THE ISLES OF THE NATIONS: GENESIS X AND BABYLONIAN GEOGRAPHY 1

by

WAYNE HOROWITZ Jerusalem/ Almog

Gen. x preserves a list of eponymous descendants of 's three sons , , and interspersed with folkloristic material. The chapter is divided into three main sections. Following an introductory verse, Gen. x 2-5 names the descendants of Japheth, Gen. x 6-20 the descendants of Ham, and Gen. x 21-31 the descendants of Shem. The chapter then closes with a single verse summary: These are the families of the sons of Noah according to their descendants in their nations; and from them were the nations of the earth divided after the flood. (Gen. x 32) The Japheth, Ham, and Shem sections close with comparable summanes: And from these were divided the "Isles of Nations" ("iyye haggOyzm) in their lands, each according to his language, according to their families in their nations. (Gen. x 5) These are the sons of Ham according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands according to their nations. (Gen. x 20) These are the sons ofShem according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands according to their nations. (Gen. x 31) Although the phrase O~ye haggayzm, "the Isles of the Nations", occurs in the summary of the entire J apheth List in the Masoretic Text of Gen. x 5, modern editors have emended the text on the basis of Gen. x 20, 31 so as to detach "the Isles of the Nations" from theJapheth summary:

I This article is a by-product of the author's research for a Ph.D. (1986) at the University of Birmingham (England) entitled Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography, which will appear in the future in book form. No up-to-date comprehensive study of Mesopotamian cosmographic traditions exists. In the meantime, the reader is directed to W.G. Lambert, "The Cosmology ofSumer and Babylon", in C. Blacker and M. Loewe (ed.), Ancient Cosmologies (London, 1975), pp. 42-65. 36 WAYNE HOROWITZ

The sons ofJavan are: and , and "Rhodanim". From these the coastal people spread. "These are the sons ofJapheth" according to their lands, each with its own language, accordng to their clans within their nations. 2 Here, "the Isles of the Nations" refers only toJavan and his line. Such emendations find support in identifications of Javan's sons with nations in the Mediterranean basin, while the remainder ofJapheth's descendants have been identified with landlocked nations to the north and east ofIsrael,3 Nonetheless, the structure of Gen. x, related passages in the Bible, and geographic materials from ancient cuneiform sources indicate that ancient Israelites may have considered all the descendants ofJapheth to be maritime nations. This evidence may render emendations of Gen. x 5 unnecessary.

The Structure of Genesis x The basic structural pattern of Gen. x is that of genealogical materials summarized by concluding lines. The concluding verse 32, "These are the families of the sons of Noah ... ", summarizes the en tire chapter referring backwards to all the descendants of Noah in all three branches of the family. Likewise, Gen. x 31 refers backwards to all the sons ofShem, and Gen. x 20 refers backwards to all the sons of Ham.4 Thus, on the basis of structure alone, the term "the Isles of the Nations" in the Masoretic Text of Gen. x 5 should refer to all the sons ofJapheth. However, such a hypothesis presents two main difficulties from a modern geographic perspective. First, as noted above, only Javan and his sons are Mediterranean nations. Secondly, some of the nations descending from Javan seem to be coastland peoples rather than islanders. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the meaning of "the Isles of the Nations", and to identify the nations descending from Japheth, before continuing onwards.

2 C. Westermann, Genesis 1-11 (Minneapolis and London, 1984), p. 496 = Genesis 1-11 (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1974), p. 663; cf. S.R. Driver, The Book ofGenesis (12th edn, London, 1926), p. 117; P. Heinisch, Das Buch Genesis (Bonn, 1930), p. 189. Note, however, also E.A. Speiser who emends to "(These are the descendants ofJapheth), and from them branched out the maritime nations, in their respective lands ... " (Genesis [Garden City, 1964], p. 64). g For instance, Westermann, E. tr., p. 508 (= p. 679), argues: ... The first question is whether the mOlh refers to the "sons ofJavan (A. Dillmann) or to all sons "sons ofJapheth" (U. Cassuto). It can be solved easily by paying attention to the meaning of :rym: countries (regions) that border on the sea, and so the coastal areas. This obviously holds for "the sons ofJavan, and for Javan itself too, but not for the other "sons of Japheth". So "from these" can refer only to the sons of Javan". For identifications of the nations of the J apheth list see pp. 38-40, and n. 7 below. 4 Note also Gen. x 29, where the summary of the list of sons of Joktan begins kol-oelleh b'neyoq(iin "All these are the sons ofJoktan".