Meaning of the Name Ham
Its origin is debated; it is linked either with the Hebrew ham, 'hot', or with kmt, 'the black land', an ancient name for Egypt. The Psalms call Egypt the land of Ham, which shows the name's association with Egypt, but the precise etymology remains uncertain. It has no connection with the Turkish word ham, 'raw' or 'unripe'.
Origin
The name Ham is of Hebrew; the origin is debated origin.
Who is Ham in the Bible?
Ham is one of Noah's three sons and survives the flood in the ark. After he sees his drunken father's nakedness and tells his brothers, Noah pronounces a curse on Ham's son Canaan. The table of nations in Genesis traces the peoples of Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan to his line.
The story of Ham in the Bible
Ham is one of Noah's sons and belongs, with his brothers Shem and Japheth, to the family that survived the flood. After the flood Noah plants a vineyard, drinks wine, becomes drunk and lies uncovered in his tent. Ham sees his father's nakedness and tells his brothers outside; Shem and Japheth, however, turn their faces away and cover their father with a garment. When Noah wakes and learns what happened, he directs his curse not at Ham but at Ham's son Canaan, saying that Canaan will be a servant to his brothers. This detail matters: throughout history the passage has been distorted to demean peoples assumed to descend from Ham and to justify slavery, yet the text speaks of no racial curse. The table of nations in Genesis 10 lists Ham's sons as Cush, Mizraim (Egypt), Put and Canaan; Nimrod and many peoples around Egypt, Canaan, Africa and Arabia are linked to this line. In the Psalms Egypt is poetically called the land of Ham, recalling Israel's years in Egypt. Ham's name thus lives on less through his own story than through the geography of the peoples traced to him.
Is Ham mentioned in the Quran?
The name Ham does not appear in the Quran, which does not name Noah's sons. In Islamic tradition, Ham is known as one of Noah's sons; in the Bible he appears in Genesis as one of the three sons who survived the flood.
Verses where Ham appears
- Genesis 9:18 —
The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan.
- Genesis 9:22 —
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
- Genesis 10:6 —
The sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.