Wives aboard Noah's Ark Noah's wife was one of his "own kindred" (). In the Book of Jubilees (160–150 BC) the names of the wives of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth are as follows: It adds that the three sons each built a city named after their wife. (written in the late 1st century AD) states that there were eight people on the Ark. According to the Sibylline Oracles, the wives of Shem, Ham and Japheth enjoyed fantastically long lifespans, living for centuries, while speaking prophecy to each generation they saw come and go. According to the preface of the "Oracles", the Sibyl author
Japheth as having been composed in stages beginning with the time of Solomon, when the Philistines still existed (they vanish from history after the Babylonian conquest of Canaan). However, Genesis 10:14 identifies their ancestor as Ham rather than Japheth. For those who take the genealogies of Genesis to be historically accurate, Japheth is commonly believed to be the father of Europeans. The link between Japheth and the Europeans stems from Genesis 10:5, which states: According to that book, Japheth and his two brothers formed the three major races: William Shakespeare's play "Henry IV, Part II" contains a wry comment about people