Researchers Extract DNA Test of Ancient Israelites

Jakarta – Recently for the first time, ancient DNA has been recovered from the bodies of ancient Israelites living in the First Temple period. 

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, as quoted from Hareetz site. 

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. 

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Bendera Israel.

Photo :

• Atalayar

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.

This story begins in 2018, when the Theft Prevention Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority discovered a tomb in the village of Abu Ghosh, which is right next to the biblical settlement of Kiryat Yearim, some 15 kilometers west of Jerusalem.

The tomb had been badly damaged, first by construction and then by looting, so the archaeologists conducted a hurried salvage excavation. Although only a fraction of the tomb had survived, the researchers uncovered some 150 pottery vessels, including bowls, jars and lamps, as well as the jumbled skeletal remains of at least 10 individuals, the archaeologists report.

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Penggalian untuk kepentingan arkeologi (ilustrasi)

Photo :

• Grace Ramey/Daily News via AP

Those interred in the tomb included six adults, three men and three women, and four children, including two babies, one infant, and an adolescent. 

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This is consistent with the high mortality rate of children in ancient times, the researchers revealed.