Genesis 5:32 and 11:10 name him as the eldest son of No'ach; he becomes the eponym of the Semitic peoples: Persians (though not Iranians, who insist they are Aryans), Assyrians, Aramaeans, and some of the Arab nations, as well, of course, as the Jews.
His siblings are Yaphet and Cham, who become the Japhethite (white Europeans, aka Caucasians) and Hamite (black peoples of Africa) of this rather absurd and incomplete sub-division of humanity.
SHEM means "name"; Ha-Shem is now used by some orthodox Jews as a superstitious substitute for Elohim and YHVH.
Genesis 10:22 ff lists the immediate descendants of Shem as Eylam (Persia), Ashur (Assyria), Arphachshad (Chaldea), Lud (the Arab nations) and Aram (Turkey)
Graves/Patai say he was really Melchi-Tsedek, king of Shalem, which is rather surprising and needs some explaining. Unfortunately I am not able to offer that explanation, but the link is to their book, and it may help you to do so.
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