Ariel David
Haaretz, Oct. 9, 2023
“… the genetic data from Kiryat Yearim offers a first glimpse of how directly sampling remains from the First Temple period can shed light on the history of the ancient Hebrews, Israelite or Judahite.”
For the first time, ancient DNA has been recovered from the bodies of ancient Israelites living in the First Temple period, Haaretz has learned.
This achievement, a Holy Grail in the study of lost civilizations, was enabled following the discovery near Jerusalem of a rare family tomb dating to the Iron Age.
So far the collaboration of archaeologists and geneticists has been able to extract genetic material from two individuals, producing partial information, which is a tiny sample indeed. But it promises to pave the way for further research on longstanding questions about the origins of the ancient Israelites, their links to earlier populations living in the Levant, as well as to modern-day Jewish people.
Preliminary results from the excavation and the DNA study were expected to be presented at a conference about new archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem and its environs on Wednesday, and Haaretz has obtained an advance copy of the researchers’ paper. The conference has since been delayed due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza.
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