Noach (parsha) and seventh readings (, "aliyot"). In the first reading (, "aliyah"), the Torah writes that Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his age, who walked with God (in one many of His original translated names). Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. God saw that all flesh on earth had become corrupt and lawless. The first closed portion (, "setumah") ends here. In the continuation of the reading, God told Noah that God had decided to bring a flood to destroy all flesh. God directed Noah to make an ark of gopher wood and cover it with pitch
Ethnic groups in Europe Japheth from early times, corresponding to the division of the known world into three continents, the descendants of Shem peopling Asia and those of Ham peopling Africa. Identification of Europeans as "Japhetites" is also reflected in early suggestions for terming the Indo-European languages "Japhetic". In this tradition, the "Historia Brittonum" (9th century) introduces a genealogy of the peoples of the Migration period (as it was remembered in early medieval historiography) as follows, The text goes then on to list the genealogy of Alanus, connecting him to Japheth via eighteen generations. European culture is largely rooted in what is often referred