Monday, October 21, 2013

Ashkenazim Deciphered?

Ashkenazi Jews are thought to be the descendants of the biblical Hebrews, but there are a few problems with this proposition. Why don't Ashkenazim cluster with modern Levantines given that modern Levantines are largely untainted aside from some minor Arabian genes that came with Islam? Why are Ashkenazim showing links to Assyrians and Iraqi Mandaens as opposed to Druze, Lebanese and the like? Let's take a look at their history to answer this question. The first steps out of Canaan were during the exile in Mesopotamia and there exists the possibility they mixed with an Assyrian-like population during this time, this would explain their genetic ties to Mandaens and Assyrians....but it still doesn't explain why Ashkenazi Jews cluster smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. For them to be that far western genetically suggests they aren't purely the descendants of ancient Hebrews, but a hybrid population of Levantine and south Italian, plus a hint of central European. The mixing with south Italians happened when the ancestral Ashkenazi population became involved in business and finances in Italy during the late Roman era - this window of opportunity was likely when they assimilated Italian women, then migrated to the Rhine valley and assimilated German women, thus explaining the their European mtDNA. Of course most of this is conjecture but I think I am going in the right direction.

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The fact is Ashkenazim show high Atlantic_Mediterranean ancestry compared to Levantines and even Mizrahi Jews, thus hinting at a partial south Italian origin of Ashkenazi Jews.

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