Carmi and colleagues also compared the DNA of the Erfurt Jews to modern genomes from around the Levant and the Mediterranean to figure out their ancestry. The most statistically probable model indicates that both groups of Erfurt Ashkenazim could trace 65 percent of their ancestry to southern Italy, 19 percent to the Levant and 16 percent to Eastern Europe.
Medieval Jews 19% Levantine
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Medieval Jews 19% Levantine
DNA of Medieval Skeletons in Germany Sheds Light on Origins of Ashkenazi Jews https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/202 ... ecc8940000
Re: % Levantine
20% Levantine Ancestry c.1400
16% Levantine Ancestry c.1500
12% Levantine Ancestry c.1600
8% Levantine Ancestry c.1700
4% Levantine Ancestry c.1800
2% Levantine Ancestry c.1900
~18-25 generations since 1400.
The Middle Eastern genetic pattern is Iranic though.
"Eastern European" would also include Crimean and Irano-Turkic genetics.
The Southern Italian story suggests a major 'Jewish' (Alexandrian?) migration event c.100 BC but not necessarily from the Levant (Palestine). In that context, a c.150 AD portrait from the Egyptian Jewish Fayum leads me to ask: Are some of these faces Jewish?
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-724311
16% Levantine Ancestry c.1500
12% Levantine Ancestry c.1600
8% Levantine Ancestry c.1700
4% Levantine Ancestry c.1800
2% Levantine Ancestry c.1900
~18-25 generations since 1400.
The Middle Eastern genetic pattern is Iranic though.
These finding are supported by ancient DNA evidence showing 0–3% Levantine ancestry and a dominant Iranian ancestry (88%) in modern-day AJs (Das et al.).
"Eastern European" would also include Crimean and Irano-Turkic genetics.
The major source of EU ancestry in AJ was found to be Southern Europe (≈60–80% of EU ancestry), with the rest being likely Eastern European. The inferred admixture time was ≈30 generations ago, but multiple lines of evidence suggest that it represents an average over two or more events, pre- and post-dating the founder event experienced by AJ in late medieval times. The time of the pre-bottleneck admixture event, which was likely Southern European, was estimated to ≈25–50 generations ago.
The Southern Italian story suggests a major 'Jewish' (Alexandrian?) migration event c.100 BC but not necessarily from the Levant (Palestine). In that context, a c.150 AD portrait from the Egyptian Jewish Fayum leads me to ask: Are some of these faces Jewish?
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-724311