>I've taken one line back to Adam and Eve...I am 136 generations from Adam >..(you can't tell my age by that, can you??) I find VERY VERY VERY few if >any marriages between cousins. I think that was one of the points of >keeping genealogy starting in the Bible. The other being to distinquish from >non-Hebrew lines. > >Sharon Hi "cousin" Sharon, I am not sure about the Hebrew genealogies being kept to keep from marrying close relatives. Besides the non-Hebrew lines, and simple ego, it appears that one of the more important purposes of the biblical genealogies had to do with land ownership and things like service in the temple. Note that different cultures appear to have different reasonings however (I believe the Navajo are one people group that required one marry *outside* ones clan - hence a good argument can be made for trying not to marry relatives here). As for marrying "close family relations", in Egypt, marriages between siblings (at least in the royal line) fairly common. Even in the bible, there are a number of close family marriages. Abraham married his half sister, Sarah (Genesis 20:12). Isaac married Rebekah the daughter of his cousin Bethuel (Genesis 24:15). Jacob married Leah and Rachel who were both first cousins through Laban, Rebekah's brother (Genesis 28:2). After the Exodus, a restriction was placed that required marriage only with someone of the same tribe (Numbers 36:6). This restriction had to do with the "inheritance" of the land, that it would not leave a tribe. [Note: Jewish tradition is that the restriction was lifted when intermarriage was once again allowed with the tribe of Benjamin (cf. Judges 21).] Indeed, this was also likely true for later European Aristocracy as well - marriage of cousins (2nd, 3rd or 4th) might be desirable to help keep the wealth in the family. Jewish tradition is that the restriction was lifted when intermarriage was once again allowed with the tribe of Benjamin (cf. Judges 21). DNA studies reported last year showed that Jewish men from Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Europe have almost identical genetic profiles and that Jewish communities tend to be very different from their surrounding communities. When communities are small and restricted, there tends to be more intermarriage. According to an article on the subject by John Becker, "in 1875 in England, 7.5% of Jewish marriages were between first cousins." He also reports that an Amish family with a fairly complete genealogy that 135 of 627 marriages were between second cousins or closer. Mr. Becker's article can be found online: http://www.generations.on.ca/genealogy/pedigree.htm My uncle has traced one of our lines back to Adam as well - but even that has gaps of people. As I recall, there are a couple of generation gaps in the "Exilarchs" in Babylon. While the documentation is at times somewhat dubious, an argument that royality tends to marry royality makes the odds better that the general connections are likely, even if some of the individual links may be poorly documented (or even dubious). However, remember the first rule of genealogy: "If you have not documented the primary sources for yourself, the data should be considered suspect." Fun stuff. - Mike