Ham (son of Noah)
Ham ( Hebrew: חָם, Greek Χαμ, pronunciation: Cham), according to the Tanakh and the Old Testament (Gen. 9:24) was the youngest son of Noah (Noah ) and is considered the progenitor of the Hamitic.
His father, Noah is according to the report of the Bible Ham have witnessed along with his two brothers at the age of over 500 years: And Noah was five hundred years old; and he begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ( 1 Moses 5:32). Ham helped his father in the construction of the ark and survived the Flood as one of only eight people along with his wife. Children should Ham have had only after the end of the flood.
According to tradition, the Bible in the table of nations in Genesis all living humans of Ham and of his two brothers, Shem and Japheth are descended.
The sons of Ham are Cush, the ancestor of a people probably south of Egypt, Mizraim, which is considered as the ancestor of the Egyptians, Put, progenitor of a people probably from the neighborhood of Egypt ( Libyan? ) And Canaan.
The curse on Ham
When Noah had gotten drunk on fermented juice of the grape, saw him stripped of his son Ham are in the tent and went to him. After he told it his brethren, Noah cursed Ham, Ham's son Canaan and his descendants, the previous inhabitants of the land of Canaan (Israel ), before being conquered by the Israelites; they should be eternal servants of other people. At the same time Shem and his brother Japheth were honored by a special blessing of his father, as they had covered him.
The background of the curse is controversial. Most classic translations of the Bible into modern languages suggest that Ham saw his drunken father Noah accidentally naked and was cursed for it. Today's researchers translate the original Hebrew passage, however, is usually quite different and expect not " seen naked " about just that Ham his unconscious father, but rather have slept with him (see also the German phrase " he knew his wife " ). Then Ham told his two brethren of his act. This reading was already widespread in the ancient world; as is discussed in the Talmud whether Ham Noah only raped or even (!) have castrated.
The curse of Ham has been widely used to justify the enslavement of popular Christian black Africans by Europeans, especially in the Calvinist- influenced United States.
Irish mythology
In Irish mythology, it is believed that Leprechaun, the central being of Irish mythology, is a descendant of Ham, who had come in the early days of the colonization of Ireland to the island.