Genesis identifies Ham as the father of Canaan, making him the son of Noah named as Canaan’s ancestor. Noah’s three sons are Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who appear together in the flood narrative and its aftermath.
Genesis 9 tells a difficult and much-discussed episode involving Noah, Ham, and Canaan after Noah becomes drunk and lies uncovered in his tent. The passage ends with Noah pronouncing a curse on Canaan, not directly on Ham. Later interpreters have debated the meaning of the episode and its relationship to ethnic and political traditions.
The text’s genealogy should not be confused with later claims that use the “curse of Ham” to justify racism or slavery. Those interpretations are historically influential but do not turn the story into a biological explanation of human differences. In the biblical family lists, Ham is also associated with Cush, Egypt, and Put, while Shem and Japheth receive their own genealogical lines.