Genesis 10 - 12

Chapter 10 gives an account of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and their descendants. Japheth's family became a sea-faring people who probably migrated west and north to become first the Phoenicians, then the Europeans, Scandanavians and Russians.
Ham had a son named Cush, which was also the name of a country in Africa until later, when the name of that country became Sudan. Chapter 10 says that Ham's descendants migrated to the south of Ararat into Gaza and farther.
The Israelites are descendants of Shem, who the text says settled in the eastern hill country and became known as Shemites then Semites.
Chapter 11 tells us that after the flood, there was only one language. Of course, it would have been so, since only one family remained.
Cush had a son he named Nimrod. Genesis 10:8 tells us that Nimrod grew to be a mighty warrior. Nimrod tried to keep everyone centered around the city he built, Babylon, where he began to build a monument to himself, which came to be known as the Tower of Babel. God was not pleased with this display of idolatry, so He caused them all to speak different languages, resulting in mass confusion. Work on the tower and city ground to a halt. The people were all babbling and couldn't communicate with one another, so they scattered out and went separate ways.
Shem had a son in his 100th year and the rest of chapter 11 basically traces Shem's offspring down to the next major players on the Biblical Stage, Abram and Lot. Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans, which is located in present-day Iraq. Abram's father, Terah, had in mind to migrate to Canaan, but he only got as far as Haran, which is near the headwaters of the Euphrates River, where he died at the relatively young age of 205 years.
God chose a man, Abram, his family, and his tribe to be the ancestors of His earthly offspring, and called them out to begin consecreating them for this purpose. Chapter 12 tells us that He told Abram to "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you."--Genesis 12:1. It is here that God pronounces that whoever blesses Abram and his descendants, He will bless, and whoever curses them, He will curse, "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."--Genesis 12:3. This promise still stands today.
Abram went, but took some extra baggage with him. He only partially obeyed God. He took with them, his nephew, Lot, and others of his father's family, whereas God had told him to leave them. Lot will cause "lots" of problems for his Uncle Abram for many years.
When he arrived in Canaan, which is the region around present-day Jerusalem, God promised that land to Abram and his offspring. Then Abram traveled on toward Egypt because food was scarce in Canaan at the time.
Arriving in Egypt, Abram commits the first of several sins and blunders. That is what I respect about the Bible. If it was just a book about heroes, it wouldn't give us the sordid details of their mistakes and sins. The Bible doesn't sugar-coat anything. It gives us these details so that we will know these people were real. They were human, just like us, and we can learn from their mistakes. Abram feared for his life because his wife was very beautiful. He knew the customary thing would be for the King of Egypt to kill him and put his beautiful Sarai into a harem. So, they agreed she would say she was his sister, which was only a half-lie, because she was his half-sister, and also his wife. God had not forbidden these marital practices yet, but he will later, when he gives instructions to Moses.
So the Pharaoh (King) of Egypt did, indeed, take Sarai into his harem, not knowing she was another man's wife. In fact, he honored Abram with lavish gifts and treated him well, thinking he was the beautiful woman's brother. But God intervened in this situation and "inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his people," as Chapter 12 tells us. Pharaoh finally discerned the cause of the trouble and hastily sent Sarai back to Abram with a strong admonishment. They were sent out of Egypt, but a little richer for the experience. However, Abram didn't learn the lesson here, as we will see him repeat the same sin in a later episode.