Editing Family tree (section)

=== Europe and West Asia ===
Before the [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]], in the [[Greco-Roman]] world, some reliable pedigrees dated back perhaps at least as far as the first half of the first millennium BC; with claimed or mythological origins reaching back further. [[ancient rome|Roman]] clan and family lineages played an important part in the structure of their society and were the basis of their intricate system of personal names. However, there was a break in the continuity of record-keeping at the end of [[Classical Antiquity]]. Records of the lines of succession of the [[Pope]]s and the Eastern Roman Emperors through this transitional period have survived, but these are not continuous genealogical histories of single families. Refer to [[descent from antiquity]].

Many noble and aristocratic families of European and West Asian origin can reliably trace their ancestry back as far as the mid to late first millennium AD; some claiming undocumented descent from Classical Antiquity or mythological ancestors. In Europe, for example, the pedigree of [[Niall Noígíallach]] would be a contender for the longest, through [[Conn of the Hundred Battles]] ([[Floruit|fl.]] 123 AD){{citation needed|date=October 2015}}; in the legendary history of Ireland, he is further descended from [[Breogán]], and ultimately from Adam, through the sons of Noah.

Another very old and extensive tree is that of the [[Lurie]] lineage—which includes [[Sigmund Freud]] and [[Martin Buber]]—and traces back to Lurie, a 13th-century rabbi in Brest-Litovsk, and from there to [[Rashi]] and purportedly back to the legendary [[King David]], as documented by Neil Rosenstein in his book ''The Lurie Legacy''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Lurie Legacy: The House of Davidic Royal Descent |author=Neil Rosenstein, Ranan R. Lurie |isbn=978-1-886223-17-2}}</ref> The 1999 edition of the ''[[Guinness Book of Records]]'' recorded the Lurie family in the "longest lineage" category as one of the oldest-known living families in the world today.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=JTA |author=Bill Gladstone |date=October 24, 2004 |url=http://www.jta.org/2004/10/24/life-religion/features/the-oldest-family-in-the-world |title=The oldest family in the world}}</ref>

Family trees and representations of lineages are also important in religious traditions. The biblical genealogies of Jesus also claim descent from the House of David, covering a period of approximately 1000 years. In the Torah and Old Testament, genealogies are provided for many biblical persons, including a record of the descendants of Adam. Also according to the Torah, the [[Kohanim]] are descended from [[Aaron]]. [[Genetic testing]] performed at the [[Technion]] has shown that most modern Kohanim share common Y-chromosome origins, although there is no complete family tree of the Kohanim. In the Islamic world, claimed descent from [[Muhammad]] greatly enhanced the status of political and religious leaders; new dynasties often used claims of such descent to help establish their legitimacy.