Lud, son of Shem Lud, son of Shem Lud (Hebrew: ) was a son of Shem and grandson of Noah, according to "Genesis" 10 (the "Table of Nations"). Lud should not be confused with the Ludim, said there to be descended from Mizraim, a son of Ham. The descendants of Lud are usually, following Josephus, connected with various Anatolian peoples, particularly Lydia (Assyrian "Luddu") and their predecessors, the Luwians; cf. Herodotus' assertion ("Histories" i. 7) that the Lydians were first so named after their king, Lydus (Λυδός). However, the chronicle of Hippolytus of Rome (c. 234 AD) identifies Lud's descendants with the "Lazones" or
Curse of Ham and Phut the Libyans. In medieval Christian exegesis, Ham's sin was regarded as laughter (for mocking his father and doing nothing to rectify his condition). Elsewhere in Medieval Europe, the "Curse of Ham" also became used as a justification for serfdom. Honorius Augustodunensis (c. 1100) was the first recorded to propose a caste system associating Ham with serfdom, writing that serfs were descended from Ham, nobles from Japheth, and free men from Shem. However, he also followed the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7:21 by Ambrosiaster (late 4th century), which held that as servants in the temporal world, these "Hamites" were