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 firstname.lastname@example.org, Joel Elias email@example.com, and Paul Givargidze firstname.lastname@example.org ) 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.