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Study finds ancient Canaanites genetically linked to modern populations

Today’s Jews and Arabs in Israel, Jordan and Lebanon get half their ancestry from Bronze Age Levantines

01 June 2020

Abraham Gate in Tel Dan Nature Reserve – an ancient gate from the Canaanite period

Most of today’s Jewish and Arabic-speaking populations share a strong genetic link to the ancient Canaanites, according to a new study conducted by an international team of archaeologists and geneticists, including TAU’s Prof. Israel Finkelstein from the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures.

The study concludes that modern-day groups in Lebanon, Israel and Jordan share a large part of their ancestry, in most cases more than half, with the people who lived in the Levant during the Bronze Age, more than 3,000 years ago.

The researchers also determined that the Canaanites – who frequently appear in ancient sources, including the Bible – descended from a mixture of an earlier Levantine population and migrants coming from the Caucasus region or modern-day Iran.

Tale of bones

The researchers analyzed genetic material from dozens of skeletons found at Canaanite sites across Israel and neighboring countries, and compared it to the genomes of other ancient populations as well as to modern-day groups.

Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Numbers 13:17-27

Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up there into the Negeb, and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the towns that they live in are unwalled or fortified, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be bold, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the season of the first ripe grapes.

So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. They went up into the Negeb, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anakites, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the Wadi Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Wadi Eshcol, because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down from there.

At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.”

[After this, all the spies except Joshua and Caleb say that the people are too strong and urge Moses to bring the Israelites back to Egypt.]

Psalm 39

I said, “I will guard my ways  that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth  as long as the wicked are in my presence.” I was silent and still;  I held my peace to no avail;  my distress grew worse,  my heart became hot within me. While I mused, the fire burned;  then I spoke with my tongue:

“Lord, let me know my end,  and what is the measure of my days;  let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a few handbreadths,  and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Selah  Surely everyone goes about like a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;  they heap up, and do not know who will gather.

“And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?  My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions.  Do not make me the scorn of the fool. I am silent; I do not open my mouth,  for it is you who have done it. Remove your stroke from me;  I am worn down by the blows of your hand.

“You chastise mortals  in punishment for sin, consuming like a moth what is dear to them;  surely everyone is a mere breath. Selah

“Hear my prayer, O Lord,  and give ear to my cry;  do not hold your peace at my tears. For I am your passing guest,  an alien, like all my forebears. Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again,  before I depart and am no more.”

New Testament Gospel Lesson: Luke 13:18-21

There are parallel passages at Matthew 13:31-32 and Mark 4:30-31.

[Just before this Jesus gives this saying, he has healed a woman who has been crippled for eighteen years. He does the healing on a Sabbath. The leader of the crowd has been saying that there are six days to do healings, and Jesus should not be healing on the Sabbath. Jesus replies that a daughter of Abraham bound for eighteen years should be freed on the Sabbath, and the entire crowd rejoiced at what he was doing.]

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” And again he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

Year C Lent 3 Wednesday

Friday: Preparation for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Genesis 46:28-47:6

Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph to lead the way before him into Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen, Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive.” Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’ When Pharaoh calls you, and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors’—in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians.”

So Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen.” From among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our ancestors were.” They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to reside as aliens in the land; for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, we ask you, let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know that there are capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd,  I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures;  he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,  I fear no evil; for you are with me;  your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;  you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me  all the days of my life,  and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord  my whole life long.

New Testament Lesson: Acts 4:1-4

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.

Year B Easter 4 Friday