Omar is a Swahili man from Lamu, a special island off the coast of Kenya. Image by Tafline Laylin for Green Prophet. Genomes uncovered from centuries-old East African towns revise conclusions of colonial science.
Genome research now looks to the diverse origins of Swahili culture, with Swahili people carrying a mixture of local African, Middle Eastern and South Asian ancestry. The Swahili culture (where Muslim imams worry about Chinese ports) was often thought of being an Arab colony, but new investigation into the DNA shows this is untrue.
Researchers led by Harvard’s Esther Brielle at the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, analysed the genomes of 54 individuals buried in Kenya and Tanzania between the years 1250 and 1800 and found that they were descended from people who began mixing around the year 1000.
Nearly all of their East African ancestry seemed to come from women, whereas most of the Asian ancestry was contributed by men from Persia.
Persians are not Arabs. The new DNA results do support the oral traditions of the Swahili people in Kenya and dispel colonial myths and old writings of Europeans who came to Africa and found that Swahili civilization is “essentially an Arab civilization”, notes anthropological archaeologist Chapurukha Kusimba, who co-led the study in Nature.
Green Prophet travelled to Kenya and reported on the Swahili culture. This article reports on the threat the Lamu people feel about Chinese influence on their island. This one reports on upcycling dhows into inspiring art. This is how they celebrate Eid in Kenya. While it is influenced by Arab culture and they are Muslim, there is much more to this melting pot than meets the eye.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]
