The rise of coastal Middle Bronze Age Levant – A multidisciplinary approach for investigating in Sidon, Lebanon

Objectives The Levantine Middle Bronze Age (MBA, circa 2000–1500 BCE) marks a period of increased trade and regional interaction, spurred on by technological developments. In light of previous research exhibiting limited mobility in Sidon, further investigation was conducted using biodistance analysis to understand local population history and site development. Materials and Methods Dental nonmetric traits, a proxy for genetic information, were explored using ASUDAS on a sub-sample of primary inhumations (n = 35). The biodistance matrix was generated using Gower distance measures, and further tested using PERMDISP, PERMANOVA, Mantel test and hierarchical cluster analysis. The data was also contrasted to 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O as well as δ13C and δ15N values. Results There were no significant diachronic differences in isotopes values, and there was biological continuity (n = 35, Mantel test r = 0.11, p = 0.02, comparing local phases and biodistance). The analysis also suggested of a sub-group of individuals with biological proximity shared a more limited range of mobility and dietary habits. Conclusions The isotopes (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) and biodistance analysis conducted on the Sidon College site skeletal assemblage exhibits stability and continuity of the people, despite the site's increasing role in the maritime network. This continuity may have been a key factor in Sidon's success, allowing it to accumulate wealth and resources for centuries to come

The rise of coastal Middle Bronze Age Levant - a multidisciplinary approach for investigating in Sidon, Lebanon

Objectives: the Levantine Middle Bronze Age (MBA, circa 2000-1500 BCE) marks a period of increased trade and regional interaction, spurred on by technological developments. In light of previous research exhibiting limited mobility in Sidon, further investigation was conducted using biodistance analysis to understand local population history and site development.Materials and Methods: dental nonmetric traits, a proxy for genetic information, were explored using ASUDAS on a sub-sample of primary inhumations (n=35). The biodistance matrix was generated using Gower distance measures, and further tested using PERMDISP, PERMANOVA, Mantel test and hierarchical cluster analysis. The data was also contrasted to 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O as well as δ13C and δ15N values.Results: there were no significant diachronic differences in isotopes values, and there was biological continuity (n= 35, Mantel test r=0.11, p=0.02, comparing local phases and biodistance). The analysis also suggested of a sub-group of individuals with biological proximity shared a more limited range of mobility and dietary habits.Conclusions: the isotopes (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) and biodistance analysis conducted on the Sidon College site skeletal assemblage exhibits stability and continuity of the people, despite the site’s increasing role in the maritime network. This continuity may have been a key factor in Sidon’s success, allowing it to accumulate wealth and resources for centuries to come

Continuity and Admixture in the Last Five Millennia of Levantine History from Ancient Canaanite and Present-Day Lebanese Genome Sequences

The Canaanites inhabited the Levant region during the Bronze Age and established a culture that became influential in the Near East and beyond. However, the Canaanites, unlike most other ancient Near Easterners of this period, left few surviving textual records and thus their origin and relationship to ancient and present-day populations remain unclear. In this study, we sequenced five whole genomes from ∼3,700-year-old individuals from the city of Sidon, a major Canaanite city-state on the Eastern Mediterranean coast. We also sequenced the genomes of 99 individuals from present-day Lebanon to catalog modern Levantine genetic diversity. We find that a Bronze Age Canaanite-related ancestry was widespread in the region, shared among urban populations inhabiting the coast (Sidon) and inland populations (Jordan) who likely lived in farming societies or were pastoral nomads. This Canaanite-related ancestry derived from mixture between local Neolithic populations and eastern migrants genetically related to Chalcolithic Iranians. We estimate, using linkage-disequilibrium decay patterns, that admixture occurred 6,600–3,550 years ago, coinciding with recorded massive population movements in Mesopotamia during the mid-Holocene. We show that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age. In addition, we find Eurasian ancestry in the Lebanese not present in Bronze Age or earlier Levantines. We estimate that this Eurasian ancestry arrived in the Levant around 3,750–2,170 years ago during a period of successive conquests by distant populations

Response to Giem

To the Editor: Giem suggests1 that our statement “the Bible reports the destruction of the Canaanite cities and the annihilation of its people”2 is inaccurate and not supported by references. The Bible reports “And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.”3 Within a longer account, it further reports “And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon [i.e., Sidon], and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. …. And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe

The Levant

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe