A hidden gem in an otherwise standard report on Greek DNA
Posted On: Mar 16th, 2018 at 16:40
Greece
A DNA study charting the rise of ancient Greeks to their modern descendants shows clearly the relation between the latter and their Mycenaean forefathers (and mothers!). Most modern Greeks are directly – and strongly – related to both the Mycenaeans and the Minoans. Further back in time we see the Minoans were related to a migration from near modern day Iran and the pre-Mycenaeans related to a migration from the north and east.
The inetresting statement, however, is this:
“The ancient Mycenaeans and Minoans were most closely related to each other, and they both got three-quarters of their DNA from early farmers who lived in Greece and southwestern Anatolia, which is now part of Turkey, the team reports today in Nature. Both cultures additionally inherited DNA from people from the eastern Caucasus, near modern-day Iran, suggesting an early migration of people from the east after the early farmers settled there but before Mycenaeans split from Minoans.”
The reason this is so important relates to intense research I have carried out into the origins of the cults of Leto, Apollo, and Artemis, but especially the latter. There is a split between researchers as to whether these gods were Greek or whether they were an import from elsewhere. I am personally of the opinion these gods were imported from Anatolia and originated with the Lycian culture.
As the article states the height of the Mycenaean culture was 1600 to 1200 BC, and during this time (1250 BC +/-) we have the Trojan War. One of the most profound elements of the story relates to the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, who must sacrifice his own daughter – Iphigenia – to appease the goddess Artemis, who is on the side of the Trojans. Ironically I’ve been working on a paper for the last two months regarding Brauron and the cult of Iphigenia, and the festival of Brauronia at the site. It relates directly to the Trojan War story of Artemis and Iphigenia. One of the pieces of evidence I have pointed towards, to prove Anatolian origins, is the fact that Artemis was on the side of the Trojans. Although this piece of “evidence” could be considered extremely loose, the indication is also rather subtle.
What we have in this report, however, is a direct ancestral link between the Greeks and Anatolians. It is normally considered that the Greeks invaded Anatolia and settled there. What we now see is that this was in fact the other way around – the Greeks are descendants of people from the east through Crete and Anatolia, thus providing more solid evidence that Artemis, her brother Apollo, and their mother Leto, do indeed originate in Anatolia and were imported by the Greeks into their Titans. The subtlety of the idea that Artemis is on the side of the Trojans becomes more apparent.
I know these ideas may seem rather obscure and lacking in anything that resembles proof, but when you’ve been researching the origins of the cult of Artemis for four years it makes total sense! In other words, all will be revealed soon in far more detail when I finally finish the piece of work on Brauron! In the meantime there is some minor research from 2015 here: Letoon and Perga.
