The ancient Canaanites had including the Iran-Caucasian origin. To such conclusion the international group of scientists on the results of the DNA study of the remains of the representatives of the people. Canaanite civilization Dating back to the time of the bronze age (about 3500-1150 BC), mentioned in the biblical texts. According to scientists, these data indicate a continuous migration of people from the territory of present-day Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Middle East region.
Scientists from Israel, Austria, USA, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Croatia conducted a genetic study of the people of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of ancient Canaan, the biblical “promised Land”. As reported in the journal Cell, the results of this work it was found partial Iranian-Caucasian origin of this ethnic group.
The analysis was applied to 73 new samples of ancient DNA of the middle and late bronze age from five archaeological sites in the southern Levant. The data obtained, the researchers combined information about already studied the ancient remains of 20 people from other archaeological sites. Genomic analysis of all 93 samples showed that the inhabitants of ancient Canaan, was a single ethnic group.
“the population of the southern Levant in the bronze age was not static, says one of the study’s authors, an employee of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem Liran Carmel. On the contrary, we see evidence that for long periods people moved from the North-East of the ancient Near East, including the territory of modern Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the region of the southern Levant.”
The information obtained supports the fact that “the Canaanites are descended from the mixing of earlier local Neolithic groups with groups associated with calculationsin Iran and/or the Caucasus bronze age. Over time, the researchers recorded significant increase in the proportion of ancestors associated with the Caucasus/Iran,” the article says.
The researchers found that the genomes of the ancient inhabitants of Canaan were generally identical, and the material culture was at the same level, while the Canaanites lived in different city-States.
Recall that during the bronze age (about 3500-1150 BC) ancient Canaan was located in the middle East region of the southern Levant, in present-day Israel, the Palestinian authority, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In the study period, the ancient Canaanites lived in various kingdoms and city-States that were often at odds with each other.
According to the fourth Carmela and his colleagues obtained data indicate that the Canaanites occurred including the peoples who inhabited the territory of Iran and Transcaucasia.
“the Intensity of migration from the North-East of the Ancient Near��its East and the fact that it lasted for many centuries, may help to explain why the rulers of the city-States of Canaan in the late bronze age are of a non-Semitic, Hurrian names. Due to the movement of peoples between these two regions there are strong and active relationships that help to identify common elements in their cultures,” says co — author and colleague of Carmela fourth Shai Carmi.
