The descendants of Shem such as Jews and Arabs especially that have lived for generations in the holy land are generally olive skinned in appearance. One of the sons of Shem was Elam. This is an ancient name for the people of Persia or Iran. This was the name was for them until the time of the Persian king Cyrus in the 6th century BC and was still used for this people even in the 1st century in the time of the New Testament when people from Iran and their language were called Elamites in Acts 2 in the speaking in tongues at Pentecost. A version of this word Elam is Haltamti in their own language and this gives rise to the modern word Khuzistan for the Elamite area of Persia or Iran. Another son of Shem and grandson of Noah was Asshur which is translated in the King James Version and other sources as Assyria which was one of the major ancient civilizations. Asshur was later made into a god by his descendants and all subsequent kings of Assyria regarded their right and authority to rule as with the permission of their ancestor Asshur. Another son of Shem and grandson of Noah was Arphaxad. He is regarded as the ancestor of the Chaldeans. This is based strongly on a reference in some ancient documents called the Hurrian tablets that have a reference to Arip-hurra (Arphaxad) - the founder of Chaldea. The Chaldeans were later associated with the Babylonians. These people were regarded by people like the Assyrians as accomplished astrologers, magicians and mathematicians. It was also through Arphaxad that Abraham and the Jews (and Arabs) came through Abraham's sons Isaac and Ishmael. Abraham himself was descended from Arphaxad through Eber then Peleg then Reu then Serug then Nahor then Terah then Abram or Abraham. Eber is probably the one from which the term Hebrew is derived. Another son of Shem and grandson of Noah is Lud. The descendants of Lud were the Lydians who settled in the current Western Turkey. The main city of Lydia was Sardis which is one of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3. Finally the other son of Shem and grandson of Noah was Aram. Aram is the Hebrew translation for Syria and any instance of the word Syria in the Old Testament is derived from the word Aram. The Syrians' own name for themselves was Arameans. The name of their language was Aramaic which was a common language of the Middle East at least up to the time of the Lord Jesus Christ who also spoke Aramaic as did other people in Israel in his days of his first earthly ministry. The scripture reference in Genesis 10 for the sons of Shem and grandsons of Noah is as follows:
Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. Genesis 10:21-22
From secular history one of the kings of Ur which was in the south of Shinar or Sumer which was later called Chaldea was Amar-Sin. He ruled Ur from 2046 to 2038 BC. This was shortly before the fall of Ur in 2004 BC by some estimates. This Amar-Sin was one of the last great rulers of Ur and he conducted many battles and there was an alliance at that time with his kingdom and that of Elam or what was later called Persia. This was also within the accepted time of the lifetime of Abraham of the Bible who the Bible says quite clearly was born in and came from Ur before he moved to found the nation of Israel in the Holy Land or land of Canaan. According to the Bible in Genesis 14 in Abraham's day there was a battle with the kings of Sodom and other places then at the south end of the Dead Sea and some kings from the east that included Amraphel king of Shinar. Ur was a part of Sumer from which Shinar is the Hebrew name and as well as being at the right time and the right place Amraphel bears some resemblance to Amar-Sin so there could be a correlation between these kings although I don't have enough information to prove this more conclusively. Assuming though that this is true, this would put some context in secular history to the time and circumstances of Abraham the servant of God. The scripture reference from Genesis 14 mentioning Amraphel and his battle together with other kings of the east and the kings of the plain of the Dead Sea in which Abraham was to some extent involved with his fighting men is as follows:
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Bisha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashtoreth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abrah the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. Genesis 14:1-16
In God's word the Holy Bible there is a table of nations or geneaology of the ancestors or founders of all nations now on Earth. These are all derived from the patriarch Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives who were the only people to survive the worldwide flood that was God's judgment on the pre-flood world of people for all their sins. One of the sons of Noah was Shem through whom also came, as noted above, the Israelites and the Arabs. However when God sent Hagar and her son Ishmael to the east country that is Arabia there were already some people there. These would include descendents of Joktan the other son of Heber a descendent of Shem besides Peleg Joktan's brother. One of the boundaries that is mentioned in Genesis 10 for the sons of Joktan was in the West of Arabia and is called Mesha in Genesis 10:30 and is contrasted with Mount Sephar in the east of Arabia in Genesis 10:30. I believe with time and perhaps changes of languages that Mesha could have been the Hebrew or an earlier name of the city of Mecca that is the city where Mohammed the founder of Islam is from and where he sought to start the religion of Islam and where they still have their main religious site or pilgrimage city in the Grand Mosque there. Map 1 of the First Scofield Reference Bible published by Barbour Publishers has the title The Distribution of the Posterity (Descendents) of Noah (Genesis 10). This map has a city called Mesha just more than half way down to the Arabian Sea from the Sinai Peninsula near the Arabian coast of the Red Sea. This is exactly or almost exactly the current location of Mecca the main city of Muslims and Mohammed. So I think at least this time in Genesis 10:30 Mecca is mentioned in God's word the Holy Bible as a place where the sons of Joktan the descendent of Shem settled after the flood of Noah. The scripture reference from Genesis 10 of Mesha as a city at the western boundary in Arabia of the settled area of the sons and other descendents of Joktan the son of Shem is as follows:
Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. ... Unto Shem also, the father of the all the children of Heber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east. Genesis 10:1, 21-30
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