This grand stock--the Caucasian race--has been classified into three
main branches,--(1) the Aryan or Indo-European; (2) the Semitic; (3) the
Hamitic.
The Hamitic branch is named from Ham, the son of Noah, and ancestor of
some of its peoples, most notable of which was the ancient empire in
Egypt. Accounts of their conquests, under great dynasties of kings, have
come down to us in hieroglyphic inscriptions. The Egyptians became
highly civilized at a very early time, and exerted a marked influence on
the civilization of succeeding ages.
The Semitic branch is so called from Shem, also a son of Noah, described
in the Bible as ancestor of some of the nations which it includes. Its
chief historical representatives are the Hebrews, Phœnicians, Assyrians,
Arabs, and Babylonians. The early Semitic race conquered Chaldea, united
Sumer and Accad, and have similarly left us records of their early
civilization in cuneiform inscriptions and tablets. It is distinguished
in religious history, because from it originated the three faiths whose
main doctrine is that there is but one God; namely, the Jewish, the
Christian, and the Mohammedan. Apart from this, and with the special
exception of the ancient Phœnicians and Carthaginians, the Semitic
nations have not been generally distinguished for progress and
enterprise, but have mainly kept to their old home between the
Mediterranean, the river Tigris, and the Red Sea.