\doc\web\99\02\jeworig.txt
Date sent:      	Tue, 09 Feb 1999 13:09:10 -0500
To:             	jacobsk@anthro.umontreal.ca, HowlBloom@aol.com
From:           	Peter Frost <pfrost@globetrotter.qc.ca>
Subject:        	Re: Jewish origins


This is one of those debates where one can argue interminably over
whether the glass is half-empty or half-full. Most people who
identify themselves as Jewish can trace at least some of their
ancestry to the Middle East. 


The proportion can vary, depending on the history of the diaspora
community in question.  In pre-Christian Ethiopia and pre-Islamic
Yemen, conversion to Judaism was relatively easy because there was no
state religion.  In fact, we know that many members of the Himyarites
(a pre-Islamic Arab tribe) converted to Judaism in the 4th century.
In contrast, conversion to Judaism was much more difficult in
Christian Poland.  I suspect that much of the non-Jewish ancestry in
Ashkenazi Jews goes back to the original founder population (ca. 10th
century) when many Slav tribes east of the Elbe had not yet converted
to Christianity. 


I don't have the references at hand, but I remember reading two
studies (one using fingerprints, the other gene markers) that placed
the Ashkenazim between contemporary European and Middle-Eastern
populations. 


As for the Khazar hypothesis of Jewish origins, there may be some
Turkic ancestry in Ashkenazi Jews, but it can't be too substantial.
I suspect that some people lean towards this hypothesis because they
have trouble understanding how so many Jews could have ended up in
Eastern Europe.  Yet, in my opinion, natural increase from a very
small founder population would have been sufficient.  In the mid-18th
century, there were about half a million Jews in Eastern Europe
(Russia, Austro-Hungary and Prussia combined).  If we extrapolate
backward, that comes to about 200,000 in the year 1600, about
20-50,000 in 1300 and perhaps only a few hundred at the time of the
founder event (ca. 10th century) probably in the region between the
Elbe and Oder rivers.  This scenario is supported by the structure of
the Ashkenazi gene pool, which points to demographic expansion from a
small founder group.
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Dr. Peter Frost GETIC (Groupe d'études inuit et circumpolaire)
Université Laval Sainte-Foy (Québec) CANADA G1K 7P4 


Tel. (418) 683-1740   Website: http://www.globetrotter.net/gt/usagers/pfrost 


Lorsque l'homme veut faire l'ange, il finit par faire la bête.