After the Flood, by Bill Cooper
Note on Appendices 1, 2 and 3
It would be pointless giving references to the following historical notices that are either obscure or difficult to get hold of (and there are plenty of them.) Therefore I have given sources that are within the easy reach of anyone whose interest in the subject will prompt them to investigate further any or all of the names given here. Four main sources are given, namely:
1. The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible,. Four volumes with Supplementary. Abingdon Press. New York. 1962.
2. The New Bible Dictionary, Intervarsity Press, London. 1972.
3. Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, Translated by William Whiston.
4. Poole, Matthew,. Commentary on the Holy Bible, Three vols. (1685). Facsimile published by Banner of Truth Trust. London. 1962.
Reference 1 is abbreviated and followed by volume number and page thus: 1DB 3:247.
Reference 2 is simply abbreviated NBD followed by page number.
Reference 3, due to the many varied editions of Josephus' Antiquities, is abbreviated followed by book number, chapter number and paragraph number thus: JA l.vi.2.
Reference 4 is abbreviated and followed by volume and page number thus: P 1:26.
All, with the exception of Josephus, provide valuable reference
material of their own for their sources. Josephus is valuable
because he has preserved many of the names and spellings by which
the names contained in the Table of Nations were known to the
classical world.
1. Shem: The father of all the Semitic nations. (Refs: 1DB 4:321. NBD 1175. JA l.vi.4. P 1:28)
2. Elam: The founder of the Elamites, who were known to the Babylonians as the Elamtu, to the Greeks as Elymais, and whom the Romans knew as the Elymaci. The Elamites recorded their own name as the Haltamti. Subsequently, in the Old Persian inscriptions their name is rendered (h)uju, and huz in the Middle Persian, which is the archaic form of the modern Persian name of Khuzistan, which now covers what used to be the land of Elam (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 2:70. NBD 355-6. JA 1.vi.3. P 1:28)
3. Asshur: The founder of the nation to whom he gave his name, Assyria. It may be possible to identify Asshur in the early king-lists of Assyria as Puzur Asshur I. According to these lists, Puzur Asshur I would have lived and reigned ca 1960 BC, which accords rather well with the biblical chronology. Asshur was one of the earliest men to be deified and worshipped by his descendants. Indeed, as long as Assyria lasted, that is until 612 BC, accounts of battles, diplomatic affairs and foreign bulletins were daily read out to his image; and every Assyrian king held that he wore the crown only with the express permission of Asshur's deified ghost (see Map 2) (Refs: 1DB 1:261. NBD 'Assyria' 100-7. JA l.vi.3. P 1:2
4. Arphaxad: He was the progenitor of the Chaldeans, his name, apparently, corresponding to that of arp-keshed, the border marches of Chaldea. That he was indeed the forebear of the Chaldeans is confirmed by the Hurrian (Nuzi) tablets, which render the name as Arip-hurra--the founder of Chaldea. The name was also known to the Akkadians as Arraphu. Some scholars have endeavoured to treat his name as a derivative of the Assyrian phrase arba-kishshatu, meaning the four corners of the world. The Assyrians knew his descendants as the Kaldu, who were adept astrologers, magicians and mathematicians. Ptolemy recorded the name of their land as Arrapichitis, whilst it was known to others as Arphaxitis. Their very earliest settlement, however, would appear to be what is today a 2.5 acre ruin that still bears the name Arpachiya. It lies some four miles to the east of ancient Nineveh, and is the remains of a very early farming community (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 1:23 1. NBD 86. JA 1.vi.3. P1:28)
5. Lud: The early descendants of Lud, the Ludim, were known to both the Assyrians and Babylonians as the Ludu. Josephus tells us that their land was later known as Lydia (a direct Greek derivation of the name Lud) which lay in western Asia Minor. (Josephus rendered the name Laud.) The Lydians were famed in the old world for the skill of their archers. They spoke an Indo-European (Japhetic) language, examples of which are to be found on certain Egyptian monuments. The land of Lydia was finally conquered by Cyrus, king of Persia, in the year 546 BC (see Map 4.) (Refs: 1DB 3:178-9. NBD 755.JA l.vi.3. P1:28)
6. Aram: He was the founder of the Aramaeans, known to the Akkadians as the Aramu, but who were later known to the Greeks as the Syrians (from Serug? see 29.) In an Assyrian inscription of Tiglath-pileser I, from ca 1100 BC, the Aramaeans are depicted as living to the east of the river Tigris. By the time of Tiglath-pileser III, however, some 400j years later, they were living all over Mesopotamia. After they settled to the west, occupying roughly the same area makes up modern Syria. A clay tablet from Ur bears the of Aramu, and it is of interest to note that Aramaic is still spoken today (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 1:185. NBD 55-9.JA l.vi.3. P 1:28)
7. Uz: There is still considerable disagreement as to the precise area in which the descendants of Uz settled, and given the somewhat nomadic nature of the Aramaeans (Aram was the father of Uz), this is hardly surprising. Northern Arabia, between Babylon and Edom, seems the most likely area of settlement (see Map 2.) (Josephus, probably correctly, identifies it as the classical Trachonitis.) (Refs: 1DB 4:741. NBD 1306-7.JA l.vi.4. P1:28)
8. Hul: His descendants settled to the north of the sea of Galilee, where they gave their name to the lake and vale of Huleh (the biblical Waters of Merom, which were known to Josephus as Ul.) The place was notorious amongst Victorian explorers of Palestine for its tribes of Bedhouin robbers, and its far from healthy marshes and swamps which today have been drained, the reclaimed land being farmed and settled. The modern Israelis have also set up a nature reserve there, and know the place under its ancient name of the vale of Hula. The lake of Hula is formed by the accumulation of water from the two sources of the Jordan before beginning their descent to Galilee (see Map 4.) (Refs: 1DB 2:658. JA 1.vi.3. P 1:28)
9. Gether: His descendants (known to Josephus as Gather) settled to the south of Damascus. Josephus identifies them as the latter-day Bactrians, famous amongst other things for a breed of camel. Whether this identification is correct or not cannot now be determined. It should, however, be noted that Bactria was populated by Aryan, or Japhetic, tribes in late Assyrian times, whereas the children of Gether were, of course, Semites (see Map 4.) (Refs: 1DB 2:387.JA 1.vi.3. P 1:28)
10. Mash: The Akkadians rendered the name Mashu, which in turn was known to the Egyptians as Msh'r. It was also rendered Mishal, all of which names referred to a people that dwelt in Lebanon (see Map 4.) However, in 1 Chronicles 1:17, the name is rendered Meshech, and this should not be confused with the Japhetic Meshech. Such confusion arises in Josephus and later in the 9th century historian Nennius (see chapter 4.) (Refs: 1DB 3:294. P 1:28)
11. Shelah: I have not yet been able to find his name in secular sources, although Josephus renders the name Sala. (Refs: 1DB 4:319. NBD 1175. JA 1.vi.4)
12. Eber: Known to Josephus as Heber, he gave his name to the Hebrew race. Some have tried to identify him with Ebru, erstwhile king of Ebla, but this is unlikely on both chronological and ethnic grounds. The attempt to identify the children of Eber with the Habiru of the Egyptian chronicles may also be somewhat forced, although it is fair to add that, although we tend today to think only of the Jewish nation as Hebrews, in fact all of Eber's descendants, technically speaking, would have been Hebrew also, the Joktanite Arabs included. (Refs: 1DB 2:5. NBD 331.JA 1.vi.3 and 5. P 1:28)
13. Joktan: The progenitor of no less than thirteen southern Arabian tribes, he is remembered amongst modern Arabs as Yaqtan. Only the purest Arabs, it is still maintained, are those Semitic Arabs descended from Joktan; whilst Hamitic Arabs are referred to somewhat disdainfully as Musta 'rabs, pretended Arabs. Joktan's name is preserved in that of the ancient town of Jectan near present-day Mecca (see Map 2.) Josephus knew him as Joctan. (Refs: 1DB 2:963-4. NBD 652. JA 1.vi.3. P 1:28)
14. Almodad: Young gives Almodad's name as meaning 'The Agitator', which, if correct, hides what is no doubt a most interesting background. The name is certainly Arabic, his descendants being known to early Arab historians as the al-Morad tribe, who are seemingly to be identified with the Gebonites (the name is rendered Elmodad in Josephus.) Their precise area of settlement cannot now be determined. (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 1:86. JA 1.vi.3. P 1:28)
15. SheIeph: Rendered Saleph in Josephus, the name is of a southern Arabian tribe who were known to the pre-Islamic Arabs as the Salif. They were a Yemeni tribe whose capital, Sulaf, lay some sixty miles due north of present-day San'a (see 19 and Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 4:320. JA 1.vi.4. P 1:28)
16. Hazarmaveth: Known as Asermoth in Josephus, his descendants populated the 200 mile long valley that runs parallel to the southern coast of Arabia. It is known to this day as the Hadramaut, a direct transposition into Arabic of the name Hazarmaveth. In pre-Islamic inscriptions, the name is variously rendered hdrmt and hdrmwt. Strabo tells us that the tribe of Hazarmaveth was one of the four main tribes of Arabs in his day. The name seems to mean 'town of death'--Hadramaut means the same in Arabic--although we can now only ponder the possible tragedy that lies behind it (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 2:539. NBD 507. JA 1.vi.3. P 1:28)
17. Jerah: There lies, on the shores of Galilee, a ruined mound that is named Beth-Yerah, the house of Jerah, although this may not refer to the subject here. It is more likely that his descendants migrated into the southern regions of Arabia. Indeed, the Arab city that bore Jerah's name, and which was rendered by Ptolemy as Jerakon Kome, lay on the Mara coast close to the Hadramaut (see 16 and Map 2.) The name appears as Jera in Josephus and as Yarki in the inscriptions of Ashurbanipal. (Refs: 1DB 2:821-2. NBD 605-6.JA 1.vi.3. P 1:28)
18. Hadoram: Rendered Adoram in Josephus, it is that of a southern Arabian tribe, the name of whose town appears as Hurarina (Haroram) in the inscriptions of Ashurbanipal. It lay close to Yarki (see 17.) (Refs: 1DB 2:508. NBD 500. JA l.vi.3. P 1:27)
19. Uzal: Arab historians render the name of Uzal as Azal (Josephus gives Aizel), and it is the ancient, pre-Islamic name for the city of San'a, the modern capital of Yemen (see 15.) Uzal's descendants are still doubtless thriving in the area. They knew the tribe of Uzal as the Azalla (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 4:741. NBD 1307. JA 1.vi.4. P 1:28)
20. Diklah: The name Diklah appears in Akkadian records as Diklat, the Aramaeans knew it as Diklath, and the Assyrians gave it as Idiklat, all of which transpose into Greek as Tigris, the name of the valley and river that cuts through Mesopotamia. (Josephus renders it Decla.) This would give a clear indication as their place of settlement--either north of the Persian Gulf or in the north-east extremity of the Arabian peninsula (see Map 2.) Procopius gives it as Phoinikon, which lay at the southern end of the Wadi Sirhan. (Refs: 1DB 1:843. JA l.vi.4. P 1:29)
21. Obal: A southern Arabian tribe whose name was rendered by Arab historians as Ebal. (Josephus has the same rendering.) Ancient inscriptions from Yemen give it as Abil, which elsewhere appears as Ubal. According to these sources the location of this tribe's place of settlement lies between the ancient Yemeni cities of Hadeida and San'a (see 19 and Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 3:579. NBD 'Ebal' 330. JA l.vi.4. P 1:29)
22. Abimael: His descendants settled in southern Arabia, where their existence is known from ancient Sabean inscriptions (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 1:9. JA 1.vi.4. P 1:29)
23. Sheba: There are no less than three Shebas in the Table of Nations (see 48 and Ham 7)! Due to the presence in Arabia of both the Cushite and Jokshanite tribes of Sheba, it is impossible to determine where this particular patriarch's descendants settled. Josephus may give a clue in rendering the name as Sabeus. (Refs: 1DB 4:311-2. NBD 1171.JA 1.vi.4. P 1:27)
24. Ophir: Its existence being duly noted in the pre Islamic Arabian inscriptions, this tribe's area of settlement is given by them as lying between Saba in Yemen and Hawlan (or Havilah, see 25.) The name has been preserved in that of the coastal town of Ma'afir in south-west Arabia (see Map 2) (Refs: 1DB 3:605-6. NBD 911.JA 1.vi.4. P 129) ~
25. Havilah: There were two Arabian tribes known under the name of Havilah. The first was of Hamitic descent (see Ham 4), which settled in the eastern regions of the Arabian peninsula. Their land was known to Arabian cosmographers as Hawlan. Kautsch identifies them as the Huwailah, a people who settled on the Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. The Semitic tribe, however, with whom we are dealing here, remained distinct, and occupied areas on the opposite side of the peninsula. In Strabo's day, they were still occupying areas of northern Arabia, their name being recorded by him as the Khaulotaei. Josephus knew them as the Euilat. The Arabian cosmographer Yakut, informs us that their dialect, Hawil, was spoken by 'the descendants of Midian, the son of Abraham. ' This Semitic tribe of Havilah also occupied the southernmost tip of the Arabian peninsula, crossing from there the Bab-el-Mandeb to the African coast. Here, both Ptolemy and Pliny refer to their city of Aualis on the Red Sea coast of Africa, which lay next to the modern state of Djibouti. This city (Aualis) is known today as Zeila (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 2:537. NBD 506. JA 1.vi.4. P 1:29)
26. Jobab: Jobab's descendants were known to the Akkadians as the Labibi. They settled in the town that has long borne their founder's name, Juhaibab, which, according to Sabean inscriptions, lay close to modern Mecca (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 2:925. NBD 637. JA l.vi.4. P 1:29)
27. Peleg: Genesis tells us that in his day the earth was divided. The meaning of his name, as rendered in Hebrew, corresponds exactly with the Akkadian noun pulukku, which means a dividing up of territory by means of boundaries and borders (the Akkadian verb for 'to divide' is palaku.) Likewise, the Assyrian word, palgu, refers to the dividing up of land by canals and irrigation systems. It is in this sense that the Hebrew word peleg is used in Job 29:6 and 38:5. The man named Peleg, (whose name appears as Phaleg in Josephus), was so named, however, after the division and scattering of the nations from Babel. In fact, one of the ancient names of Babylon (Babel) is nowadays translated as 'the place of canals', though surely a better translation would be 'the place of division,' or even the place of Peleg. There is an ancient city that bore the name of Peleg, however, the Akkadian town of Phalgu, whose ruins lie at the junction of the Euphrates and Chaboras rivers (Chebar, see Ezekiel 1:1.) Of further interest to us is the fact that the division of the nations is recorded in Genesis as occurring in the fifth generation after the Flood. We will encounter striking confirmation of this when we study the descent of certain European kings later. (Refs: 1DB 3:709. NBD 957. JA 1.vi.4. P 1:28)
28. Reu: This name appears as a personal name in Akkadian records where it is rendered Ra'u. The early Greeks knew it as Ragau, as did Josephus. Reu was to give his name to an island in the Euphrates that lies just below the city of Anat, and which the Akkadians knew as Ra'ilu. It was known to the Greeks as Ragu (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 4:53. JA l.vi.5. P 1:30)
29. Serug: He gave his name to the city and district that was known to the Akkadians as Sarugi. This lay to the west of Haran (see 32.) It is normally assumed that the name of the land of Syria came about because the Greeks confused it with Assyria. But surely it is more likely that Syria is merely a transposition into Greek of the patriarchal name of Serug who, after all, settled in that part of the world (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 4:29 1. JA 1.vi.5. P 1:30)
30. Nahor: There seems to be no secular record that mentions him as an individual (but see 36.) (Refs: 1DB 3:497. NBD 860. JA 1.vi.5. P 1:30.)
31. Terah: The father of Abraham, he later settled in Haran (see 32), where he died. The name Terah is associated in Jewish literature with the moon-god, and there seems to be a direct etymological link between his name and the teraphim, small idolatrous images that were kept in most households. In this context, it is interesting to note that Joshua 24:2 describes Terah as an idolater. However, near to the city of Haran, there was a place that bore Terah's name, known to Assyrians as Turahi and to the Akkadians as Turahu, the ruins of which city were later known to them as Til-Sa-Turahi (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 4:574. NBD 1252-3. JA 1.vi.5. P 1:30)
32. Haran: Haran was the youngest of his father's sons. He was born at Ur and died there at a young age. To his father, Terah, is attributed the building of the city of Haran. Terah named the place in his son's memory and honour. The city lay on the main highway to Nineveh from Carchemish, and it is interesting to note in this context that the Assyrian noun for main road is harranu. From its earliest days, Haran was one of the chief centres of moon-worship, and we frequently read of its temple being restored and embellished by successive kings of Assyria. Its temple was, indeed, every bit as famous and well-subscribed as that at Ur (where the family originated, of course.) Nimrod also was worshipped here (see Ham 10), he being referred to in the inscriptions concerning him as the 'prince of the men of Haran' (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 2:524. NBD 504. JA 1.vi.5. P 1:30)
33. Lot: I have not yet noticed any secular reference to him, save that the Dead Sea has always been known to the Arabs as the Sea of Lot (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 3:162-3. NBD 752)
34. Moab: He was the founder of the Moabite nation. This nation was known as Mu'abu to the Akkadians, and as in the Egyptian inscriptions (see Map 4.) (Refs: 1DB 3:409. NBD 834-5)
35. Benammi: He founded the Ammonite nation, and his name is still perpetuated in the modern city of Amman that lies some 25 miles to the north-east of the Dead Sea. Present-day Amman. in fact, was once the capital city of the Ammonite nation, and was known in the old world as Rabbath-ammon. We know from the first book of the Maccabees that Judas Maccabaeus confronted the Ammonites, and hence that the Ammonites had survived as a distinct nation until at least the 2nd century BC. However, in the 1st century BC, their lands were occupied by the Nabataeans (see Nebaioth 54) and it is here that the Ammonites disappear from the historical scene. The personal name of Benammi is known from certain clan-lists of Ugarit. There also survives from Nimrud in Assyria an inscription bearing the name of banu Ammanaja. The Assyrians generally knew the Ammonites nation as bit-Amma-na-aia, or the House of Ammon (see Map 4.) (Refs: 1DB 1:381. NBD 140 and 'Ammonite' 30)
36. Nahor: The name Nahor is known from Babylonian inscriptions, and from the clay tablets of Mari, which render the name Nahur. Nahor settled in Haran (see 32) which was later to become known as the Town of Nahor. This appears in inscriptions from the reign of Ashurbanipal, as Nahuru, the city's later ruins being known to the Assyrians as til-Nahiri, the mound or hill of Nahor (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 3:497. NBD 860. JA 1.vi.5. P 1:30)
37. Abraham: The well-known founder of the Jewish people. There exists from Babylonia an early clay tablet that bears the name of a man called Abi-ramu, which is rendered Abarama in the Eblaite tablets. Another bears the name of Sarai. Josephus quotes the Babylonian historian, Berosus, as saying, 'In the tenth generation after the Flood, there was a man among the Chaldeans who was righteous and great...' Josephus, rightly in my opinion, regarded this remark as a direct reference to Abraham, even though Berosus didn't name him. Josephus tells us also that Hecataeus and Nicolaus of Damascus both mention Abraham in their own histories. (Refs: 1DB 1:14-22. NBD 5-7.JA 1.vi.5. P 1:30)
38. Shuah: The founder of the biblical Shuites, one of whose descendants (Bildad) counseled Job. The Assyrians knew Shuab's posterity as the Suhu, and describe their land as lying adjacent to the Euphrates, south of Carchemish, between the Balikh and Khabur rivers (the Khabur river was recorded as the Chaboras by Ptolemy, and as the Chebar by Ezekiel. See Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 4:341. NBD 1183)
39. Ishbak: He was the progenitor of a tribe who seem to have settled to the east of Canaan. Otherwise, secular records seem to be silent concerning them (see Map 2.) (Ref: 1DB 2:747)
40. Midian: The founder of the Midianite tribe of Arabs. The Arabian historian, Yakut, tells us that they spoke the Hawil dialect of Arabic (see 25.) He also confirms the fact that Midian was the son of Abraham. The tribes of Midian are also known from Egyptian and other sources, Ptolemy, for example, recording the name as Modiana, whilst the ancient pre-Islamic Arab city of Madyan is today known as Magha'ir Shu'aib (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 3:375-6. NBD 821)
41. Ephah: Ephah's descendants settled in what is now Ghuwafa, to the south-west of Tebuk in the north-west Arabian peninsula. They are known to us in the annals of Tiglath-pileser III, who refers to them as the Hayapa. They are last heard of in an inscription of Sargon II that dates to the year 715 BC (see Map 2.) (Ref: 1DB 2:107)
42. Epher: Known to Arab cosmographers as 'ofr, Ashurbanipal of Assyria recorded the name of Epher's descendants as the Apparu. The city in which they settled still bears the name of their founder, Ghifar. It lies close to Medina (see Map 2.) (Ref: 1DB 2:107)
43. Henoch: He founded the famous Kenite tribe of Midianite Arabs. They were coppersmiths who settled to the south-west of the Gulf of Aqaba (see Map 2.) (Ref: 1DB 2:523)
44. Abidah: Minean inscriptions from Yemen record the name of Abidah's posterity as the Abiyadi'. Their precise area of settlement is unknown, although it must have been in the south-west regions of the Arabian peninsula (see Map 2.) (Ref: 1DB 1:7)
45. Eldaah: The descendants of Eldaah are known to us from ancient Sabean inscriptions, which refer to them as the Yada'il. We do not know their precise area of settlement, although it was certainly within Yemen (see Map 2.) (Ref: 1DB 2:72)
46. Medan: He founded various northern Arabian tribes, and his name is still preserved in the modern family name of Abd-al-Madan. His posterity settled in the town of Madan, which is mentioned in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III that date to the year 732 BC. He renders the name as Badan, but the letters 'm' and 'b' are interchangeable in Arabic. The town lay to the west of Tema (see 62 and Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 3:318. NBD 801)
47. Jokshan: Seemingly unknown outside the biblical records, he appears to have settled with his descendants in northern Arabia (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 2:963. NBD 652)
48. Sheba: In the often unrecorded and sometimes complex turmoil of these times, this people seemingly made up the Semitic Arabs who were to supercede the earlier Hamitic tribe, the original Sheba. (Refs: 1DB 4:311-2. NBD 1171.JA l.vi.4. P 1:27 and 29)
49. Dedan: Like Sheba, this Semitic tribe of Dedan seemingly superseded the Hamitic tribe of the same name, and we notice here the derivation of the Hebrew word 'rab (Arab) from ereb, which means a mixed multitude. The city of Dedan (modern Daidan) is mentioned in the inscriptions of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, who spent his years of exile at Tema. There are some ruins west of Tema called Daidan, that lies in an area known in modern times as Medain Salih. (see 62 and Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 1:812. NBD 305. P 1:27)
50. The Sons of Dedan: These founded the three tribes of: Dedanite Arabs, of whom nothing further is learned from extra-biblical sources save for the fact that in later Jewish literature the Asshurim (not to be confused with the Assyrians) were described as travelling merchants; the Letushim were those who sharpened weapons and cutlery; and the Leummim were somewhat enigmatically described as the 'chief of those who inhabit the isles', the significance of which phrase is now lost to us. From this information, it would appear that the Asshurim and Letushim would travel the country selling and repairing various items, rather like the numerous tribes of gypsies and tinkers who were once a common feature of the English and European scenes. (Ref: For Asshurim, 1DB 1:261) (Ref: For Letushim, 1DB 3:115) (Ref: For Leummim, 1DB 3:115)
51. Zimran: The chieftain and founder of an Arab tribe whose chief city lay to the west of Mecca. Ptolemy recorded its name as Zabram, the letters 'm' and 'b' being interchangeable in Arabic (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 4:958. NBD 1360)
52. Isaac: I have so far found no mention of him in extra-biblical sources. (Refs: 1DB 2:728. NBD 568-9)
53. Ishmael: Among the Babylonian documents that have come down to us from the days of Hammurabi, there is a list of witnesses to certain documents. One of these witnesses is registered as 'Abuha, son of Ishmael'. (Refs: 1DB 2:747-8. NBD 577-8)
54. Nebaioth: He settled with his descendants to the south of the Dead Sea, where they were known to the Chaldeans as the Nabat, and to the Assyrians as the Nahaiate. Their own inscriptions render the name as 'nbtw'. The Greek historian, Diodorus, mentions them, and Ptolemy knew them as the Nabatei. The Nabataeans' final demise was brought about by Augustus Caesar, who cut off the trade routes of Arabia. By the time of Tiberius Caesar, all the land east of Judea was known as Nabataea. (Refs: 1DB 3:528. NBD 872)
55. Kedar: Known to the Hebrews as the Qedar, and the Assyrians as the Qidri, his descendants became the great tribe of Arabs who settled in the north-west Arabian peninsula, and whose black tents were to become proverbial in the ancient world. We are informed in Babylonian sources that the armies Nebuchadnezzar confronted the tribe of Kedar in a major skirmish of the year 599 BC, an incident that was foretold by Jeremiah (49:28 and 29.) The tribe of Kedar is also mentioned in the annals of Ashurbanipal, with whom they clashed, and in various other Assyrian documents. In these, the men of Kedar are mentioned in close association with the men of Nebaioth (see 54.) The founder of Islam, Mohammed, was to trace his own direct descent from Kedar (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 3:3-4. NBD 688)
56. Adbeel: He was the founder of a tribe who were known to the Akkadians as the Idibilu. This same people were subsequently mentioned in the annals of Tiglath-pileser III, who tells us how he conquered the Idiba'leans and employed them to guard the approaches to Egypt's borders. Their area of settlement was in north-west Arabia, close to the lands of Kedar (see 55) and Nebaioth (see 54 and Map 2.) (Ref: 1DB 1:45)
57. Mibsam: An otherwise unknown Bedhouin chieftain. (Ref: 1DB 3:369)
58. Mishma: He settled with his descendants in what is known today as Jebel Mishma in the vicinity of Tema (see 62 and Map 2.) (Ref: 1DB 3:404)
59. Dumah: The Assyrians and Babylonians knew Dumah's descendants as the Adammatu. Nabonidus later tells us how he conquered the Adummu. Ptolemy referred to them as the Domatha; and Porphyry recorded their name as the Dumathii. We know them today as the Idumaeans. The name of Dumah is still preserved in the modern Arab city of Dumat-al-Jandal, the erstwhile capital of his tribe (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 1:873-4. NBD 328)
60. Massa: The descendants of Massa were known to the Assyrians as the Mas'a, who with the tribe of Tema (see were forced to pay tribute to Tiglath-pileser III. He tells how he conquered them along with the peoples of Haiappa (see 41), the Idiba'leans (see 56) and others. Ptolemy knew tribe as the Masanoi, who lived to the north-east of Dumah (see 59.) Josephus records their name as the Mesanaeans, and that in his day their lands were known to the Romans as Charax Spasini (see Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 3:299. NBD 793. JA 1.vi.3)
61. Hadad: The name is rendered as Haddu in Akkadian inscriptions as the name of a pagan god. Hadad himself, however, seems to be unknown in extra-biblical sources. (Refs: 1DB 2:507. NBD 497)
62. Tema: Still known by today's Arabs as Taima', the city of Tema's descendants lies some 70 miles north-east of Dedan (see 49.) Nabonidus, king of Babylon, (556-539 BC), passed his years of exile in this city, which he also knew as Tema. The city of Tema, with those of Dedan and Dumah (see 59) formed stages in the caravan route from Babylon to Sheba (see 48 and Map 2.) (Refs: 1DB 4:533. NBD 1241)
63. Jetur: He was the progenitor of the Ituraeans, who were known to the Greeks as the Itouraia. The Ituraeans are mentioned in the works of Dio Cassius, Josephus, Pliny, Strabo and others; and were known to the Roman authorities as a tribe of robbers. The descendants of Jetur perpetrated a massacre of Lebanese Christians in AD 1860 (see Map 4.) (Ref: 1DB 2:897)
64. Naphish: He and his lineage are variously known in the biblical records as Nephish, the children of the Nephusim, and the Nephishesim. They are seemingly unknown from extra-biblical sources. (Refs: 1DB 3:508. NBD 864)
65. Kedemah: He and his descendants settled in what was known as the Wilderness of Kedemoth. The tribe dwelt in city that is known today as es-Za'feran (see Map 4.) (Refs: 1DB 3: 4 and 557. NBD 688)
Note: Maps are in Appendix 3.