Who should join the Assyrian Heritage DNA Project?

The Assyrian areas in the Middle East from which modern-day Assyrians have their origins are the Urmia region in Iran, the Hakkari Mountains in Turkey extending from the Iran border into southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq and Northeast Syria, all of which was the Assyrian heartland for the last several centuries. Before a participant can join the Assyrian Heritage DNA Project, he or she must inform the DNA Project's co-administrators (Mary Yonan   yonan@fgi.net  and Paul Givargidze paul.givargidze@gmail.com  ) about which of those four regions is the site of his/her maternal and/or paternal Assyrian ancestral origin. Participants wishing to order a maternal mtDNA test must be able to trace his or her maternal Assyrian roots back to those areas within four or fewer generations. Participants wishing to order a Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) test must be able to trace his paternal Assyrian roots back to those areas within four or fewer generations. If a potential Assyrian Hertiage DNA Project applicant can't provide the requested info, we won't approve joining our project.

If your father's and/or your mother's ancestor's were Assyrians from the Assyrian heartland, you are invited to join the Assyrian Heritage DNA Project. Our DNA Project welcomes all direct line male and female descendants of Assyrian heritage whose ancestors were from the Middle East.

Why Should I Join the Assyrian Heritage DNA Project?
This is an opportunity for you, as an Assyrian, to order a DNA test kit and expand the Assyrian DNA database. By doing so, you will help to make sure that the genetic and historical past of Assyrians, which has been overlooked for too long, will begin to achieve its deserved recognition by the world. Participation in the Assyrian Heritage DNA Project by many Assyrians will raise our visibility as a significant Middle Eastern ethnic group that continues to thrive in the twenty-first century.

Every national or heritage group represents a mixture of many different peoples going back over tens of thousands of years. The DNA Project will help Assyrians discover what are technically called their Haplogroups, which are the early branches of human ancestry, and learn about the migration paths of their ancient ancestors.

What DNA Tests Are Available and What Do They Cost?
FTDNA is offering at reduced prices a variety of tests to registered groups like our Assyrian Heritage DNA Project. The following is our recommendation of tests that would be most helpful to Assyrians who want to learn more about their ancestry.

A. Tests for a man to consider if he ONLY wants to test his Assyrian father’s line: (Choose only one)
(1) 25 Marker Y-DNA test which tests the paternal line ONLY--$124 (US dollars)
(2) 37 Marker Y-DNA test which tests the paternal line ONLY--$149 (US dollars)
(3) 12 Marker Y-DNA test for $99 (US dollars) {note: The 12 marker test will fulfill the requirements for the Genographic Project, but you will learn more about your paternal Assyrian heritage by ordering the 37 or 25 Marker test.}

B. Combined Tests for a man to consider if he wants to test BOTH his Assyrian father’s line and his Assyrian mother’s line: (Choose only one)
(1) Y37-marker + mtDNAPlus which includes BOTH the 37 marker paternal and the high resolution maternal line DNA tests--$269 (US dollars)
(2) 12 marker Y-DNA + the low resolution mtDNA test for $179 (US dollars) {note: The 12 marker Y-DNA + the low resolution mtDNA test will fulfill the requirements for the Genographic Project, but you will learn more than twice as much information about your paternal and maternal Assyrian heritage by ordering the Y37-marker + mtDNAPlus test.)

C. Maternal Line Tests that a man or a woman can order to test his or her Assyrian mother’s line ONLY: (Choose only one)
(1) mtDNAPlus Test which analyzes the high resolution maternal line DNA --$149 (US dollars)
(2) Low resolution mtDNA - $99 (US dollars) {note: The Low resolution mtDNA test will fulfill the requirements for the Genographic Project, but the mtDNAPlus test will provide twice as much information about your maternal ancestry.}
(Since women inherit ONLY their mother’s mtDNA, this is the only test that a woman can order and it will test her maternal line DNA.

It is necessary to add $4 shipping within the USA or $8 international shipping cost to whichever DNA test you order.

Women do not inherit Y-DNA, so they would need to recruit a male relative of their father’s line to take a Y_DNA test to analyze the paternal line DNA.)

To reduce costs, one brother can test both his maternal and paternal lines and his sisters (and brothers) can share the cost.