Biblical History of Man: The Flood to Babel part 1

We described the earth after the flood as barren and with a different climate than before the flood.  Prior to the flood, there was no rain; after it, there was.  Obviously what we now know as the water cycle became a pattern on the earth at the flood.

As for mankind, man had to begin all over again.  There were only 8 people still alive who would then be the re-builders of earth's population.  They began life anew with only what they had taken on the ark with them.  Ever wonder what they had besides animals and food?  Ever wonder what those 8 people carried forward in their heads...what knowledge they held that became the basis for beginning their culture again?  The lifespan of man before the flood was in excess of 900 years...plus their lifespans overlapped with as many as 7 other generations for a substantial amount of time.  What great amount of learning could any person gain in such a long time?

God's covenant with Noah.
One of the first things recorded in scripture at the end of the flood is the covenant God made with Noah.  The main points of this covenant are:

• God blessed Noah
• He commanded him to be fruitful and multiply
• Fear of man will be on every beast and bird and fish, but man would have dominion
• All living things are given to both man and beast for food
• Man is not to consume the blood...for life is in the blood
• Any that kills man...whether man or beast...God requires its life
• Never again will God destroy by flood
• God gives the rainbow as a sign of this covenant
• The covenant was with Noah, his descendants, and all the animals

It is this covenant that establishes the foundation for human government, for it is for man to judge the issue when man or animal kills a man, and to take the life of the one responsible.

Scripture says little about what Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their wives did after getting off the ark.  The ark is high on a mountain, and to set up camp at that location is unlikely.  But it provides immediate shelter.  They may have searched for an appropriate location to be able to "set up camp" that wasn't too far away.  They would have had to carry anything they had on the ark to their new base. 

Scripture does tell us that Noah began farming and he planted a vineyard.  So we know that besides animals and food, Noah at least took some tools and he took some cuttings from some grapevines that would give him a start in a new world.
We also know that enough time passed that those grapevines were old enough to bear enough fruit to make wine.  Several years would have passed before those grapes could be harvested, and possibly several decades.

Noah's curse
The next major event recorded in scripture is Noah's curse.  The event that precipitates this curse is a simple one.  Noah had made wine from his grapes and had become intoxicated.  In his sleep, in his tent, he became uncovered.  Ham entered, saw his father uncovered, and went back out to tell his brothers. He was "amused" at his father's expense.  Moses gives us no other details and we should assume none.  Shem and Japheth took Noah's discarded outer garment and covered Noah in a manner that did not allow them to see their father's nakedness.

When Noah awoke he was fully aware of what had happened. Since Ham wasn't afraid to tell his brothers, he probably wasn't afraid to tell anyone else either.  It was evidently common knowledge.

Noah's curse is this:

• Canaan (Ham's son) is to be cursed.  He will be a servant to his brothers.  That would be Cush, Put, and Mizraim.
• The God of Shem is praised.  Canaan will be servant to Shem.
• God will enlarge Japheth and he will dwell with Shem.  Canaan will also be a servant to Japheth.

There may be many fulfillments of these blessings and cursings but at least these are true:

• Shem's is the line from which comes the Messiah.  Japheth's line is often associated with Shem's, but never more than in the church, when Christianity spread far and wide in Japheth's descendants.
• In Joshua 9, when Israel entered the promised land under Joshua, they were commanded to utterly destroy the Canaanites.  But one group of Canaanites deceived them concerning their identity and extracted a promise that they would not be killed.  Instead they became slaves.

I will make one comment here.  I believe this event happened several decades after the flood.  Ham has several sons and his son Canaan is not the oldest.  But he is old enough for his character to be recognized.  Evidently Noah recognized that Ham's character was obvious in his son Canaan and that character will later be evident in the nations that arose from him. 

I will insert one more comment.  Based on an improper interpretation and application of these verses, people in past times (well, some still do today) have believed that the curse was on Ham, and that that curse was of black skin.  This gross distortion of scripture was used to justify the heinous behavior of man in the institution of slavery of the black peoples.  There is absolutely no justification for this behavior.

The later move to Shinar
Scripture does not give us a timeframe for when men moved to the area of Shinar (Sumer).  It only tells us this (Genesis 11:1-2):
1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
The next verses tell us of their plan to build a tower, etc.

So.  There's a goodly number of people involved here.  Not just a handful.  So some time has passed.  They journeyed from the east, and came to Shinar.  Daniel 1:1-2 confirms for us that Shinar is the land of Babylon...the land of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers...currently the country of Iraq.  And east of Shinar is the country of Iran.  They came from that direction.

I move now to the realm of speculation.  In the earliest tablets excavated from Sumer, there is reference to trade regularly carried out with a civilization called Aratta.  And Aratta is wealthy, a source of ores and precious stones.  It is east of Sumer, accessible by watercourse, yet still far away.  It is also referred to in the Mahabharata of the Indus-Sarasvati culture, which was just east of Iran in the current country of Pakistan.  Now, in Hebew, Aratta would be written RRT.  Ararat would be written RRT.  So would Urartu, a culture located in the area of Turkey and northern Iran. 

I would like to offer the suggestion that Aratta is near to the mountains of Ararat, that it is where Noah and his family first settled, that when people went to the land of Shinar (Sumer) that not all of them left, and that there continued to be trade between the two groups.

No, this idea is not in scripture, but scripture is scanty in its descriptions.  This is based on what we do have in scripture as well as archaeological evidence that has been recovered.  Just a thought.