Hittites MA2200 + MA2203 23andme format

The Hittites were one of the most influential civilizations of the ancient Near East, flourishing during the second millennium BCE in Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey.

They were among the earliest peoples to speak an Indo-European language, written in cuneiform. In fact, Hittite is the earliest attested Indo-European language we know of.

The Bible also preserves memories of the Hittites. In the Old Testament, they are mentioned frequently: Abraham is said to have purchased the cave of Machpelah from a Hittite named Ephron, and King David had a loyal soldier named Uriah the Hittite. While these references may not always point directly to the imperial Hittites of Anatolia, the name survived long after their empire fell, applied to related groups and Neo-Hittite states in Syria and the Levant.

By the late 12th century BCE, during the widespread Bronze Age Collapse, the Hittite Empire itself disappeared, though Neo-Hittite states lived on in southern Anatolia and northern Syria.

For this video, I’ve gathered the raw genomes of two Late Bronze Age samples from central Anatolia that are very likely connected to the Hittites, offering us a genetic window into this powerful ancient people.