The Hasanlu Lovers

When the citadel of Hasanlu was sacked and burned around 800 BCE, two people died in a grain bin, one reaching toward the other in what became one of archaeology's most famous images — the 'Hasanlu Lovers'. Genetic analysis showed both were young men. They perished together in the destruction of their city on the shores of Lake Urmia.

The genome-wide data behind this entry was published in The genomic history of the Iranian plateau.

Every Ancestrify Global25 report includes the free Notable Matches lens: your coordinates are compared to every sequenced member of every catalog entry, and the distance to the closest member is reported — a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional space the Distance lens uses. Because these are a small group of real individuals, not a population average, distances naturally run larger than population distances — that is expected, not a poor result. And one thing is never claimed: a small distance means similar ancestry composition, not that the Hasanlu Lovers are your ancestor. See how it looks in the live demo or read about the full G25 analysis.

• 01

  Who were the Hasanlu Lovers?

  The Hasanlu Lovers (c. 800 BCE, Hasanlu, Iran) are one of the Historical figures entries in our Notable Matches catalog, represented by 2 sequenced ancient genomes published in the study "The genomic history of the Iranian plateau".

• 02

  What does "matching" the Hasanlu Lovers mean?

  Your Global25 coordinates are compared to the entry's sequenced members and the distance to the closest one is reported — a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional reference space the Distance lens uses. A notable entry is one person or one small burial group, not a population average, so distances naturally run larger than population distances.

• 03

  Are they my ancestor?

  No — and no DNA test can show that. A small distance means your genome sits near theirs in a shared reference space: similar ancestry composition, not descent. Ancestrify never claims a notable individual is your ancestor or relative.

• 04

  How do I see my own distance to the Hasanlu Lovers?

  Notable Matches is a free lens on every Ancestrify Global25 report — never sold separately. Order the G25 analysis (29.99 EUR), and your report ranks your coordinates against the full catalog, with a portrait, dossier and map for every entry. The public demo shows the lens with example data.

The catalog holds every published entry across three tiers — browse the full Notable Matches directory. Nearby entries:

• The Golden Warrior of Issykc. 750 BCE

• Aak of the Frisian Terps356–57 BCE

• The Tollense Warriorsc. 1250 BCE

• The Griffin Warrior of Pylosc. 1450 BCE

• The Princess of Hasslebenc. 300 CE

• Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou543–578 CE

• Empress Ashina551–582 CE

• The Kunbábony Avar Khagan630–670 CE

• The Salme Ship Warriorsc. 750 CE

• Bishop Teodomiro of Iria Flaviad. 847 CE

• The Birka Warrior Woman10th century CE

• Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary1040–1095 CE