We first start with Noah who, at the age of 480, was commanded by God to build an ark (Genesis 6:3). The purpose of the ark was to save him and his family from a deluge designed to wipe out an evil-obsessed humanity from the face of the earth (verses 5 to 7).
The Bible tells us that Noah, by the age of 500, had three sons. It will be these sons, along with their wives, who will not only survive the flood but also help repopulate the earth after the waters recede.
Genesis 10 is commonly referred to as the "table of nations" since it lists at least seventy descendants or peoples which sprang from Noah after he left the Ark. Unfortunately, this pivotal Biblical chapter does not offer many details regarding where each of these descendants migrated to in the years after the deluge.
A few scant details in other parts of the Bible, and from secular history, provide much of the information regarding where people lived after Noah.
Japheth's Migration
Japheth's name (referred to as "Japhet" in the map) means "expansion" or "enlargement" (Strong's Concordance #H3315). Opinions differ regarding whether he was Noah's firstborn or second son. Genesis 10:21 seems to indicate that he was the oldest son and Shem was the second oldest.
While some commentaries (Adam Clarke's, Matthew Henry's, etc.) support the belief that Japheth was Noah's oldest son, many others (IBSE, Fausset's Bible Dictionary, Smith's Bible Dictionary, etc.) support the conclusion that Shem was the firstborn.
Interestingly, first century Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 6) says that Japheth (Japhet) was Noah's first male child, followed by Ham and then Shem.
The seven sons of Japheth, which he had after the flood, are Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras (Genesis 10:2, 1Chronicles 1:5). Gomer's three sons were Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah (Genesis 10:3, 1Chronicles 1:6). Javan's four sons were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim (Genesis 10:4, 1Chronicles 1:7).
Japheth and his descendants, after the flood, are believed to have migrated to areas around the Black and Caspian Seas, Asia Minor, and the Greek islands (Aegean Sea Region). They are also thought to have settled in the islands of Cyprus, Crete and Rhodes.
According to the first century historian Josephus, the descendants of Japheth also populated the areas around the Taurus and Amanus mountains and made their homes in Asia.
"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, and along Europe to Cadiz; and settling themselves on the lands which they light upon, which none had inhabited before, they called the nations by their own names." (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 6, Section 1).
Research done on the lost tribes of Israel by Steven M. Collins suggests that from Gomer, after the flood, sprung the oriental nations like China, from Magog sprung those who would live in Russia, and Javan produced those who would eventually migrate to Japan.
Japheth's descendants gave rise to peoples historically referred to as Cimmerians, Scythians, the Medians and Pares (who would later form the Medo-Persian Empire, which is considered the most powerful in ancient history), Phrygians and others.
Shem's Descendants
Shem's name means "renown" (Hitchcock's Bible Names). His five sons sired after the flood were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram (Genesis 10:22, 11:10). Aram's sons were Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech (Genesis 10:23, 1Chronicles 1:17). Arphaxad firstborn son is Salah (Genesis 10:24).
Salah's firstborn was Eber, whose name was used to derive the term "Hebrew" for his descendants. Abram (Abraham), the great-great-great-great grandson of Eber, was known as "Abram the Hebrew" (Genesis 14:13). It was through the line of Shem that Jesus, the Savior of mankind, was born.
Shem and his descendants, after the deluge, are believed to have migrated in areas on either side of the mighty Euphrates River and in the Arabian Peninsula. They also reached a section of Western Asia Minor and, according to Josephus, as far East as the Indian Ocean. Shem's progeny gave rise to the Persians, Assyrians, Chaldeans (Babylonians), Syrians, Lydians and others.
Ham's Migration
Ham, whose name means "hot, heat, brown" (Hitchcock's Bible Names), had four sons. Their names were Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan (Genesis 10:6, 1Chronicles 1:8). The six sons of Cush, Ham's oldest, are Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabtecha and the notorious Nimrod. Raamah's sons are Sheba and Dedan (Genesis 10:7 - 8, 1Chronicles 1:9 - 10).
According to Josephus, after the flood the children of Ham migrated to the lands of Syria and Amanus.
"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." (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 6, Section 2).
The descendants of Ham also populated many parts of northern and eastern Africa, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and other areas. Canaan, Ham's fourth son, lived in the part of the Holy Land later known as Judea and lent his name to the designation of the general area (the Land of Canaan).