Elam (עֵילָם) in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10:22, Ezra 4:9;) is said to be the oldest son of Shem, the son of Noah. It is also used (as in Akkadian), for the country of Elam in what is now southern Iran, that the Hebrews believed to be the offspring of Elam, son of Shem. This implies that the Elamites were considered Semites by the Hebrews, although their language was actually unrelated to the Semitic languages family. This does not conflict with Hebrew beliefs because the Hebrews believed that the diversity of human languages originated at the Tower of Babel.