Jewish Women’s Genes Traced Mostly to Europe — Not Israel
The maternal ancestry of Ashkenazi Jews comes mainly from Europe, a new study shows.
The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, fly in the face of the commonly accepted notion that European Ashkenazim are descended from Jews who left Israel and the Middle East some 2,000 years ago and moved to the Near East. The study suggests that large numbers of European women converted to Judaism.
Martin Richards of the University of Huddersfield in England led a team of researchers from Russia, the Czech Republic, Portugal and the United States that looked at mitochondrial DNA, which is contained in the cytoplasm of the egg and is passed down through the maternal line.
More than 80 percent of the 3,500 DNA samples studies were traced to Europe. The 80 percent is made up of four maternal lines.
“These analyses suggest that the first major wave of assimilation probably took place in Mediterranean Europe, most likely in the Italian peninsula, with substantial further assimilation of minor founders in west/central Europe,” the study said in its conclusion.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.