Origins & Evidence

Updated on 13 October 2026

This page provides historical context; it is not an attempt to push the family tree indefinitely backward. The Archive’s principal task is the documented family tree from As’ad forward. Earlier roots are recorded only as far as reliable evidence allows, and some questions may remain permanently unresolved.

Current Evidence Map

The Documented Al-Taher Line

The Archive’s documented paternal sequence immediately before the Al-Taher family is As’ad, son of Taher, son of Saleh, son of Sulaiman. Historical material identifies Saleh, son of Sulaiman, as a Jaradat leader in Silat Al-Harithiya and names Taher among his sons. Court records then preserve As’ad under variable lineage forms, including As’ad Al-Taher, As’ad Al-Taher Al-Saleh, and As’ad Al-Taher Al-Saleh Al-Sulaiman. ^{[3], [10]}

These changing forms are not treated as modern fixed surnames. They reflect progressively broader genealogical identification while showing the emergence of Al-Taher as the lasting family name.

Jaradat and al-Amr

The broad historical association between the Jaradat and al-Amr of Karak is substantially better attested than any single proposed internal pedigree. Fayez Abu Farda cites Frederick Gerard Peake and other regional and tribal works that identify the Jaradat as part of the al-Amr tribal community, while other accounts classify them under different al-Amr subdivisions. That disagreement matters: it means the Archive does not claim a specific subbranch unless it can be independently established. ^{[3], [4], [5], [6], [7]}

The safest conclusion is therefore that the Jaradat were historically embedded in the al-Amr tribal environment, while the exact biological relationship and internal tribal subdivisions remain unresolved historical questions and are not among the Archive’s current priorities.

al-Amr, Bani Uqba and Judham

The sources also describe an older tribal setting. Historical sources and later accounts connect al-Amr with Bani Uqba, while medieval sources place Bani Uqba within Judham. Bani Uqba were historically present across the Karak–Shobak–northern Hijaz corridor centuries before the Jaradat name becomes visible in the surviving record. ^{[1], [2], [9]}

This matters because the emergence of a later clan name does not necessarily mean that the community’s ancestral roots in the region are equally recent. The name Jaradat may be comparatively young even if the community from which it emerged had been present in the southern Levant for much longer.

What DNA Adds

The direct father-to-son Al-Taher line has been tested through advanced Y-DNA analysis. The family’s reported Big Y result is J-FT46742. Earlier research notes also record a YFull placement at J-FT344913* beneath J-FGC60121; the dated reports should be checked together before treating these labels as equivalent or current placements. ^[11]

Earlier comparative research notes describe nearby tested paternal lines whose owners report affiliations with al-Amr, Bani Uqba and Judham. This does not prove a literal tribal pedigree, and those reported affiliations require their own documentary support. Such comparisons may guide research, but do not establish the family’s descent from a named tribe.

The autosomal results discussed in family research show a predominantly Levantine pattern. These estimates concern ancestry across many family lines; they do not establish the origin of this one paternal line, a named ancient people, or a particular migration date.

Y-DNA is useful for comparing direct paternal lines. A shared tribal name does not by itself establish a recent shared paternal ancestor, just as a genetic match does not by itself supply the missing names in a pedigree.

Research Boundaries

Some questions about the family’s distant origins remain unanswered. Historical records may be incomplete or lost, tribal names and classifications can change over time, and DNA results cannot independently establish a specific historical pedigree. These questions can remain open without becoming priorities for the Archive’s current work.

Resolving these questions is not a prerequisite for completing the documented family tree of As’ad Al-Taher and his descendants.

• The exact internal Jaradat relationship within al-Amr.
• The earliest securely dated appearance of the Jaradat name in surviving records.
• Whether a specific Masha’leh-of-al-Amr connection can be independently established, rather than inferred from later tribal classifications.
• How additional Y-DNA tests from independently documented Jaradat and al-Amr paternal branches refine the genetic picture.

How We Evaluate Historical Evidence

When considering distant ancestry before As’ad Al-Taher, the Archive gives priority to original documents dating from or near the events concerned, followed by independent historical sources that corroborate them. Inherited traditions and old pedigrees are distinguished from ancestry established by reliable historical evidence.

The Archive also treats detailed tribal classifications and genealogical claims in later publications with caution, particularly when the original underlying sources cannot be verified. Such claims are not used to establish ancient genealogical connections without sufficient evidence.

Documenting As’ad Al-Taher’s descendants follows a different approach. Family members are primary sources for their own lives, relatives, and branches, and their firsthand knowledge and accounts are fundamental to completing the family tree.

The priority remains completing, correcting, and preserving that record for future generations; resolving questions of distant ancestry is not a prerequisite.