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.

FULL ARTICLE

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Canaanites survived Biblical 'slaughter', ancient DNA shows

ABC News (Australia)

28 July 2017

http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-07-28/ancient-dna-shows-canaanites-survived-biblical-slaughter/8749264

The ancient Canaanites, who according to the Bible were commanded to be exterminated, did not die out, but lived on to become modern-day Lebanese, according to the first study to analyse their DNA.

Key points

• DNA reveals that modern Lebanese are direct descendants of ancient Canaanites

• Despite tumultuous history, there has been substantial genetic continuity in the Near East across the past 3,000 to 4,000 years

• European additions to Lebanese ancestry occurred around 3,750-2,170 years ago

• Study also provides clues about ancient Phoenicians

The Bronze Age Canaanites lived between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago in the region now encompassed by Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Despite being the first group known to use an alphabet, and appearing many times in the Bible, the Canaanites left few written records.

Now, in research published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics, an international team of geneticists has mapped the mass migrations that occurred in this tumultuous region by "reading" the DNA of the region's ancient and modern inhabitants.

"What is exciting was that we can see the genetic continuity between the Bronze Age population and the present-day populations," said Dr Marc Haber of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK.

The study found that over 90 per cent of the ancestry of modern-day people from Lebanon was derived from the Canaanites.

"We know from history that after the Bronze Age, the region was under a lot of expansions and conquests, and you would expect that those would have brought new gene flow, but in the DNA we see that the present-day population did not change too much from the Bronze Age population."

Analysis of genetic traits found the ancient Canaanites would have looked very similar to today's Lebanese population, except perhaps a little darker in skin tone.

DNA may help solve Phoenician mystery

Alan Cooper of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA said the study was hard evidence that God's biblical command, as described in the Book of Deuteronomy, to "totally destroy" the Canaanites, was not carried out.

"Clearly the Bible's wrong in the sense of the Canaanites being smited, they were clearly not smit too well," Professor Cooper, who was not involved in the research, said.

Dr Cooper said the new study provides valuable insight into when shifts in the population occurred in the Near East in ancient times.

45

UK Charity Commision reports on Moston, Manchester Congregation.

by snugglebunny in

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/investigation-leads-to-improvements-in-safeguarding-at-jehovahs-witnesses-charity.

jwleaks

LINK to image Diagram of Jehovah’s Witnesses organisational structure

Diagram of Jehovah's Witnesses organisational structure (according to Charity Report)

Diagram of Jehovah's Witnesses organisational structure (according to the governing body)

32

I'm writing a letter to my country's branch

by Ray Frankz in

hi everyone.. well, i have some good news.

after having a terrible moment arguing with my mom about the 1914 teaching and all it evolves (she get really upset and i felt great regret for starting the argument) she came to me next day and started talking with a much more open mind, and she talked about a lot of concerns too.. she and my father naivily expressed the wish to write to bethel to ask about 607bc.

i told in all the possible ways it wouldn't work.

jwleaks

7 times = 2,520 days based on Revelation 12:6 and Revelation 12:14

2,520 ÷ 7 = 360 and 1,260 ÷ 3 1/2 times = 360

Therefore a year = 360 days which is confirmed in the Insight book (see Year - In Prophecy)

Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 are used to support "a day for a year."

The year 607 BC had 360.0 days according to the Israelite calendar and the Babylonish calendar, which was scripturally abandoned in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem, some 678 years (of 360.0 days each) after the prophecy of Daniel regarding the "seven times."

Then suddenly we arrive at 1914 which has 365.25 days according to the Gregorian calendar (365.2425 days) which replaced the Julian calendar (365.25 days) introduced in 45 AD.

Daniel's prophecy was written under an Israelite 360.0 day / year calendar which in the 6th century BC had adopted Babylonish names from Babylon's lunation month of 29 or 30 days (360.0 day year), whereas the revelation of John was written under a Roman Julian calendar of 365.25 day / year while John was in a Roman prison. Watchtower's interpretation of the bible books of Daniel and Revelation was made under a Gregorian calendar introduced by Catholic Pope Gregory XIII in October 1582 AD.

You cannot cherry pick calendars and years when the bible is explicit on days and years with each year having either 360 days or 365.25 days.

21

Huge article(s) in Dutch media on JW child abuse

by Anders Andersen in

so today the well-respected and serious newspaper trouw.nl came with child abuse within the jw as their topmost frontpage article.. the articles are well researched and aim primarily at the dutch jw situation.. afaik at least on member of this forum assisted the newspaper with the articles.

.

other media are picking up as well.....

jwleaks

Interestingly, one of the main drivers behind the ARC investigating the JWs in Australia was an elderly Dutch woman who's young child was raped decades ago by one of the highest ranking JW elders ever to serve in Australia at the Watchtower headquarters.

Cudos to this old Dutch pensioner who had the courage to testify before investigators - and more importantly to have kept a full documented record of everything that happened right down to scrap pieces of paper that had her child's scribble notes.

40

Russia - Who Will Get the Property of Jehovah's Witnesses?

by OrphanCrow in

jw
friends

http://www.interessant.ru/politics/komu-dostanietsia-imushchie.

who will get the property of jehovah's witnesses?.

the sect "jehovah's witnesses", recognized as an extremist organization and banned in russia, owned real estate worth 4 billion rubles.

jwleaks

The first mayor of St. Petersburg . . . signed an order to allocate to the sectarians for a symbolic fee a huge plot of land (10 hectares) in Solnechny. There, on the site of the former pioneer camp, the "Jehovah's Witnesses Center for Russia and CIS countries" was created.

jwleaks

Posts by jwleaks

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

Canaanites survived Biblical 'slaughter', ancient DNA shows