F Rosa Rubicondior: DNA Study Shows Bible is Fiction

Friday 28 July 2017

DNA Study Shows Bible is Fiction

Researchers sequenced whole genomes from five Canaanites skeletons found in Sidon, Lebanon.
Photo Credit: Ali Hashisho/Reuters/Newscom
Ancient DNA counters biblical account of the mysterious Canaanites | Science | AAAS.

We've known for a long time that the supposed 'history' in the Old Testament is mostly, if not completely, fiction, and I'm not just talking about the frankly ludicrous creation myths in the opening chapters.

As Silberman and Finkelstein showed in The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, not only did the events described in Exodus never happen but nor did the destruction of the cities and the Canaanite genocide. Indeed, the Bible contains evidence of its own inaccuracy, being clearly written by people who did not know the history of the times in which they set their tales. Briefly, and by no means exhaustively:

  • In Genesis 14:14 we read "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan." However, 'Dan' was not called Dan in those times, it was called Laish, as we can read in Judges 18:27-29 "And they built a city, and dwelled therein. And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first."
  • In Genesis 37:25 we read "And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt."

    Only two little problems here:
    • Camels had not been introduced to the area at that time.
    • There was no spice trade; it was introduced during the time of the Syrian Empire much later on.
  • Genesis 26:1 "And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar."

    Just two small problems here too:
    • The Philistines had not established themselves in the area at that time.
    • Gerar was a small settlement and not a Philistine stronghold. It was built by the Syrians who replaced the Philistines.

Now we have further evidence that there was no replacement of the Canaanites as related in the reported Genocide on God's orders. This might come as a relief to the many decent Christians who are embarrassed by this casual genocide and infanticide supposedly ordered by their god and carried out on it's behalf, related in a book that they claims is the source of their morals. If only it didn't undermine their claim some sort of divine authority behind the Bible.

This analysis of the DNA from five individual 3,700 year-old skeletons excavated from the city of Sidon, and comparing it to the DNA of 99 modern Lebanese shows that the Canaanites were never exterminated and their descendants still live in the area.

Summary
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.


This finding confirms the findings of an earlier study based on the analysis of ancient DNA recovered from skeletons excavated in Jordan.

The team conclude that the Canaanites were a mixture of local Neolithic people and Chalcolithic people who migrated from Iran at a time of known large-scale population movements in Mesopotamia between 6,600 and 3,550 years ago. There was a further mixing with Eurasian people about 3,750 and 2,170 years ago.

So, unless the Hebrews were genetically indistinguishable from the Bronze Age Canaanites, in other words a schismatic tribe and not some massive migration of people coming into a 'Promised Land' and exterminating the locals, the only way this finding can be accounted for is if the whole 'Promised Land' and Canaanite genocide is fiction. And of course even if it was a local war between rival factions, there is the archaeological evidence that the Canaanite cities were never destroyed but remained fully functional, populated cities throughout the period and even up to the present; populated by the descendants of those Bronze Age inhabitants.

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5 comments :

  1. This is blasphemy, Rosa! How dare you? I believe that you even deny the genetics described in Genesis chapter 30, especially the holy Bible verses 37-42 in that chapter.

    25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

    26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

    27 And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.

    28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

    29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.

    30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

    31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock.

    32 I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.

    33 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

    34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

    35 And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

    36 And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

    37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

    38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.

    39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

    40 And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle.

    41 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

    42 But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.

    43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

    King James Version (KJV)

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  2. Yep! You're right! I did forget that.

    How remiss of me to have forgotten the basic principles of genetics as used by cattle breeders to this day!

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  3. Hi again, Rosa, I just read this blogpost: http://creation.com/canaanite-dna-confirms-bible . Because that article is posted on a creationist site, and since - as you surely know, Rosa -
    religious people never lie (as far as I know), I'm a bit confused now. Who is right, you or that creationist blogger? Can you help me interpret the true God-inspired meaning of Deuteronomy 20:17; see: http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-17.htm ? I notice the English word used in that verse is most often "(utterly or completely) destroy" (or sometimes "annihilate") the Canaanites. How then is it possible för some Canaanites to survive after that slaughter? Also have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments , especially commandment number 596. So please tell me, Rosa, can religious people be liars? Or are your conclusions drawn in your blog post above full of flaws?

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  4. Well I too have seen Christians claiming that since the Canaanites reappear later on they could not have been totally destroyed like God commanded (so presumably the genocide and infanticide were in some way not so bad because some got away). However, I also note that God threatens the Israelite with similar total annihilation if they don't obey his instructions in the very last verse of Deuteronomy 8. I also not that the continued existence of Israelites indicates that this divine genocide never occurred either. This would appear to indicate that God thought they HAD carried out his commandment.

    However, I believe I have discovered a way to resolve this curious paradox:

    Clearly, Christians believe the Israelites somehow fooled God who stupidly thought all the Canaanites had been destroyed according to his command when they were still alive and apparently thriving and still living in their old towns and cities as though nothing had happened.

    But of course, this didn't fool Christians.

    How does that sound?

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  5. Helmer von Helvete wrote:

    Brilliant analysis, Rosa! As usual. That's why I like following your blog. I learn a lot by doing so.

    I've also learnt, by debating pious apologists here in Sweden, that IF a certain bible verse sounds ridiculous and/or seems to be lie, that special verse must, of course, be interpreted in a symbolic and/or allegorical way, not a literal one.

    Just as an example. In Psalms 33:8 you can read that we all must fear God. According to apologists I've discussed that special verse with, these same words must mean that God is a caring and loving God.

    So if the Lard is described as an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent god, you and I know that probably is a big lie, i.e. the symbolic meaning of those words must rather be that God doesn't know what happens here on planet Earth and surely doesn't care, nor is he able to interfere or intervene, if he wanted to.

    So why would God care, if some Canaanites survived the annihilation he once ordered? After all it's the day of rest for Almighty God, and we shouldn't disturb or irritate him with trifles.

    ReplyDelete

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