Canaanites Live: DNA Reveals Fate of Biblical People

[Judi Lynn]

By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | July 28, 2017 07:00am ET


The people of modern-day Lebanon can trace their genetic ancestry back to the Canaanites, new research finds.

The Canaanites were residents of the Levant (modern-day Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine) during the Bronze Age, starting about 4,000 years ago. They're best known from the Old Testament of the Bible, in which they're described as the cursed descendants of Canaan, blighted by God because Canaan's father dishonored his own father, the patriarch Noah. The Canaanites were often in conflict with the Israelite tribes that wrote the Hebrew Bible. In fact, the Book of Deuteronomy features Yahweh (God) ordering the Canaanites to be exterminated.

In part because the Canaanites kept their records on easily degradable papyrus rather than clay, little is known about their side of the story. But now, ancient DNA reveals that the Canaanites were the descendants of Stone Age settlers and the ancestors of the Lebanese. [Biblical Battles: 12 Ancient Wars Lifted from the Bible]

Genetic investigation

Haber, Tyler-Smith and their colleagues extracted ancient DNA from the bones of five Canaanites who died in the ancient city of Sidon (an area now in Lebanon). The skeletons dated from between 3,750 and 3,650 years ago. The researchers then compared the genetic sequences of these ancient Canaanites with those of 99 modern Lebanese people, as well as with ancient DNA sequences of more than 300 other people from an ancient DNA database.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/59967-canaanites-were-ancestors-of-lebanese.html?utm_source=notification

[tblue37]

1. K&R. nt

[dhol82]

2. Cool!

Love archeology, genetic history!