There are significant numbers of Jewish men found within multiple subgroups of haplogroup G (Y-DNA). Haplogroup G is found in significantly different percentages within the various Jewish ethnic divisions, ranging from about a third of Moroccan Jews to almost none reported among the Indian, Yemenite and Iranian communities.[1] These percentages often have a poor correlation with the percentages of haplogroup G in the non-Jewish population of the same country.
The Jewish clusters of men within haplogroup G subgroups often have distinctive shared oddities of values at certain STR markers but sometimes are recognizable by having close genetic distances when dozens of STR marker values are compared. These Jewish clusters are found within all the major haplogroup G subgroups.[2]
G1 -- A cluster of Ashkenazi Jewish men from northeastern Europe is found in G1 persons who are negative for G1 subgroups. These Jewish men share an odd value of 12 at STR marker DYS446.
G1a -- A cluster of Ashkenazi Jewish men from northeastern Europe is found in G1a persons who are negative for G1a subgroups. These Jewish men share a value of 16 at STR marker DYS19 and 27 at DYS389b.
G1a1 -- Another cluster of Ashkenazi Jewish men from northeastern Europe is found in G1a1 persons. So far they seem to comprise the only men who are G1a1, and this is the only known grouping of haplogroup G Jews whose grouping is defined by a SNP mutation.
G2a1a -- A cluster of Ashkenazi Jewish men from northeastern Europe is found in G2a1a. Almost all differ from the nonJewish G2a1a men in having two distinctive STR marker values: YCA=21,21 and typically DYS19=16.
G2a3a -- A cluster of mostly Ashkenazi Jewish men from northeastern Europe is found in G2a3a persons negative for the G2a3a subgroup. Some samples from the western Mediterranean exist which may represent conversos. These men have distinctive values for two STR markers: DYS454=12 and DYS392=12.
G2a3b1a -- A cluster of Ashkenazi Jewish men from northeastern Europe is found within the large number of G2a3b1a men who share the STR marker value of 9 for marker DYS568. These Jewish men have distinctive low marker values at STR marker DYS385a and a high value at DYS385b when compared with other DYS568=9 men. Based on the number of STR marker mutations seen in comparisons, it is likely the common ancestor of all these men lived sometime in the Middle Ages.
G2a3b1a -- A tiny number of Ashkenazi Jewish men from northeastern Europe is found within the large number of G2a3b1a men who share the STR marker value of 13 for marker DYS388. These Jewish men lack distinctive STR marker values but have each other as nearest matches in comparing STR marker samples. Based on the number of STR marker mutations seen in comparisons, it is likely the common ancestor of all these men lived sometime in the Middle Ages.
G2a3b1a -- A tiny number of men who share the unusual STR marker value of 17 and are otherwise genetically close to each other. This subgroup includes a few Mediterranean men who may not have known Jewish roots.
G2a3b1a1 -- A small group of Ashkenazi Jewish men with ancestral origins in northeastern Europe is found in G2a3b1a1a1. They share a 12 value for slowly mutating STR marker DYS392, a rarity among G2a3b1a1a1 men.
G2a3b1a1a -- A cluster of men whose ancestors were western Mediterranean conversos or had ties to Sephardic Jewish communities is found in G2a3b1a1a. They lack distinctive STR marker values, but have each other as nearest matches in comparing STR marker samples.
G2c -- A high percentage of G2c men from Europe are Ashkenazi Jewish men who are negative for G2c1. These Jewish men have the distinctive feature within G2c of a shared null value for STR marker DYS425. Based on the number of STR marker mutations seen in comparisons, it is likely the common ancestor of all these men lived sometime in the Middle Ages.
The following percentages of haplogroup G persons have been found in the various Jewish communities listed in descending order by percentage of G.
| population | usual origin | total N | G % | N=G | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moroccan Jews | Morocco | 83 | 19.3% | 16 | [1] |
| Sephardim | Bulgaria/Turkey | 174 | 16.7% | 29 | [1] |
| Mountain Jews | Azerbaijan | 57 | 15.8% | 9 | [1] |
| Libyan Jews | Libya | 20 | 10.0% | 2 | [3] |
| Iraqi Jews | Iraq | 79 | 10.1% | 8 | [1] |
| Ashkenazim | Pale of Settlement/Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (NE Europe), Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands | 856 | 7.2% | 61 | [1] |
| Bene Israel | Konkan, North India | 31 | 6.5% | 2 | [1] |
| Georgian Jews | Georgia | 62 | 4.8% | 3 | [1] |
| Yemenite Jews | Yemen | 74 | 6.8% | 0 | [1] |
| Persian Jews | Iran | 49 | 0% | 0 | [1] |
| Bukharan Jews | Uzbekistan | 15 | 0% | 0 | [1] |
| Cochin Jews | Cochin, South India | 45 | 0% | 0 | [1] |
| Ethiopian Jews | Gondar, Ethiopia | 27 | 0% | 0 | [1] |
One of the basic questions is whether haplogroup G persons were already living in lands occupied by the Jews of the Hebrew Bible -- corresponding mostly to the modern state of Israel -- when distinctly Jewish states first came into existence about 1350 BCE.[4] By this point in time, the major G haplogroup divisions were in existence, but only ancient DNA can today confirm the geographical spread of G then. The presence of haplogroup G to some extent in all populations throughout the Middle East does not rule out the possibility that G persons were living in Jewish lands during the formative years of the religion.
In the pre-Jewish period the Hurrians once controlled Jerusalem through rulers such as Abdi-Heba The Hurrian kingdom at times stretched from today's Syria to the eastern Persian Gulf. Farther back in time in the prehistorical period, movements into the Middle East that may have resulted in population admixture are completely unknown due to the absence of written materials.
In the Hebrew Bible there are references to intermarriages with Egyptian male slaves[5] In the time of Joshua about 3400 years ago, Israelites were also described as settling among the Hittites, an ancient Anatolian people—probably the ones inhabiting Mount Lebanon -- and also among the Amorites who were associated with Mesopotamia and intermarrying with persons from both these groups.[6] The Assyrian king, Shalmaneser, during the tenure of Hoshea as King of Israel in the 700s BCE carried the Israelites off to his kingdom and replaced the Israelites who were living in Samaria with persons brought from various Babylonian locales.[7] This event also led to a permanent population of Jews within today's Iran. The presence of the non-Israelites in Samaria could have provided an opportunity for additional population admixture on the return of the Israelites. In the 500s BCE, Israelites were carried into exile in Babylon on more than one occasion. This provided another opportunity to obtain accretions from regional peoples though the sources do not address whether this happened. During the period of the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, persons from various towns in today's Syria and Iraq were among the Babylonian captives returning to Israel who could not show how they were descended from Israelites.[5] Not all the Israelites returned to Israel from Babylonia.
In the 500s BCE at the end of the Babylonian exile, Cyrus allowed additional Jews into Persia. In 135 CE, there was yet another wave of emigration into Persia by Jews fleeing the Roman persecutions. At the time of the original emigrations, Jews intermarried with the local population. The Assyrians also deported Jews to Armenia, and 10,000 Jews moved there on their own.[8]
The omnipresent ancient slave trade provided another opportunity for admixture with Jews because the covenant given to Abraham and his descendants had required that Jewish slaves would be required to undergo circumcision.[9] There is a strong implication that the slaves became Jewish.
In 70 CE, the Romans exiled Jews from the ancient land of their ancestors (the Diaspora) and enslaved many of them. This resulted in the dispersal of Jews throughout the Roman Empire.
During portions of the Early Middle Ages, the hostility between Muslims and Christians provided an opportunity for Jewish Radhanites merchants to set up trade routes and establish new Jewish communities throughout Eurasia. Later restrictions by Christian rulers on occupations Jews could pursue led to specific Jewish involvement in international migrations and trade. Throughout the Middle Ages, expulsions of Jews from some Christian countries led to further dispersals to distant locations. While a number of Jews were forced to convert to other religions, they also received converts into their ranks.
There are several findings that are inconsistent with Jews acquiring haplogroup G from populations with which they came in contact. 1. Haplogroup G1 is especially concentrated in today's Iran and its borders,.[10] but the Jews from Iran who were sampled had no haplogroup G of any type present.[1] 2. The Republic of Georgia has a substantial percentage of G in its population,.[11] but the percentage of G among Georgian Jews is modest.[1] 3. In Morocco, there is a substantial amount of G among Jews,[1] but the non-Jews have negligible amounts.[12]
Findings are also available to take the opposite side of the argument. Yemenite Jews have about the same small percentage of haplogroup G as found among the non-Jews,[1] with the division between G1 and G2 similar in both groups.[13]
The resolution of the question as to which populations originally supplied the haplogroup G can be partly resolved by comparing detailed STR marker samples of Jews and non Jews within the same population. This allows an estimate of time separation because markers mutate at a somewhat predictable rate. The only such comparisons currently available involve Ashkenazi Jews.
Over 50 detailed samples of Ashkenazi G2c Jewish men in the Haplogroup G Project[14] indicate that these Ashkenazis do not share common ancestors with any other G person living in Europe within the Current Era based on the number of marker values that are different. And the type of haplogroup G seen among non-Jews in eastern Europe from where these men originated is rarely G2c. It can be deduced, for this group at least, that they very likely did not share post-Roman era ancestry with the non-Jewish population of eastern Europe.