Ancient Near East
Home of many cradles of civilization
Follow Ancient Near East on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
We include updates on Achaemenid Empire, Jews, Sumer, Aphrodite, Kurds, Phoenicia, Arabs, Assyria, Samaritans, Armenians, Israelites, Ariadne, Parthian Empire, Code of Hammurabi, Late Bronze Age collapse, Cradle of civilization ... and more.
| 2024 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A genome-wide study was conducted on 39 individuals from Soqotra, analyzing genetic connections between the island and the Hadramawt region, revealing unique ancestral patterns and migration insights from 650–1750 CE.
|
| 2023 |
Ancient history of the Negev
Tali Erickson-Gini revives the older 'Israel hypothesis' about the origins of Negev settlements, challenging previous archaeological interpretations.
|
| 2020 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A study in the American Journal of Human Genetics reveals 91-67% genetic continuity in Lebanon since the Bronze Age, with three significant admixture events during the Iron Age, Hellenistic, and Ottoman periods, each contributing 3-11% non-local ancestry.
|
| 2020 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A research study published in Cell examined human remains from Chalcolithic Amuq valley, Ebla, and Alalakh, discovering complex population mixtures during the Late Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age transition, with evidence of genetic contributions from Neolithic Levantine, Anatolian, Zagros-related, Iranian, and Southern Levantine ancestries.
|
| 2020 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A study on Middle Bronze Age Canaanite human remains revealed that Levantine populations derive 81–87% of their ancestry from Bronze age Levantines
|
| 2020 | A genetic study by Agranat-Tamr et al. confirmed genetic continuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age southern Levantine populations, including Israelites and Judahites, showing they could be modeled as a mixture of Neolithic local populations and populations from the northeastern Near East. |
| March 2020 |
Early Dynastic Period
Archaeologists announced the discovery of a 5,000-year-old cultic area at the site of Girsu, revealing over 300 broken ceremonial ceramic artifacts, including a unique duck-shaped bronze figurine with bark eyes dedicated to Nanshe, providing significant insights into early Mesopotamian ritual practices.
|
| March 1 2020 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Researchers published an analysis of mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal haplogroups of 18th Dynasty mummies, including Tutankhamun, in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. The study confirmed previous data about Tutankhamun's ancestry and supported the proposed sibling relationship between his parents Akhenaten and the 'younger lady' mummy.
|
| 2019 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A Wellcome Sanger Institute study of Crusader remains in Lebanon concludes that Crusaders did not significantly impact Lebanese Christian genetics, with modern Lebanese Christians being more genetically similar to locals from the Roman period.
|
| May 31 2019 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
National Geographic discontinues selling Geno kits and stops processing genetic results for The Genographic Project.
|
| 2018 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A genetic study analyzed 22 individuals from the Peki'in cave during the Chalcolithic Period, revealing a unique genetic makeup with local Levantine, Anatolian, and Zagros-related ancestries, and notably identifying individuals with blue eyes - a phenotypical characteristic not seen in earlier Levantine populations.
|
| 2018 |
4.2-kiloyear event
International Commission on Stratigraphy divided the Holocene epoch into three periods, establishing the Meghalayan stage with a boundary stratotype from Mawmluh cave in India and an ice core from Mount Logan in Canada.
|
| 2017 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A Nature study analyzed three ancient Egyptian mummies spanning 1,300 years of Egyptian history. Two mummies were assigned to haplogroup J and one to haplogroup E1b1b1, with findings suggesting higher genetic affinities with near eastern populations compared to modern Egyptians.
|
| 2017 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics confirms that 93% of Lebanese genetic ancestry derives from Canaanites, with 7% from a Eurasian steppe population, based on DNA comparison between ancient and modern populations.
|
| 2015 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Verónica Fernandes and colleagues concluded that Palestinians have a primarily indigenous origin based on genetic studies
|
| 2013 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Pierre Zalloua highlights that genetic variation in Lebanon predates religious divisions, describing religions as 'layers of paint' on pre-existing genetic communities.
|
| 2013 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
First genetic study using next-generation sequencing on Ancient Egyptian individuals was published, analyzing DNA from five mummies dated between 806 BC and 124 AD. One mummified individual was found to likely belong to mtDNA haplogroup I2, believed to have originated in Western Asia.
|
| 2012 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Genetic analysis of 20th dynasty mummies of Ramesses III and 'Unknown Man E' revealed identical Y chromosomal haplogroup E1b1a (E-M2), suggesting a potential familial relationship.
|
| 2011 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A genetic study analyzing male-line Y-chromosome genetics reveals no significant genetic differentiation between major religious groups in Lebanon, with differences only found in less frequent haplogroups.
|
| 2010 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Geneticist Doron Behar and colleagues published a study suggesting Jewish people descend from ancient Israelites, supporting the historical formulation of Jewish genetic origins
|
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Israelites, Phoenicia, Genetic history of the Middle East, 4.2-kiloyear event & Ancient history of the Negev, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.