A lot of genetic similarity between the Jews and the Kurds

Researchers speculate that the Jews originated from the north of the Fertile Crescent

Tamara Traubman

A new study suggests that the closest people genetically to Jews is the Kurdish people. According to the scientists who carried out the research, the findings suggest that Jews and Kurds had common ancestors, who lived in the north of the Fertile Crescent (modern-day northern Iraq and Turkey). Some of them, according to the hypothesis, migrated south during prehistoric periods, and settled on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

Prof. Ariela Oppenheim and Dr. Marina Fairman, in whose laboratory at the Hebrew University the research was carried out, say that they were surprised to discover that the Jews are genetically closer to populations from the Northern Fertile Crescent (such as the Kurds and Turks) than to their Arab neighbors. Oppenheim points out that geneticists who previously examined DNA samples of Jews - including herself - found that there is a great genetic affinity between Jews and Arabs, mainly Palestinians from Israel and the territories.

However, the test done in the current study was conducted at a more detailed and in-depth level than the previous tests. Furthermore, in the current study a comparison was made for the first time between DNA samples of Jews and DNA of Muslim Kurds. because of
Due to the political tensions and geographical distances, DNA samples of Muslim Kurds have not been available for use by Israeli researchers until now. In the current study, DNA samples taken by a German geneticist, Dr. Brand Brinkmann, from Kurdish refugees who arrived in Germany were used.

Testing the genetic kinship between different peoples is done by comparing the frequency of genetic mutations among them. This information makes it possible to reconstruct the migration route of the peoples, and to reveal the unwritten history that was embedded in the gardens. However, the current study reveals only part of the story, as it is based on testing mutations in the y chromosome. Since this chromosome, which determines the male sex, is inherited only from father to son, it does not contain information about the contribution of mothers to the genetic load of the populations tested.

The researchers examined data extracted from DNA taken from the y chromosomes of 1,847 Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Kurdish Jewish men; from populations from the north of the Fertile Crescent that included Muslims and Christians of Kurdish, Turkish, and Armenian origin; from Arab populations that included Palestinians, Bedouins, Jordanians, Syrians, and Lebanese; and from other populations, including Russians, Poles and residents of Belarus.

Among other things, the research team examined the degree of prevalence of two certain versions of the y chromosome, marked according to the type of mutations in which the letters Eu9 and Eu10 in previous studies hinted that the origin of these versions is in the Middle East region.

The frequency of the chromosome from the Eu9 version is high in the north of the Fertile Crescent (in Kurds, Turks and Armenians), and its frequency is decreasing as one migrates. The researchers hypothesize that this suggests a migration route of people who left the north of the Fertile Crescent and migrated south.

In contrast to this finding, it was also found that the chromosome from the Eu10 version, the most common in Arab populations (such as Palestinians, Bedouins and Syrians), has a geographical distribution opposite to that of Eu9: it is common mainly in the south of the Middle East, and is becoming less common the more you code. "Our hypothesis," says Dr. Deborah Filon from the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital, another partner in the study, "is that this finding implies that some of today's Palestinians are descendants of tribes that migrated
to our region from the region of Saudi Arabia in the last two thousand years."

A report detailing the findings of the research and the methods of its execution is published in the current issue of the scientific journal "Genetics American Journal of Human The research was carried out as part of Dr. Almot Navel's doctoral thesis.

Prof. Oppenheim pointed out that researchers still lack DNA from some groups - such as Iraqis and Saudis - to complete the genetic mapping of the inhabitants of the Middle East.

Dr. Feyerman said that DNA analysis of ethnic groups only allows one to draw conclusions about the general degree of kinship of different peoples - as opposed to DNA tests designed to identify specific people. "From such tests it is impossible to draw conclusions about individual people," says Feierman , "We are some kind of mixture of several different sources. There is no specific garden that you can put your finger on and say, 'This is a Jewish garden.'"

The great closeness between the Kurds and the Jews also surprised historians. Prof. Bezalel Bar Kochba, from the Department of History of the People of Israel at Tel Aviv University, said that there is no known migration in ancient times of peoples from the north of the Fertile Crescent to the region of Israel.
Dr. Gunner Lehmann, who studies biblical, Syrian and Mesopotamian archeology at Ben Gurion University, also said that "it is difficult to explain the findings within the framework of the knowledge we have about the material or historical culture."

Prof. Shaul Shaked, who studies the history of the peoples in the Fertile Crescent region at the Hebrew University, said that there is a known cultural connection between the populations of the Fertile Crescent (including the area where Israel is today) at the beginning of written human history. According to him, in general not much is known about the origin of the Kurds, and large parts of their history remain a mystery. "The earliest evidence (about the Kurds, 19th century) is from the early Middle Ages," said Shaked. Prof. Shaked uses language analysis to investigate the history of ethnic groups. Kurdish, he says, is a language of Iranian origin.

In the current study, as in other studies carried out in recent years, it can be seen that genetic kinship does not always reflect the kinship between languages. "Although Hebrew is closer to Arabic, and the Kurdish language belongs to a completely different language family, genetically there is a greater closeness between the Kurds and the Jews," said Oppenheim.

Another figure discovered in the research rekindles a controversial theory about the origin of the Ashkenazi Jews. According to this theory, which is based mainly on the writings of the medieval poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, some of the Ashkenazim are descendants of the Khazars. The Khazars were a Turkic tribe from Central Asia, who settled in southern Russia and eastern Ukraine. In his book, "The Book of the Khazari", Yehuda Halevi describes how the king of the Khazars converted to Judaism in the 9th century and together with him he converted his people.

From previous studies it is known that the Eu19 chromosome originated from the area where the Khazars lived. It is still common among non-Jews from Eastern Europe. In the current study, a relatively high frequency of this type of chromosome was also found in Ashkenazi Jews.
"An attractive possibility that emerges from the findings," the researchers wrote, "is that Ashkenazim who carry the mutation are descendants of the Khazars." However, Prof. Oppenheim says that this claim has not been thoroughly tested in the research, and in order to confirm it, additional studies must be carried out.

Prof. Mark Feldman, who studies the genetics of populations, including that of the Jews, said yesterday in a telephone interview from his office at Stanford University, that he doubts the truth of the claim that the Ashkenazim are descendants of the Khazars. According to him, from the results of studies he and others conducted, it appears that Eu19 is also common in many other populations in the Fertile Crescent region.

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