Ham is one of the three sons of Noah (Genesis 5:32). Most notably, he is known for an incident with his father after the flood in Genesis 9:20-27: Noah had fallen asleep naked in his tent after drinking too much wine. Ham saw his father in this state and told his two other brothers, Japheth and Shem, who then entered backwards into Noah’s tent with a garment draped on their backs. They laid the garment over Noah and left without seeing Noah’s nakedness. Noah curses Ham’s son, Canaan, as a consequence of Ham’s disrespect: “lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers” (9:25 NRSVUE).

Ham had four sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan, whose descendants and the lands they inhabited are described in Genesis 10:6-20.