Assyrian tomb discovered

[Angela]

It even contains a collection of skeletons. That sounds rather ghoulish, yes, but you know what I mean...uncontaminated ancient dna!

See:
http://www.archaeology.org/news/5409-170328-iraq-assyrian-tomb

"ERBIL, IRAQ—A vaulted brick tomb dating to between the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. was discovered by construction workers in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, according to a report in Live Science. The tomb was situated near the ancient city of Arbela, where an important temple of Ishtar, the Assyrian goddess of war, was located. Goran M. Amin of the Directorate of Antiquities in Erbil, the modern name for Arbela, said that two skeletons were found in three ceramic sarcophagi within the tomb, while an additional eight skeletons were found on the ground. More than 40 intact jars of different shapes and sizes were also recovered. Similar tombs, built for elites, have been found in other Assyrian cities such as Nimrud. “Sometimes the tombs have been opened several times, when they wanted to bury new dead members of the family,” added Dishad Marf Zamua of Salahaddin University. "

For more on Erbil:
http://www.archaeology.org/issues/145-1409/features/2419-kurdistan-erbil-excavations

 

[Odysseus]

We know that the Assyrian empire fell into the hands of the Hittites around 1600-1500BC , the Hittites of course being indo-European , I wouldn't be surprised if skeletons from these Assyrians tombs actually turned out to be Indo-European.

My theory is that the Amorites & Gutians may have been Indo-Europeans nomads who adopted semitic language/lifestyles , From 1900-1100 BC the Amorites dominated Mesopotamia , many Mesopotamian kingdoms (Including Assyria) had an Amorite rulers. But that's just my theory we'll have to see what the dna results shows , I'm probably wrong.

 

[bicicleur 2]

My theory is that the Amorites & Gutians may have been Indo-Europeans nomads who adopted semitic

Why do you think so?

 

[Odysseus]

~EDIT: Reply to Bicicleur

My theory is that the Amorites & Gutians may have been Indo-Europeans nomads who adopted Semitic

Why do you think so?

Well there are a few things that make me doubt that the semetic roots of the Amorites who originated in the Levant region of Syria.


1) We know absolutely nothing about the Amorite language , as far as I'm concerned their language is unknown.


2) The Hebrews grouped the ancient Syrian tribes & the (Indo-European) Hittites together as if they were same peoples:

"And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite."
- Ezekiel 16:3


"When the LORD thy God shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites ,nations greater and mightier than thou."
- Deuteronomy 7:1-2


"And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites"
- Judges 3:5

"Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite"
- Genesis 36:2

According to ancient Hebrew text it seems that the Canaanites , Amorites and the Hittites were very close & may have been related. which makes me believe that both the Amorites & the Canaanites may have been Indo-European aswell.


We also know the mtDNA results from a royal Phoenician (Canaanite) Tomb was from haplogroup U5b2c1 a rare haplogroup only found in Europe. So it seems quite obvious that the ancient Syrians may very well have been ethnically Indo-European despite their language , also taking in account that these tribes were described as being unusually tall which is a common trait among Europeans.

 

[Odysseus]

Meh , who am I kidding

:36: I don't think there will be any DNA results released to the public any time soon , there have been many ancient tombs & skeletons found in places like Sumeria , Egypt that supposedly went through DNA test with no further reports/news about the results.

Last year (2016) they found an ancient Philistine burial site near Israel & started DNA testing in November , despite archaeologists obvious remarks that philistines were most likely Indo-Europeans so far it has been 5 months with no news about these "DNA tests" and their results.