Lud

Who is Lud?

Lud was a son of Shem and grandson of Noah, according to Genesis 10. 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 and their predecessors, the Luwians; cf. Herodotus' assertion that the Lydians were first so named after their king, Lydus. However, the chronicle of Hippolytus of Rome identifies Lud's descendants with the Lazones or Alazonii while it derives the Lydians from the aforementioned Ludim, son of Mizraim.

The Book of Jubilees, in describing how the world was divided between Noah's sons and grandsons, says that Lud received "the mountains of Asshur and all appertaining to them till it reaches the Great Sea, and till it reaches the east of Asshur his brother." The Ethiopian version reads, more clearly "... until it reaches, toward the east, toward his brother Asshur's portion." Jubilees also says that Japheth's son Javan received islands in front of Lud's portion, and that Tubal received three large peninsulae, beginning with the first peninsula nearest Lud's portion.