Historical race concepts Classical ideas with the notion that humanity as a whole was descended from Shem, Ham and Japheth, the three sons of Noah, producing distinct Semitic (Asiatic), Hamitic (African), and Japhetic (Indo-European) peoples. This theory dates back to the Babylonian "Talmud", which states, "the descendants of Ham are cursed by being black, and [it] depicts Ham as a sinful man and his progeny as degenerates." In the 9th century, Al-Jahiz, an Afro-Arab Islamic philosopher, attempted to explain the origins of different human skin colors, particularly black skin, which he believed to be the result of the environment. He cited a stony
Japheth Kimutai Japheth Kimutai Japheth Kimutai (born December 20, 1978 in Lelmokwo, Nandi District) is a Kenyan middle distance runner who specialized in 800 metres. In 1998 he won the gold medal at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in a time of 1:43.82. In the same year he won the African Championships 800 metres in Dakar, Senegal. He finished fourth at the 1998 IAAF World Cup In 1999 he won gold at the All-Africa Games. In 2000 in Sydney for the Olympic Games Japheth failed to reach the final despite running the quickest time by a Kenyan in the games. He had