DNA of ancient Phonecian boy suggests a new model of human migration
The
findings of a recent study backed by DNA evidence is shedding new light
on the genetic origins of perhaps the most celebrated civilization that
once thrived in the Middle East. The researchers have successfully
sequenced the first complete genome of 2500 years old remains of a young
man discovered in Carthage. The Sequencing revealed that the ancient
boy’s genome contains a rare European hunter gatherer genes; the finding
has the potential to trigger the rewrite of the migration pattern of
ancient Europeans into the North African region.
Location of Phoenicia.SourceResearchers
claim that the finding is significant as it could shed light on the
scope and tendency of ancient people’s movement across continents.
The
young man whose remains were discovered in cartage belonged to a
civilization known as Phoenicians. Major contributors to the rise of
mankind to the glory it enjoys today; Phoenicians were the genius
civilization who created the first organized system of alphabets,
effectively paving the way for the rise of knowledge and science in the
coming millennium. Phoenicians lived in a chain of coastal city states
of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Arad; constituting modern day regions of
Lebanon and southern Syria.
According
to historians the very first Phoenician city started forming sometime
in 3200 BCE; and by 2750 BCE Phoenicians had developed into a thriving
civilization comprised of many city states. Mainly peaceful folks,
Phoenicians pride themselves in maritime trading and manufacturing all
kinds of everyday items. With the trade stretching as far as Britain and
Greece, Phoenicians were able to invest in the business of making
ships, glass items, and a variety of other luxury goods such as dye,
used for dying clothes and sometimes human hair?
Phoenician man.Source:University of OtagoThe
demise of the Phoenicians started in the year 334 BCE, when Alexander
the Great swept through the region conquering Sidon and Byblos and then
arriving in Tyre. After witnessing the obliteration of other city
states, the elders of Tyre decided to peacefully surrender to Alexander;
however this did not stop the carnage that devastated once thriving and
peaceful civilization. Historical figures differ but it is safe to say
that Alexander’s Army brutally massacred some 30,000 Phoenicians
including skilled designers and a number of great Phoenicians; those who
somehow survived the ordeal were enslaved, soon after that Phoenician
civilization slowly died out.
The
researchers from the University of Otago, New Zealand claimed that the
DNA sequencing of the Phoenician boy known in the scientific community
as ‘Young man of Byrsa’ or ‘Archie’; resembles to a modern day
Portuguese. A study was carried out in Lebanese region to find the
resembling sequence, however, no confirmed match was reported hence the
European origins of Phoenicians became a plausible theory.
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