Based, in part, on Shem being next to Stygia, I never thought of them as anything but proto-Semitic. The name "Shem" itself is another dead givaway, being the name that the BIble gives to the ancestors of all the Semites. Other clues may be the anti-Semitic stereotyping that Howard heaped on his Shemites on at least one occasion. In "Queen of the Black Coast" he claims, (this is from memory) "there was scant profit in trade with the sons of Shem."
Isn't this scant profit down to them not having any ports?
-- "Every winner is a villain, every loser is a hero. Just put on your two step shoes and lose the blues. . . and dance like it's year zero. . ." (Alabama 3)
