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Question:

Phoenician ancestors/Lebanese people?

This is a weird question, I know, but I'm doing family research and I was just wondering...

I know Lebanese people are descended from the Ancient Phoenicians and that Lebanon was the original site of the Phoenician civilization. DNA testing says that my family is descended from haplogroup k2, which is really rare and considered to originally be a Phoenician haplogroup. My gg grandma was part Welsh, and her Welsh ancestors came over from Cadiz, Spain, which was founded by Phoenicians (and is also where lots of k2's are found.)

So, does that make someone in my family genetically related to Lebanese people, or was our common Phoenician ancestor too far back for that to be possible? Thanks!


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It's not an easy question to answer for many reasons. The biggest reason is that you're asking for a generalization at the same time that you're asking for specific information on a particular family. We can all agree that the Phoenicians were excellent sailors and ruled the Mediterranean for centuries. They traded freely throughout the region. When your particular ancestors ended up in Cadiz is the real question...and it's closely followed by how many generations did it take for the migration from the Near East to the Isberian peninsula?

Let's imagine that along the way, your ancestors traveled to Malta, Liberia, Tunisia and France before making their way to Spain. They may or may not have intermarried...and you don't mention if you're doing mitochondrial DNA or patrilineal...but it clearly makes a difference. If this is a matrilineal line, then there's much to consider in even hypothesizing how the migration happened.

In my own best guestimate, your ancestors were sea-going traders. Somewhere along the line, they started moving westward because the trade was better in the Roman Empire. But it's only a guess. It's just as likely that a storm washed a ship far across the sea and the poor woman in your tree who was only trying to go to Thessalonica to visit a relative was suddenly washed up in France and went to Spain to seek refuge.