Phut is placed between Egypt and Canaan in GE 10:6, and elsewhere we find the people of Phut described as mercenaries in the armies of Egypt and Tyre (Jer 46:9; Eze 30:5; 27:10). In a fragment of the annuals of Nebuchadrezzar which records his invasion of Egypt, reference is made to "Phut of the Ionians."

Third among Ham's sons (Ge 10:6; 1Ch 1:8). The Coptic for Libya is Phaiat. Jerome (Traditional Hebrew) mentions a river of Mauritania and the adjoining region as called Phut. It is generally connected with Egypt and Ethiopia; in Genesis the order is, from the S. advancing northwards, Cush (Ethiopia), Mizraim, Phut (a dependency of Egypt), Canaan (Jer 46:9; Eze 30:5; Na 3:9; Isa 66:9 where "Phut" should be read for "Pul"). But in Eze 27:10; 38:5, Phut is associated with Persia, Lud, and Ethiopia; however this is no proof of geographical connection, it is merely an enumeration of regions from whence mercenaries came.

The people of Phut dwelt close to Egypt and Ethiopia,and served in Egypt's armies with shield and bow. The Egyptian monuments mention a people, "Pet," whose emblem was the unstrung bow, and who dwelt in what is now Nubia, between Egypt and Ethiopia. Herodotus (iii. 21-22) narrates that the king of Ethiopia unstrung a bow and gave it to Cambyses' messengers, saying that when the king of Persia could pull a bow so easily he might come against the Ethiopians with an army stronger than theirs. The Naphtuhim are distinct, living W. of the Delta; the IX Na-petu, or "nine bows". (See NAPHTUHIM.) Phut is To-pet or Nubia; and To-meru-pet "the island of the bow," answering to Meroe. The bow of Libya was strung, that of Ethiopia unstrung.

PHUT or PUT, the posterity of Phut, the son of Ham, Ge 10:6. Calmet is of opinion that Phut, the third son of Ham, peopled either the canton of Phtemphu, Phtemphti, Phtembuti, of Pliny and Ptolemy, whose capital was Thara, in Lower Egypt, inclining toward Libya; or the canton called Phtenotes, of which Buthas was the capital. The prophets often speak of Phut. In the time of Jer 46:9, Phut was under the obedience of Necho, king of Egypt. Na 3:9, reckons this people in the number of those who ought to come to the assistance of No-Ammon, or Diospolis.