronounced here after the manner of the Greeks, to please my readers; for our own country language does not so pronounce them: but the names in all cases are of one and the same ending; for the name we here pronounce Noeas, is there Noah, and in every case retains the same termination.

2. The children of Ham possessed the land from Syria and Amanus, and the mountains of Libanus; seizing upon all that was on its sea-coasts, and as far as the ocean, and keeping it as their own. Some indeed of its names are utterly vanished away; others of them being changed, and another sound given them, are hardly to be discovered; yet a few there are which have kept their denominations entire. For of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all hurt the name of Chus; for the Ethiopians, over whom he reigned, are even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia, called Chusites. The memory also of the Mesraites is preserved in their name; for all we who inhabit this country [of Judea] called Egypt Mestre, and the Egyptians Mestreans. Phut also was the founder of Libya, and called the inhabitants Phutites, from himself: there is also a river in the country of Moors which bears that name; whence it is that we may see the greatest part of the Grecian historiographers mention that river and the adjoining country by the apellation of Phut: but the name it has now has been by change given it from one of the sons of Mesraim, who was called Lybyos. We will inform you presently what has been the occasion why it has been called Africa also. Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, inhabited the country now called Judea, and called it from his own name Canaan. The children of these [four] were these: Sabas, who founded the Sabeans; Evilas, who founded the Evileans, who are called Getuli (who lived in North Africa at the time that Rome defeated Carthage in the Punic wars); Sabathes founded the Sabathens, they are now called by the Greeks Astaborans {some of whom may have lent their name to the Sab clan of today's Somalians.  Deeds of God author}; Sabactas settled the Sabactens; and Ragmus the Ragmeans; and he had two sons, the one of whom, Judadas, settled the Judadeans, a nation of the western Ethiopians, and left them his name; as did Sabas to the Sabeans: but Nimrod, the son of Chus, staid and tyrannized at Babylon, as we have already informed you. Now all the children of Mesraim, being eight in number, possessed the country from Gaza to Egypt, though it retained the name of one only, the Philistim; for the Greeks call part of that country Palestine. As for the rest, Ludieim, and Enemim, and Labim, who alone inhabited in Libya, and called the country from himself, Nedim, and Phethrosim, and Chesloim, and Cephthorim, we know nothing of them besides their names; for the Ethiopic war (17) which we shall describe hereafter, was the cause that those cities were overthrown. The sons of Canaan were these: Sidonius, who also built a city of the same name; it is called by the Greeks Sidon

Amathus inhabited in Amathine [this is said to correspond geographically to Macedonia by several ancient authorities: Deeds of God author] which is even now called Amathe by the inhabitants, although the Macedonians named it Epiphania, from one of his posterity: Arudeus possessed the island Aradus [a small island about 2 miles off the coast of Syria, today it is Syria's only settled island some sources say: Deeds of God author]: Arucas possessed Arce, which is in Libanus. But for the seven others, [Eueus,] Chetteus, Jebuseus [A people called the Jebusites are mentioned in the Bible as very early residents (original post-flood founders?) of Jerusalem - Deeds of God author], Amorreus, Gergesus, Eudeus, Sineus, Samareus, we have nothing in the sacred books but their names, for the Hebrews overthrew their cities; and their calamities came upon them on the occasion following.

3. Noah, when, after the deluge, the earth was resettled in its former condition, set about its cultivation; and when he had planted it with vines, and when the fruit was ripe, and he had gathered the grapes in their season, and the wine was ready for use, he offered sacrifice, and feasted, and, being drunk, he fell asleep, and lay naked in an unseemly manner. When his youngest son saw this, he came laughing, and showed him to his brethren; but they covered their father's nakedness. And when Noah was made sensible of what had been done, he prayed for prosperity to his other sons; but for Ham, he did not curse him, by reason of his nearness in blood, but cursed his prosperity: and when the rest of them escaped that curse, God inflicted it on the children of Canaan. But as to these matters, we shall speak more hereafter.

4. Shem, the third son of Noah, had five sons, who inhabited the land that began at Euphrates, and reached to the Indian Ocean. For Elam left behind him the Elamites, the ancestors of the Persians. Ashur lived at the city Nineve; and named his subjects Assyrians, who became the most fortunate nation, beyond others. Arphaxad named the Arphaxadites, who are now called Chaldeans. Aram had the Aramites, which the Greeks called Syrians; as Laud founded the Laudites, which are now called Lydians. Of the four sons of Aram, Uz founded Trachonitis and Damascus: this country lies between Palestine and Celesyria. Ul founded Armenia; and Gather the Bactrians; and Mesa the Mesaneans; it is now called Charax Spasini. Sala was the son of Arphaxad; and his son was Heber, from whom they originally called the Jews Hebrews. (18) Heber begat Joetan and Phaleg: he was called Phaleg, because he was born at the dispersion of the nations to their several countries; for Phaleg among the Hebrews signifies division. Now Joctan, one of the sons of Heber, had these sons, Elmodad, Saleph, Asermoth, Jera, Adoram, Aizel, Decla, Ebal, Abimael, Sabeus, Ophir, Euilat, and Jobab. These inhabited from Cophen, an Indian river, and in part of Asia adjoining to it. {The Cophen River was later called the Kubha (a Sanskrit and Avestan word), and is called the Kabul River in our time, and it is the major river in Eastern Afghanistan, originating in the Hindu Kush mountains and eventually joining into the Indus River near a town named Attock in Pakistan. It's about 400 miles long.  Deeds of God author.} And this shall suffice concerning the sons of Shem.

5. I will now treat of the Hebrews. The son of Phaleg, whose father was Heber, was Ragau; whose son was Serug, to whom was born Nahor; his son was Terah, who was the father of Abraham, who accordingly was the tenth from Noah, and was born in the two hundred and ninety-second year after the deluge; for Terah begat Abram in his seventieth year. Nahor begat Haran when he was one hundred and twenty years old; Nahor was born to Serug in his hundred and thirty-second year; Ragau had Serug at one hundred and thirty; at the same age also Phaleg had Ragau; Heber begat Phaleg in his hundred and thirty-fourth year; he himself being begotten by Sala when he was a hundred and thirty years old, whom Arphaxad had for his son at the hundred and thirty-fifth year of his age. Arphaxad was the son of Shem, and born twelve years after the deluge. Now Abram had two brethren, Nahor and Haran: of these Haran left a son, Lot; as also Sarai and Milcha his daughters; and died among the Chaldeans, in a city of the Chaldeans, called Ur; and his monument is shown to this day. These married their nieces. Nabor married Milcha, and Abram married Sarai. Now Terah hating Chaldea, on account of his mourning for Ilaran, they all removed to Haran of Mesopotamia, where Terah died, and was buried, when he had lived to be two hundred and five years old; for the life of man was already, by degrees, diminished, and became shorter than before, till the birth of Moses; after whom the term of human life was one hundred and twenty years, God determining it to the length that Moses happened to live. Now Nahor had eight sons by Milcha; Uz and Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Azau, Pheldas, Jadelph, and Bethuel. These were all the genuine sons of Nahor; for Teba, and Gaam, and Tachas, and Maaca, were born of Reuma his concubine: but Bethuel had a daughter, Rebecca, and a son, Laban.

 

This is the end quoting for quoting the writings of Josephus in this article.

 

  Now here below is the Table of the Nations from Genesis chapter 10, which is God's powerful word on the same subject, except that it was in writing about 1400 to 1500 years before Josephus lived.  So, while the Table of Nations has God for its source, trumping anything Josephus could ever say where authority and credibility are concerned, yet Josephus is able to fill in the movements of the various nations in the 1500 years that stretched from the writing of the Old Testament up to and including his time. He is therefore a less dependable historian than God, but potentially a very useful source of information on this subject.  And Josephus seems to have been very well loved by God.  God used him mightily.  Here, from the Bible...

The Table of Nations

10 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites

The Hamites

⁸ Cush was the father^[c] of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in^[d] Shinar.^{[e] 11} From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir,^[f] Calah ¹² and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

Later the Canaanite clans scattered ¹⁹ and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The Semites

²¹ Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was^[h] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.

³⁰ The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

³² These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

 

  Perhaps a few of you who know your history well and spring from a well tracked branch of the human family will be able to trace out how you descend from Noah, using these writings of Josephus, to understand how your ancestors moved about until the days of Josephus about 2,000 years ago.  And then perhaps you can use historical documentation concerning the travels of those same ancestral peoples since that time 2,000 years ago...essentially the days when our Lord walked the Earth.   After all, if Josephus is correct about the descent of those nations and their locality as of 2,000 years ago, aren't at least a few of those people pretty well traceable to our own day and time?  Which one might your family descend from?  It makes it interesting doesn't it?  But more importantly, it begins to make it obvious that the Bible's history of man makes ever more sense, and is supported by a body of evidence that only seems to increase.  And increase.  And increase.