It wasn't exactly smooth sailing.
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, things got a bit…complicated. Ham, you see, was not thrilled about his father's curse. So he did what any self-respecting, slightly disgruntled son would do: he packed up his family and moved out. He built his own city, naming it Neelatamauk after his wife. Japheth, not wanting to be outdone, followed suit, building Adataneses after his own wife. Only Shem stayed put, building his city, Zedeketelbab, near his father, remaining loyal. These three cities, we're told, were all near Mount Lubar, the very mountain where the ark had rested. Imagine, if you will, these first post-flood settlements, clustered around the ark's landing site like spokes on a wheel.
Noah, understandably, was concerned. He tried his best to pass down the wisdom he had, warning his descendants against the sins that had led to the flood in the first place – fornication, uncleanness, and all forms of iniquity. He pleaded with them to avoid jealousy and strife, fearing they'd repeat the mistakes of the past and descend into violence. "Don't be annihilated from the earth like those that went before!" he urged. He even passed down laws about not using the fruit of a tree for the first three years, a law mirroring agricultural practices meant to honor the land. He reminded them of the teachings of Enoch, passed down through generations: "When he lived, in his generation, which was the seventh generation of man, he commanded it and testified it unto his children and his children's children, until the day of his death."
But how do you divide up an entire world?
The story goes that in the year 1569 after creation, Noah, with the help of an angel, divided the earth among his three sons by lot. Each son drew a slip of paper, and Shem landed the middle of the earth, a portion blessed to remain his descendants' forever. Noah rejoiced, seeing this as fulfillment of his earlier blessing: "And God in the habitation of Shem." This, we’re told, is because three holy places – the Holy of Holies in the Temple, Mount Sinai, and Mount Zion – all fell within Shem’s territory. Ham got the south (hot!), Japheth the north (cold!). Shem’s land, as you might guess, was a mix of both.
This division, by the way, happened towards the end of the life of Peleg. Ever wonder about that name, Peleg? Well, his father, Eber, a prophet, knew the earth would be divided in his son's time. Peleg in Hebrew means "division"! His brother was named Joktan, because the lifespan of humans was shortened in his time. Names in the Bible, and in Jewish tradition, are rarely arbitrary. They often carry profound meaning.
Each son, in turn, divided his portion among his children. Noah, ever the worried patriarch, threatened a curse on anyone who tried to grab land that wasn't theirs. And they all cried, "So be it! So be it!" Imagine the scene: seventy-two nations, each with its own language and culture, spreading out across the globe. Forty-four lands to Japheth, thirty-four to Ham, and twenty-six to Shem. And languages and writing systems to match! Shem even got an extra set of written characters: Hebrew.
Interestingly, the land eventually promised to the twelve sons of Jacob – the land of Israel – was provisionally granted to other nations, tasked with caring for it until the "rightful owners" arrived.
But here's where it gets even more interesting. With the new world order established, unclean spirits started causing trouble. Upon Noah's plea, God sent the angel Raphael to banish most of them, leaving just a tenth for Mastema to punish sinners. But get this: Raphael, with the help of the chief of the unclean spirits (talk about an unlikely alliance!), revealed to Noah all the remedies hidden within plants. It's like divine damage control! Noah, being the responsible guy he was, recorded all of this in a book, which he then passed down to Shem. According to the tradition, this book became the source for all medical knowledge, influencing the wise men of India, Aram, Macedonia, and Egypt. – a single book, passed down from father to son, shaping the course of medicine for millennia!
The sages of India focused on trees and spices, the Arameans on grains and seeds, and the Macedonians were the first to apply medical knowledge practically. The Egyptians? They went the magic and astrology route, studying the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) of the Chaldees.
The story even touches on Aesculapius, the legendary Macedonian physician, who, along with forty magicians, journeyed to the edge of Paradise in search of the tree of life. They were hoping to spread their fame throughout the world. Alas, their quest ended in flames, literally. They found the healing trees, but when they reached out to take them, lightning struck them down, wiping out all medical knowledge. It wasn't until the time of Artaxerxes that medicine revived, thanks to figures like Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Galen, and the Hebrew Asaph.
So, what does it all mean? It's a story about inheritance, responsibility, and the enduring power of knowledge. It's about how even after a cataclysmic event like the flood, human nature – both good and bad – persists. It shows us that even in the face of immense challenges, the pursuit of knowledge, healing, and connection remains a constant thread in the human story. And maybe, just maybe, it reminds us that even the most unlikely sources can offer wisdom, if we're willing to listen.
When it became known to Ham that his father had cursed him, he fled ashamed, and with his family he settled in the city built by him, and named Neelatamauk for his wife. Jealous of his brother, Japheth followed his example. He likewise built a city which he named for his wife, Adataneses. Shem was the only one of the sons of Noah who did not abandon him. In the vicinity of his father's home, by the mountain, he built his city, to which he also gave his wife's name, Zedeketelbab. The three cities are all near Mount Lubar, the eminence upon which the ark rested. The first lies to the south of it, the second to the west, and the third to the east. Noah endeavored to inculcate the ordinances and the commands known to him upon his children and his children's children. In particular he admonished them against the fornication, the uncleanness, and all the iniquity which had brought the flood down upon the earth. He reproached them with living apart from one another, and with their jealousies, for he feared that, after his death, they might go so far as to shed human blood. Against this he warned them impressively, that they be not annihilated from the earth like those that went before. Another law which he enjoined upon them, to observe it, was the law ordaining that the fruit of a tree shall not be used the first three years it bears, and even in the fourth year it shall be the portion of the priests alone, after a part thereof has been offered upon the altar of God. And having made an end of giving his teachings and injunctions, Noah said: "For thus did Enoch, your ancestor, exhort his son Methuselah, and Methuselah his son Lamech, and Lamech delivered all unto me as his father had bidden him, and now I do exhort you, my children, as Enoch exhorted his son. When he lived, in his generation, which was the seventh generation of man, he commanded it and testified it unto his children and his children's children, until the day of his death." In the year 1569 after the creation of the world, Noah divided the earth by lot among his three sons, in the presence of an angel. Each one stretched forth his hand and took a slip from the bosom of Noah. Shem's slip was inscribed with the middle of the earth, and this portion became the inheritance of his descendants unto all eternity. Noah rejoiced that the lot had assigned it to Shem. Thus was fulfilled his blessing upon him, "And God in the habitation of Shem," for three holy places fell within his precincts—the Holy of Holies in the Temple, Mount Sinai, the middle point of the desert, and Mount Zion, the middle point of the navel of the earth. The south fell to the lot of Ham, and the north became the inheritance of Japheth. The land of Ham is hot, Japheth's cold, but Shem's is neither hot nor cold, its temperature is hot and cold mixed. This division of the earth took place toward the end of the life of Peleg, the name given to him by his father Eber, who, being a prophet, knew that the division of the earth would take place in the time of his son. The brother of Peleg was called Joktan, because the duration of the life of man was shortened in his time. In turn, the three sons of Noah, while they were still standing in the presence of their father, divided each his portion among his children, Noah threatening with his curse any who should stretch out his hand to take a portion not assigned to him by lot. And they all cried, "So be it! So be it!" Thus were divided one hundred and four lands and ninety-nine islands among seventy-two nations, each with a language of its own, using sixteen different sets of characters for writing. To Japheth were allotted forty-four lands, thirty-three islands, twenty-two languages, and five kinds of writing; Ham received thirty-four lands, thirty-three islands, twenty-four languages, and five kinds of writing; and Shem twenty-six lands, thirty-three islands, twenty-six languages, and six kinds of writing—one set of written characters more to Shem than to either of his brothers, the extra set being the Hebrew. The land appointed as the inheritance of the twelve sons of Jacob was provisionally granted to Canaan, Zidon, Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. It was the duty of these nations to take care of the land until the rightful owners should come. No sooner had the children of Noah and their children's children taken possession of the habitations apportioned to them, than the unclean spirits began to seduce men and torment them with pain and all sorts of suffering leading to spiritual and physical death. Upon the entreaties of Noah God sent down the angel Raphael, who banished nine-tenths of the unclean spirits from the earth, leaving but one-tenth for Mastema, to punish sinners through them. Raphael, supported by the chief of the unclean spirits, at that time revealed to Noah all the remedies residing in plants, that he might resort to them at need. Noah recorded them in a book, which he transmitted to his son Shem. This is the source to which go back all the medical books whence the wise men of India, Aram, Macedonia, and Egypt draw their knowledge. The sages of India devoted themselves particularly to the study of curative trees and spices; the Arameans were well versed in the knowledge of the properties of grains and seeds, and they translated the old medical books into their language. The wise men of Macedonia were the first to apply medical knowledge practically, while the Egyptians sought to effect cures by means of magic arts and by means of astrology, and they taught the Midrash of the Chaldees, composed by Kangar, the son of Ur, the son of Kesed. Medical skill spread further and further until the time of aesculapius. This Macedonian sage, accompanied by forty learned magicians, journeyed from country to country, until they came to the land beyond India, in the direction of Paradise. They hoped there to find some wood of the tree of life, and thus spread their fame abroad over the whole world. Their hope was frustrated. When they arrived at the spot, they found healing trees and wood of the tree of life, but when they were in the act of stretching forth their hands to gather what they desired, lightning darted out of the ever-turning sword, smote them to the ground, and they were all burnt. With them disappeared all knowledge of medicine, and it did not revive until the time of the first Artaxerxes, under the Macedonian sage Hippocrates, Dioscorides of Baala, Galen of Caphtor, and the Hebrew Asaph.
