I15853+I15856 Israelites Akbari2026

The story of the ancient Israelites begins in the southern Levant, a region encompassing modern-day Israel, Palestine, and parts of Jordan. According to the Hebrew Bible, their origins trace back to Abraham, whose descendants formed the twelve tribes of Israel. These traditions describe a migration into Canaan after a period of enslavement in Ancient Egypt, and the dramatic Exodus led by Moses.

As Israelite society developed, it transitioned from a loose tribal confederation into a centralized monarchy under kings like Saul, David, and Solomon, with political and cultural centers emerging in cities such as Jerusalem.

A 2026 study by Akbari et-al featured two ancient DNA samples that strongly match the Israelite (Iron Age Israel) DNA samples we already have. In this video I’ll explore the genetics of these two exceptional samples. I ran them through my trait predictor tool for DNA analysis, as well as my andreimix tool for ethnic analysis, and admixtools 2, an academic tool developed by Harvard.