An authority on population genetics presents an exploration of ancestry, genetics and identity in the Middle East, challenging oversimplified notions of ethnicity and culture while examining the complex interplay of history, migration and what it truly means to be indigenous. Illustrations.
"In recent years, as companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com have made genetic testing available across the globe, it has become relatively simple to find out where your ancestors came from. But acclaimed geneticist Pierre Zalloua believes that these test results have led to a dangerous oversimplification of what one's genetic heritage means. People have conflated genetic ancestry with other ways of defining themselves such as "origin," "ethnicity," and even "race" but give no attention to the complexities that underlie these concepts. Nowhere is this interplay more important, and more controversial, than in the Levant--an ancient region known as one of the cradles of civilization, and which now includes modern-day Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Turkey. Born in Lebanon, Zalloua grew up surrounded by people for whom this question of identity was one of life or death importance. In Ancestors, Zalloua uses the Levant to grapple with what being indigenous really means. He finds that DNA does not determine a culture or an ethnicity, but instead, one must look to their own history to understand their identity. Building on years of research, Zalloua tells a history of the Levant through the framework of genetics that spans from 100,000 years ago, when humans first left Africa, to the 21st century and modern nation-states. World-shifting and accessible, Ancestors will reshape the way you think about where our culture really comes from"--
An eye-opening investigation into ancestry and origins in the Middle East that synthesizes thousands of years of genetic history in the region to question what it means to be indigenous to any land
Ancestors transcends geography to launch an eye-opening inquiry into the relationship of genetics and identity. Its a transformational read for us all.Jason Roberts, author of Every Living Thing and A Sense of the World
In recent years, genetic testing has become easily available to consumers across the globe, making it relatively simple to find out where your ancestors came from. But what do these test results actually tell us about ourselves?
In Ancestors, Pierre Zalloua, a leading authority on population genetics, argues that these test results have led to a dangerous oversimplification of what ones genetic heritage means. Genetic ancestry has become conflated with anthropological categories such as origin, ethnicity, and even race in spite of the complexities that underlie these concepts. And nowhere is this interplay more important and more controversial, Zalloua writes, than in the Levantan ancient region known as one of the cradles of civilization and that now includes Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Turkey.
Born in Lebanon, Zalloua grew up surrounded by people for whom the question of identity was a matter of life or death. Building on years of research, he tells a rich and compelling history of the Levant through the framework of genetics that spans from one hundred thousand years ago, when humans first left Africa, to the twenty-first century and modern nation-states.
A timely, paradigm-shifting investigation into ancestry and origins in the Middle East, Ancestors ultimately reframes what it means to be indigenous to any landurging us to reshape how we think about home, belonging, and where culture really comes from.
