Living Canaanites in Lebanon

[kaima]

Living Descendants of Biblical Canaanites Identified Via DNA

Genome sequenced from 3,700-year-old remains is found in today's residents of Lebanon.



picture of Canaanite burial

Several of the Canaanite individuals sampled in the study had been buried in large clay jars.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY DR. CLAUDE DOUMET-SERHAL

By Kristin Romey

PUBLISHED JULY 27, 2017

More than 90 percent of the genetic ancestry of modern Lebanese is derived from ancient Canaanites, according to a paper published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Researchers supported by The Wellcome Trust were able to sequence the Canaanite genome from the remains of five individuals buried in the ancient port city of Sidon (modern Saïda, Lebanon) around 3,700 years ago. The results were compared against the DNA of 99 modern-day Lebanese residents.

According to the results, Canaanite ancestry is a mix of indigenous populations who settled the Levant (the region encompassing much of modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories) around 10,000 years ago, and migrants who arrived from the east between 6,600 and 3,550 years ago.

An additional Eurasian element was added to the genetic mix sometime between 1800 and 200 B.C., a tumultuous period that saw the collapse of the Bronze Age and the advent of the Iron Age, the era in which most scholars believe the Bible was recorded.

Biblical Villains or Israelite Ancestors?

Biblical accounts generally portray Canaanites as the arch-enemies of early Israelites, who eventually conquered Canaanite territory and either exterminated or subjugated its people.



picture of Sidon Lebanon

A view of the ancient port city of Sidon (modern Saïda) in Lebanon, which was established some 6,000 years ago.
PHOTOGRAPH BY KRAUSE, LAIF, REDUX
Archaeologists, however, identify the Canaanites as a collection of tribes of varying ethnicities that appears in the Levant around the beginning of the second millennia B.C. Over the centuries, they were at various times independent city-states or client states under Egyptian control, and their presence is recorded in letters from Bronze Age rulers in Egypt, Anatolia, Babylon, and elsewhere in the region.

Despite massive cultural and political upheaval in the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age in the 12th century B.C., Canaanite presence persisted in the region, most notably in powerful port cities along the coast, where they were known to the Greeks as Phoenicians.

No archaeological evidence for the widespread destruction of Canaanite settlements described in the Bible has yet been identified, and many scholars believe that the Israelites, who appear around the beginning of the Iron Age, may have originally been Canaanites.

The "Tip of the Iceberg"

The new study is notable for its sequencing of the Canaanite genome. Obtaining ancient DNA (aDNA) from human remains found in the region is difficult, since heat and humidity are the "biggest enemies" of aDNA preservation, accordingto Marc Haber of The Wellcome Trust's Sanger Institute and a co-author of the paper. Many of the ancient samples tested came from sand-filled vessels near the sea shore at Sidon, a major Canaanite/Phoenician city-state that was eventually conquered by Alexander the Great in 332.

Discovery of Philistine Cemetery May Solve Biblical Mystery
The research demonstrates that scientists have the ability to do interesting studies on aDNA from Lebanon and surrounding areas, says Sanger Institute co-author Chris Tyler-Smith. "This is only the tip of the iceberg," he adds. "We're looking forward to more samples from different places and different time periods."

While the researchers were surprised at the level of genetic continuity between ancient Canaanites and modern Lebanese after some 4,000 years of war, migration, and conquest in the area, they caution against drawing too many conclusions on ancient history based solely on genetic data. "People can be culturally similar and genetically different, or genetically similar and culturally different," says Tyler-Smith.

Archaeologist Assaf Yasur-Landau, co-director of the Tel Kabri Archaeological Project and author of a forthcoming book on the Canaanites, agrees. "Canaanites are still a huge mystery to us, so every study of the Canaanites—whether it's in genetics, culture, economy, religion, or politics—is something that will tell us tremendously important facts about the makeup of the Biblical world of the first millennium."

Kristin Romey is a staff writer covering archaeology and paleontology for National Geographic.

news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/canaanite-bible-ancient-dna-lebanon-genetics-archaeology/

[kaima]

In an earlier article from 2007;


#SCIENCE NEWS
SEPTEMBER 9, 2007 / 5:11 PM / 10 YEARS AGO

In Lebanon DNA may yet heal rifts

Tom Perry
5 MIN READ


BYBLOS, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Lebanese scientist following the genetic footprint of the ancient Phoenicians says he has traced their modern-day descendants, but stumbled into an old controversy about identity in his country.

Geneticist Pierre Zalloua has charted the spread of the Phoenicians out of the eastern Mediterranean by identifying an ancient type of DNA which some Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians share with Maltese, Spaniards and Tunisians.

A seafaring civilization which reached its zenith between 1200 and 800 BC, the Phoenicians' earliest cities included Byblos, Tyre and Sidon on Lebanon's coast.

But their link to Lebanon, whose borders were drawn as recently as 1920, has long been a subject of controversy in a country split between an array of religious communities. "Negotiating these waters is a very delicate job," Zalloua said.

Seeking to set themselves apart from their Muslim compatriots, some Lebanese Christians have drawn on the Phoenician past to try to forge an identity separate from the prevailing Arab culture.

"Whenever I use the word 'Phoenician', people say 'this guy is trying to say we are not Arabs'," said Zalloua, himself a Christian. But after five years of research, the scientist says his work has shown what Lebanese have in common. "We had a great history -- let's look at it," he said.

The genetic marker which identifies descendants of the ancient Levantines is found among members of all of Lebanon's religious communities, he said. "It's a story that can actually unite Lebanon much more than anything else."

The marker, known as the J2 haplogroup, was found in an unusually high proportion among Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians tested by Zalloua during more than five years of research. He tested 1,000 people in the region.

FROM LEBANON TO SPAIN

"The further south you go, the less likely you are to see this marker. The further north and the further inland you go, the less you see of this marker. It is very Levantine," he said.

The same marker was found in unusually high proportions on other parts of the Mediterranean coast where the Phoenicians are known to have established colonies, such as Carthage in today's Tunisia.

"It's abundantly present in the Iberian peninsula," Zalloua added. In Malta, the ancient DNA type was found in an extremely high 30 percent of samples, he said.



<p>A sarcophagus is seen among the ruins of ancient city of Byblos in north Lebanon, in this August 17, 2007 file poto.

A Lebanese scientist following the genetic footprint of the ancient Phoenicians says he has traced their modern-day descendants, but stumbled into an old controversy about identity in his country.

Jamal Saidi/Files</p>

"We are seeing a pattern of expansion out of the Levant area along the maritime routes the Phoenicians used," he said.

The J2 haplogroup has been dated using a calculation based on the rate at which DNA mutates. The fewer the mutations on any given type of DNA, the older it is.

"Our calculation estimates it at roughly 12,000 years old, plus or minus 5,000 years. It's an old haplogroup and we are pretty sure it originated in this area," he said.

Many Lebanese were keen to take part in the research, giving either a blood sample or a cheek swab so DNA could be extracted from their cells.

"They wanted to see if they are actually old Levantine or not. This area has been mixed through invasions. It has been a crossroads of many populations," Zalloua said.

Albert Akl, 61, took part out of curiosity about his ancestry. Tests showed he had the J2 haplogroup.

"UNIFYING FORCE"

"We belong to this area -- we are not passers-by," said Akl, an engineer. Although Phoenician history should be a source of pride for Lebanese, Akl said its importance should not be blown out of proportion in today's Lebanon.

"It carries no big meaning," said Akl, adding that he views himself as "Lebanese, Arab and Christian -- in that order".

The research has thrown up surprise results for some.

Zalloua tested his own DNA and found a type common in India and Iran. Another participant, Joseph Tabat, got an unusual result.

"I was always intrigued as to why I look different to the rest of the guys in high school," he said. "I'm a red-head with freckles." Tabat's DNA matched types found in France and Spain, perhaps a sign that one of his ancestors was a European who arrived in the Middle East during the Crusades.

"Many of the people who think they are Phoenicians are not -- like me," he said. "I'd like to see a high percentage of Lebanese going through this experience. I think it would be a unifying force and not a divisive one."

www.reuters.com/article/us-phoenicians-dna-idUSL0559096520070910

[kaima]

From one published list of "genetic surprises", we have accompanying conclusions of western influence.

6. Crusaders left genetic legacy in the Lebanon


In 2008 the BBC reported that the Genographic Project had detected genetic traces left by medieval crusaders in the Middle East, following the analysis of the Y chromosomes of 926 Lebanese males. Some Christian Lebanese men carry the chromosome WES1, usually found in Western Europe.

Four crusades passed through the Lebanon between the 11th and 13th Centuries and the majority of the crusader armies comprised soldiers from England, France, Germany and Italy. Many of the men stayed to build fortifications and settlements, and mixed with the local populations.

Lebanese Muslim men tend to have high frequencies of haplogroup J1, typical of the Arabian Peninsula and responsible for bringing Islam to the Lebanon in the 7th and 8th Centuries.

Male genetic variation in the Lebanon is unusual in falling more along religious lines than geographical lines, but more in terms of their overall genetic admixture more unites them than divides them.

www.abroadintheyard.com/surprising-ancestral-origins-revealed-by-dna-testing/

[kaima]

National Geographic has been doing DNA research throughout this century, and their take on this geographic area, looking at "Arab" ancestry. However, they leave me a bit baffled as they distinguish Arab from North African, but do not specify the difference"






Lebanese natives' genetic makeup is the most diverse of all four Arab nationalities.

Typically, a Lebanese natives is 44 percent Arabian, 14 percent Jewish diaspora, 11 percent North African, 10% from Asia minor, 5percent Southern European and 2 percent Eastern African.

Ancient migrants passed through the Middle East when journeying from Africa to Eurasia. Some of these migrants settled in Lebanon, developing genetic patterns that transcended generations over time.

The Silk Road added genetic patterns from the farther north and east.

stepfeed.com/dna-analysis-proves-arabs-aren-t-entirely-arab-4864

[kaima]

This thread provides a microcosm of genetic terminology, precision and inexactitude in the languae used as it continues to be defined. We start with Canaanites and arrive at Phoenicians.




DNA tests prove Lebanese are direct descendants of ancient Phoenicians

Lebanese share over 90 percent of their genetic ancestry with 3,700-year-old inhabitants of Saida.

2017-07-28 09:08

By Jason Lemon
Managing Editor



Ancient Phoenician statues

The results are in, and Lebanese are definitely the descendants the ancient Canaanites – known to the Greeks as the Phoenicians.

A study based on DNA analysis published this week, reveals that more than 90 percent of the genetic ancestry of the modern-day Lebanese population comes from the ancient people, commonly known from biblical accounts.

DNA from the remains of Canaanites who were buried about 3,700 years ago in the modern-day city of Saida – historically known as Sidon –was compared to that of 99 modern-day Lebanese residents.

"This is only the tip of the iceberg," Chris Tyler-Smith, a co-author of the study, told National Geographic, saying that more samples and tests in other areas would be conducted to learn more about ancient cultures connections to modern-day populations in the region.



Researchers sequenced the genome from five individuals buried 3,700 years ago. What can we learn from the results? on.natgeo.com/2w4KRSB


stepfeed.com/dna-tests-prove-lebanese-are-direct-descendants-of-ancient-phoenicians-8777
4:30 PM - Jul 27, 2017
Photo published for Living Descendants of Biblical Canaanites Identified Via DNA
Living Descendants of Biblical Canaanites Identified Via DNA
Genome sequenced from 3,700-year-old remains is found in today's residents of Lebanon.
news.nationalgeographic.com

The analysis further reveals that Canaanite DNA comes from a mix of indigenous populations that settled in the region around 10,000 years ago, immigrants that arrived from the East between 6,600 and 3,550 years ago and Eurasian descendants that arrived between 1,800 B.C. and 200 B.C.

In the biblical account, Canaanites are depicted as the arch-rivals of the Israelites. However, many archaeologists question the historical accuracy of these stories, as little evidence has been found to corroborate them.

The evidence does, however, show that the Canaanites appeared around the beginning of the second millennia B.C. They resided throughout what is modern-day Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Jordan and transitioned between being independent city-states and client states of the ancient Egyptians.

While the biblical account says the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan, leaving a wake of massive destruction, no corroborative evidence has been found for this account. Most archaeologists believe that the Israelites arose from within the people of Canaan near the beginning of the Iron Age.



Saida, Sidon, Lebanon
The modern-day city of Saida (formerly Sidon) Source: Flickr


Researchers found it remarkable that thousands of years later, the local population still maintains such a close genetic signature to the ancient people of the Levant.

Despite 4,000 years of conquest, war, and migration, the local population maintains genetics roots firmly linked to the region's ancient residents.

At the same time, the researchers cautioned against drawing too many conclusions based on the DNA analysis.

"People can be culturally similar and genetically different, or genetically similar and culturally different," Tyler-Smith said.

stepfeed.com/dna-tests-prove-lebanese-are-direct-descendants-of-ancient-phoenicians-8777

[Jaga]

Kai,

I was always curious about what happened to Phoenicians. This might be true with Lebanon and its mainly Phoenician origin. But I remember seeing the program about Carthage and their wars with Rome. Apparently Carthaginian civilization was also Phenician.

[pieter]

When I think of the Canaanites or the Phoenicians I think about the Old testament and the New Testament which was read in the church and we had some teaching about on our primary school. I also think about the ancient world in my history study at the vocational university in Amsterdam. I also think about the other ancient peoples of that time the Amorites which are mentioned in the Old Testament and the Philippians who are mentioned in the New Testament. Peoples whom the modern people thought they were exterminated or extinct.

It was interesting to read and see that Lebanese people have a mixed heritage, genes and dna of 44 percent Arabian, 14 percent Jewish diaspora, 11 percent North African, 10% from Asia minor, 5 percent Southern European and 2 percent Eastern African descent. Maybe the same conclusion could be made about part of the Palestinian people and Israeli Arabs in Israel, the Westbank (Fatah PLO land) and Gaza (Hamas land). And maybe about the Syrians too. These are all Levantine Arabs. By the way I had an Egyptian fellow student at the Arnhem Art Academy in the Netherlands who called himself and the Egyptian people pharaonic people with an Arab culture and Sunni Muslim faith.

If a common heritage conferred peace, then perhaps the long history of conflict in the Middle East would have been resolved years ago. For, according to a new scientific study, Jews are the genetic brothers of Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese, and they all share a common genetic lineage that stretches back thousands of years.

"Jews and Arabs are all really children of Abraham," says Harry Ostrer, M.D., Director of the Human Genetics Program at New York University School of Medicine, an author of the new study by an international team of researchers in the United States, Europe, and Israel. "And all have preserved their Middle Eastern genetic roots over 4,000 years," he says.

The researchers analyzed the Y chromosome, which is usually passed unchanged from father to son, of more than 1,000 men worldwide. Throughout human history, alterations have occurred in the sequence of chemical bases that make up the DNA in this so-called male chromosome, leaving variations that can be pinpointed with modern genetic techniques. Related populations carry the same specific variations. In this way, scientists can track descendants of large populations and determine their common ancestors.

Specific regions of the Y chromosome were analyzed in 1,371 men from 29 worldwide populations, including Jews and non-Jews from the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe.

The study, published in the May 9 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that Jewish men shared a common set of genetic signatures with non-Jews from the Middle East, including Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese, and these signatures diverged significantly from non-Jewish men outside of this region. Consequently, Jews and Arabs share a common ancestor and are more closely related to one another than to non-Jews from other areas of the world.

The study also revealed that despite the complex history of Jewish migration in the Diaspora (the time since 556 B.C. when Jews migrated out of Palestine), Jewish communities have generally not intermixed with non-Jewish populations. If they had, then Jewish men from different regions of the world would not share the same genetic signatures in their Y chromosome.

"Because ancient Jewish law states that Jewish religious affiliation is assigned maternally, our study afforded the opportunity to assess the contribution of non-Jewish men to present-day Jewish genetic diversity," says Michael Hammer, Ph.D., from the University of Arizona, Tucson, who is the lead author of the new study. "It was surprising to see how significant the Middle Eastern genetic signal was in Jewish men from different communities in the Diaspora," he says.

The authors of this study are: Dr. Ostrer from NYU School of Medicine; Michael F. Hammer, Alan J. Redd, Elizabeth T. Wood, M. Roxane Bonner, Hamdi Jarjanazil, and Tanya Karafet from the University of Arizona, Tucson; Silvana Santachlara-Benerecetti, University of Pavia, Italy; Ariella Oppenheim, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Mark A. Jobling, University of Leicester, England; Trefor Jenkins, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; and Batsheva Bonne-Tamar, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Source: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/05/000509003653.htm

[pieter]

Kai,

What is interesting about Lebanon and Beirut is that it was considered the France and Paris of the Middle east with an enlightened culture, a financial-commercial center, a lot of beautiful ancient and modern architecture, Levantine landscapes and vegetation until the bloody Lebanese Civil War of 1975-199. That Civil War destroyed a large part of Beirut and other Lebanese cities, towns and villages. It also destroyed some of Lebanese ancient heritage sites. The large diversity in cultures, ethnic groups and religions made Lebanon different than other Arab and Middle eastern nations. Maronite Catholic Christians, Druze people, Greek Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic christians, Armenians, Lebanese jews, Kurds, Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons.

Like the Ashkenazi Jewish and Sephardic Jewish diaspora in the world you have huge Lebanese diaspora communities in the world Kai, the Lebanese have the same migration, merchant and trade genese as the jews. Personally I have seen and met Lebanese people in Amsterdam, Arnhem, Cape Town (South-Africa), Berlin (Germany), New York and Belgium. In every major African, European, and South-American country and city you have Lebanese merchants, shop keepers, businessmen and middle class. Often Maronite Christian Lebanese, but also Lebanese Arab Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims.

Lebanon has witnessed a series of migration waves: over 1,800,000 people emigrated from the country in the 1975–2011 period. Millions of people of Lebanese descent are spread throughout the world, mostly Christians, especially in Latin America. Brazil has the largest expatriate population. (a few million).

Encyclopedia Britannica states that Lebanon has a heterogeneous society composed of numerous ethnic, religious, and kinship groups. Long-standing attachments and local communalism antedate the creation of the present territorial and political entity and continue to survive with remarkable tenacity. Ethnically, the Lebanese compose a mixture in which Phoenician (Canaanite), Greek, Armenian, and Arab elements are discernible. Within the larger Lebanese community, ethnic minorities including Armenian and Kurdish populations are also present. Arabic is the official language, although smaller proportions of the population are Armenian- or Kurdish-speaking; French and English are also spoken. Syriac is used in some of the churches of the Maronites (Roman Catholics following an Eastern rite).

Cheers,
Pieter

[pieter]

Look at these people, they don't have the typical semitic features of for instance Saoudi Arabs, Emirati Arabs, Yemenite Arabs, Omani Arabs, Bahreini or Kuwayti Arabs of the Arab Peninsula.


Typical Arab features





It is a fact that many jews and Arabs look similar. In Europe some Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jewish boys or young men were discriminated because bouncers didn't let them enter discotheques, night clubs or bars due to their Middle-eastern, North-African (read Moroccan, Arab or Berber looks). Some jews don't have the typical West-European blond, blue eyed, or European brunette or redhead look, but have black curley hair, dark eyes and semitic features like the Arabs from the Arab Peninsula, or Arabs from the Levant or North-Africa. Other jews look like Berbers, Turks, Kurds or Persians (Iranians). More Mediterranean than North-European, Central-European or the North-Western part of West-Europe. Like Spanish, Portuguese, Southern-French, Italian, Greek and Turkish people they have an olive oil or more dark tint or tone of their skin color. Some of them are Sephardic jews of Portuguese origin (centuries back) or migrant Mizrachi (Middle-eastern or North-African) jews. But it was strange for European jews with an Ashkenazi Jewish (Central- or North-West European) background to be discriminated and to be seen as aliens, migrants, arabs or North-African berbers by compatriots. Ofcourse many of them didn't want to talk about their jewish identity, because next to the Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism they experienced they also feared anti-semitic reactions. Why? Because Islamophobia, discrimination, racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism go hand in hand today in xenophobic Europe.

[pieter]

Funny!

[pieter]

The iraqi professor Khaz'al Majeedi in his book"The Amorites Beliefs" has an interesting theory about the Amorites, Canaanites and Arameans, and I will compare it to other important subjects. Majeedi concluded that the Amorites, Canaanites and the Arameans together are the same population related to other population (Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians), and the tow related groups have the same origin .

We know that the Sumerian civilization is the Cradle of civilization and that the Assyrian and the Babylonian empires had risen in Mesopotamia after the end of the Sumerian civilization and all of them are Mesopotamian, on the other hand Majeedi thinks that the Canaanites and Arameans are from Amorite origin.

So when did the Canaanites became known as Canaanites became Arameans?

A long time ago and Before the existence of Hebrews and Nabateans etc, around 4000 - 3000 b.c the first movement of the Amorites to the Levant took place in several waves.

In the earliest Sumerian sources, beginning about 2400 BC, the land of the Amorites ("the Mar.tu land") is associated with the West, including Syria and Canaan, many of the Amorites artifact was discovered in the Fertile Crescent like the Statue of Amorite king Idrimi, the king of Alalakh and son of the king of Aleppo, back to the 16th century BC.

The Amorites appear as nomadic people in the Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources, the Amorites were nomadic because they were living in the desert and life in the desert imposed them to live as nomadic people, not because they were Arab or from Arabian descent, such as the Arameans, some Arameans were nomadic tribes in the Desert in the time that the kingdom of Aram was in Damascus, same population living in tow different life style and tow different environment.

Majeedi also think that Amorites who settled in the north of the Levant became Arameans and the Amorites who settled in the south of levant became the Canaanites, and those"Amorites" who remained in the desert remained to be known as the "Amorites", and what leaves no room for doubt on Majeedi theory, is the semitic origin of the Canaanite and Aramean names.

Transliteration: Kĕna`an Pronunciation: ken·ah'·an
"Can" means low Canaan = "lowland"
canaanites means the lowlanders (2)

"Aram" means high.
Aramaeans = highlanders (3),(4)

In addition that the Amorites were worshiping the Sumerian gods such as "Martu" god not arabian gods

References:

Statue of Idrimi the king of Alalakh and son of the king of Aleppo
Late Bronze Age / Syrian, 16th century BC
From Tell Atchana (ancient Alalakh), modern Turkey
www.britishmuseum.org/explore/...
the british museum
T.C. Mitchell, The Bible in the British Museu (London, The British Museum Press, 1988)
D. Collon, Ancient Near Eastern art (London, The British Museum Press, 1995)

Blueletterbible
www.blueletterbible.org/lang/l...

Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Aram
Abarim Publications'Biblical Name Vault
www.abarim-publications.com/Me...

ARAM AND ISRAEL
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
www.archive.org/stream/aramisr...

[karl]

Kai and Pieter

A very complexing subject of the ancestors of our present civilization. For our knowledge of these ancient peoples is gained from Biblical and deciphered records left by the observations of many thousands of years in past.

www.historywiz.com/exhibits/emergenceofciv.html

For as above, much developed in past as speaking of The Mesopotamian land between two rivers," Euphrates and The Tigris", being that of Sumerian-Babylonian and Assyrian. It is from the land then of Sumerian we owe much of our present forms of civilization in the form of: Goverment theocracy, taxs to pay for building of roads and administration of built arrigation systems and such. Then, The law of Hammurabi we have at present in civil law as in contracts: This being, all accountable contracts must be written, signed and witnessed. This is the direct result of The Sumerian King," Hammurabi" in as well as contractural deeds of land.

avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp

The reason as of above is: King Hammurabi would send off many of the male inhabitants of his kingdom to war, these wars as with travel time to and from the fields of battle, would consume some years from their respective homes and for some, their time in battle would result in their death with widows at the mercy of land thieves. To protect such widows, deeds of lands was instituted and so it is the same in to days world of land ownership.

As with above, the law of

Karl

[karl]

An interesting aspect of sumer:

www.plumbingsupply.com/pmbabylon.html


Karl