Asturians are descendants of Jews

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Llames
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Asturians are descendants of Jews

Post by Llames »

A genetic study developed by the University of Leicester (UK) and Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona has led a surprise: the genetic inheritance of Asturias is predominantly Sephardic Jews, with a strong Northafrican component added. In fact, is the largest region of Spain where Sephardic genetic fingerprint is detected.

You can see the article here, sorry it's only in spanish

http://www.lne.es/secciones/noticia.jsp ... arte-padre

It seems that the saying of Asturias is Spain and the rest is conquered land stays in myth :roll:

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Nun estudiu xenéticu fechu pola Universidá de Leicester (Reinu Xuníu) ya la Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona saltó la sorpresa: la herencia xenética de los asturianos ye predominantemente xudía sefardí, con un importante componente norteafricanu añadíu. De fechu, ye la rexión d'España onde detectose la mayor carga xenética sefardí.

http://www.lne.es/secciones/noticia.jsp ... arte-padre

Paez que eso d'Asturies ye España y el restu tierra conquistá quédase en mitu :roll:
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Terechu
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Post by Terechu »

That's not exactly what it says: the study group was only 150 individuals (we don't know where from in Asturias) and the result was that one in five had at least one Jewish ancestor on the paternal side. On the other side, they also say that 2 out of 10 ( isn't it the same as in 1 out of 5?) Spaniards had a Jewish ancestor. So much for the would-be kelts... but let's not forget that we've been here for several thousand years and have hundreds of non-Jewish ancestors.

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Eso no es exactamente lo que dice: se estudió un grupo de 150 individuos (no sabemos de qué parte de Asturias) y el resultado fue que uno de cada 5 tenían al menos un antepasado judío por vía paterna. Por otra parte también dice que 2 de cada 10 (no es lo mismo que 1 de cada 5?) españoles tienen un antepasado judío. Eso para los percélticos...pero no olvidemos que llevamos miles de años en esta tierra y tenemos cientos de ancestros no judíos.
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Llames
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Post by Llames »

Bien, Terechu, me pillaste...deformación profesional, soy periodista y tengo tendencia a titulares llamativos ligeramente relacionados con la verdad :lol:

Ahora bien tampoco está tan alejado, dejando a un lado los fríos números (la muestra de población que se empleó para otros estudios genéticos tampoco fue mucho más grande, con excepciones como las de Islandia) el estudio dice que Asturies es la zona con más huella genética sefardí de España, también tiene un alto componente norteafricano. En el artículo se dan algunas hipótesis del por qué.

No sé que les enseñaran ahora a los chavales, pero en mis tiempos (tengo 32 años) en el instituto te contaban la bonita historia de Asturies resistiendo al invasor árabe, reducto de la cristiandad y semilla de la Reconquista. Con lo que se te quedaba la idea de que aquí eramos los más puros de toda la península y estos datos me divierten...siempre he sido un descreido (no sólo de éste mito, sino de todo en general, para mi desgracia)

Como decía Jorge Drexler en su canción "El moro judio" (que mismamente podría ser un asturiano de hace siglos :wink: ) "No hay pueblo que no se haya creído el pueblo elegido"
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Bob
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Post by Bob »

What genetic studies can tell us is that we have ancestors in common.
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Terechu
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Post by Terechu »

Se me olvidó poner este enlace del artículo completo en El País del domingo:
es bastante interesante, en cuanto que es para toda España. De todos modos, el estudio es poco serio, pero me encantó. Sólo hay que sentarse un día en la terraza de un café y ver pasar a la gente, la diversidad es sorprendente para una región tan pequeña.

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad ... isoc_7/Tes

I forgot to add this other link of a more comprehensive article published in last Sunday's El País. It is pretty interesting in as far as it covers all of Spain. At any rate, the study is not very reliable, but I enjoyed it anyway. Actually you just have to sit at a side-walk cafe for a while and watch people go by, the diversity is quite amazing for such a small region.
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Art
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Post by Art »

That's a very interesting set of articles. Thanks to Llames and Terechu for posting the links.

Although it'd be hard know how reliable the study is without a lot more details and technical knowledge, it does fit with my sense of Asturian physical appearances. I see strong evidence of this in myself and my family and friends. In fact, I've often been asked if I'm Jewish.

The historical explanation they suggest is very interesting, too. I've long wondered how tonada developed. To my ear it has a sound quality similar to what I hear in flamenco and Arabic music. Some researchers have also noticed these similarities. Of course, there are other researchers who would disagree... and many who simply don't like the idea!

One thing that's come out of Obama having been elected is that more Americans are now willing to recognize openly their mixed genetic heritage. As Bob says, we're all related at some point. But many of us are related much closer to the present than would have been socially "acceptable" just a few years ago. If Obama does nothing else (which is unlikely) he'll have freed us up to think beyond simplistic, rigid notions of "race."

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Qué interesantes estes artículos. Gracias a Llames y Terechu por publicar los enlaces.

A pesar de que sería ser muy difícil saber si o no la investigación es fiable, sin mucho más detalles y los conocimientos técnicos, encaja con mi sentido de la apariencia física asturiana. Veo evidencia notaria de éste en mi y mi familia y amigos. De hecho, me han preguntado a menudo si estoy judío.

La explicación histórica que sugieren es muy interesante, también. He preguntado hace muchos años sobre cómo tonada desarrolló. A mi oído tiene una calidad de sonido similar a lo que he escuchado en flamenco y la música árabe. Algunos investigadores también han notado estas similitudes. Por supuesto, hay otros investigadores que no estaría de acuerdo... ¡y muchos otros a quien simplemente no les gusta la idea!

Una de las cosas que sale de le elección de Obama es que más estadounidenses están ahora dispuestos a reconocer abiertamente su patrimonio genético mixto. Como dice Bob, estamos todos relacionados desde un punto de tiempo. Pero muchos de nosotros están relacionados mucho más cerca de la presente de lo que habría sido socialmente "aceptable" hace unos pocos años. Si Obama no hace nada más (lo cual es improbable), nos ha liberado para pensar más allá de nociones de "raza" simplistas y rígidas.
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Art
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Post by Art »

Here's another interesting viewpoint on that article, from a historian who specializes in Sephardic studies.

http://www.alfassa.com/blog/2008/12/why ... moder.html

I'll post the text below just in case it disappears.

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Pego aquí otro interesante punto de vista sobre este artículo, de un historiador que se especializa en estudios sefardíes:

http://www.alfassa.com/blog/2008/12/why ... moder.html

Voy a publicar el texto aquí en caso de que desaparezca.
Shelomo Alfassa wrote:Why Jewish Blood Runs in Modern Spaniards
By Shelomo Alfassa on December 7, 2008 3:17 AM

from The Sephardic Perspective: The source for original political, social and historical commentary and observations from a Jewish worldview.


On December 5, 2008, the New York Times reported that 20% of the population of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) had Sephardic Jewish ancestry and 11% had DNA markers reflecting Islamic ancestors. To those familiar with the long and dark history of the Jews of Spain and Portugal, this is not of tremendous surprise. To understand the history of the Sephardic Jews is to understand why the genetic testing returned such results.

Jews most likely arrived in what is today Spain, sailing from the holy land with both the Phoenician sea traders and later with the Greeks. Prior to the Phoenicians arriving on the shores of Iberia, many different groups inhabited the peninsula. The Greeks took up sea going trade, much like the Phoenicians, sometime between 500 and 800 BCE. The potential for the Greeks, much like the Phoenicians, to have carried along Ioudaios (Jews) on their sailing vessels is quite plausible. The Greeks set up emporiums (trade centers) in Iberia and traditional Greek-style colonies in at least one city as early as 800-700 BCE. Among these Hellenistic city-states, it is known Jews made up a considerable portion of the population.

Long before the Spanish language came into being or before the Catholic religion ever came to the Iberian Peninsula, Jews existed there. Jews lived under oppressive and successive dominant societies, including the Romans, the Germanic tribes (Vandals, Visigoths and others), the Islamic tribes consisting of Arabs and Berbers, and eventually under the Catholic Kings, the ancestors of the modern monarchy of Spain.

The Jews in Spain, prior to the Expulsion of 1492, were a successful people, many were part of the aristocracy of the country. If we look at a comparison, the Spanish Jews of 1340, were no less influential and vital to cities in Spain as were the Jews to New York City in 1940; the same can be said of the Jews of Baghdad of the same year. They were judicial and political leaders, heads of government, they held legislative power, and they either controlled or could at least influence those, which were in charge of communal infrastructure. Like the Jews of Baghdad and New York City of 1940, the Jewish community in Spain some 600 years earlier possessed many wealthy and powerful individuals, both serving in the private sector as well as for the government.

The events leading up to the final Expulsion of the Jews from Iberia between 1492-1497 are written in the book of the darkest days of the Jewish people; this period was the worst period for the Jewish people since the destruction of ancient Jerusalem and prior to the Holocaust. If they did not leave by threat of expulsion, those Jews which did not straightforwardly welcome Christianity into their lives (and those that were accused by the Catholic Church of being heretics) were often sentenced to lifelong punishment and occasionally sentenced to death by burning or asphyxiation. Burning and looting Jewish homes, property, stores, community buildings and houses of prayer were common place for hundreds of years. These attacks were often brought about by Catholic clergyman which preached fire and brimstone against the Jewish communities. Not being able to observe their religion, scores of Jews fled, many others converted to Christianity, ahead of and during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquistions. Near 50,000 or more were said to have outright converted in Barcelona alone during the pogroms of 1391--this--in a city which a couple hundred years earlier was the Western center of all Diaspora Jewry!

The late editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Judaica, the Oxford historian Prof. Cecil Roth, said that in Spain, on some occasions, entire Jewish communities led by their rabbis, converted to Christianity instead of facing punishment and surrendering everything they possessed. In Portugal, Roth indicated that Jews made up such a large population, that to be called a "Portuguese" meant that you were a Jew. Roth made a proclamation in the 1930's indicating that there was probably no one in present Spanish society of which a tincture of Jewish blood did not run.

In addition of conversion of Jews (and Muslims) to Christianity, centuries of rape and intermarriage certainly have clouded the gene pool of those living on Iberia. Genetic research technology is evolving at an exponential rate. The science of genetics remains a subject which continues to develop rapidly in both scientific terms as well as societal. In this branch of biology that deals with heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited characteristics among similar or related organisms, the genetic constitution of an individual, class, or group (in this case the Sephardim) is being increasingly explored. The report that 20% of the population of the Iberian Peninsula has Sephardic Jewish ancestry is not surprising. Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews were geographically and religiously separate populations, these two populations often display significant differences in the incidence of genetic diseases and medical conditions, as well as markers which can be isolated through testing of their blood groups, chromosomal testing and through the examination of maternal mitochondrial DNA.

The Sephardic Jews make up the second largest division of the Jewish population; they have their historic roots in Spain, Portugal, as well as due to migrations, in North Africa. Sephardic Jews comprise the second largest group in the worldwide Jewish population after Ashkenazic Jews that stem from Central and Eastern Europe. They have developed and possess a shared relationship based upon unique religious traditions, collective ideals, customs and ethnicity. Today, Sephardic Jews inhabit all corners of the earth, with large populations living in North and South America as well as France, Turkey and Israel. Smaller populations exist in The Netherlands, Britain and the Balkans.

Shelomo Alfassa is a historian and writer concentrating on Sephardic Jewry. He has written several books, including: "Ethnic Sephardic Jews in the Medical Literature." www.alfassa.com
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Terechu
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Post by Terechu »

Of the 400.000 Jews that lived in Spain in 1492 it is estimated that only the wealthy families or the religious elite actually left (less than 10%). There is enough written evidence by some of these families (i.e. the Coronel family or the clan of Abraham Senior). Many of those who were in trade went first to Portugal and then on to the "Province of Flanders" (in today's Belgium) where they had trade partners in Antwerp. Antwerp owes its wealth in large part to its port and the fact that the Sephardites were expelled just when America was discovered. Constantinople (today's Istanbul) would have been nothing without Spain's Jews, nor would Thessaloniki in Greece.
Needless to say, the rest who stayed behind had to become assimilated. In a total population of about 10 Mill., 400.000 had to leave a mark. Many became enthusiastic catholics (outwardly, at least). If you look at old church documents you will find that many a new church built after 1492 was sponsored by Conversos.
Lastly, Jewish ancestry was common enough among the catholic elite: King Ferdinand "The Catholic" had a Jewish grandfather, our national saint, Teresa of Avila, was the granddaughter of a Converso from Toledo who changed his name, the Gran Duque de Alba had Jewish ancestors, Queen Isabella appointed a Jew, Andrés Cabrera, treasurer and warden of the royal castle El Alcazar in Segovia, and lastly, the world's most enigmatic book, Don Quijote, was written by the Miguel de Cervantes, son of conversos, whose birth certificate was forged to cover up his late baptism at the age of 14.
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Villamil
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Los asturianos, judíos por parte de padre

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Los asturianos, judíos por parte de padre

Los asturianos son judíos por parte de padre. Un estudio genético desarrollado por la Universidad de Leicester (Reino Unido) y la Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona ha deparado una sorpresa: la herencia genética de los asturianos es predominantemente judía sefardí, con un importante componente añadido norteafricano. De hecho, es la región de España donde mayor huella genética sefardí se ha detectado...

http://www.lne.es/secciones/noticia.jsp ... arte-padre
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Bob
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Post by Bob »

That is an interesting study, but we should keep in mind that genetic studies can tell us only what different populations have in common and can tell us nothing at all about cultural factors such as religion.
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Post by Villamil »

I am not sure, but I think that this is the study: http://download.cell.com/AJHG/pdf/PIIS0 ... diate=true

Here's a curious image from page 6.

Image

Haplogroup Distributions in Iberian, North African, and Sephardic Jewish Populations

Haplogroup profiles of samples from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, published North African samples, 34,47 and a Sephardic
Jewish sample. Sectors in pie charts are colored according to haplogroup in the schematic tree to the right, and sector areas are proportional to haplogroup frequency. Sample names, abbreviations, and sizes (within pie charts) are indicated. Subhaplogroups of R1b3 were not typed in the Sephardic Jewish sample.
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Post by Celtica »

Unfortunately, I cannot read in Spanish. However, I have heard of the various genetic studies throughout Iberia on the question of Jewish ancestry. So far, I have found is that notable (though relatively low) levels of haplogroup J2 have been detected throughout various areas of Iberia.

Now while haplogroup J2 is shared amongst both Shepardic and Ashkenazi Jews, J2 is also the prevailing J marker detected across Europe and the Middle East. It has existed in Europe (concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean) since the Neolithic period. Now lacking knowledge of the specific subclades of J2 that exist in Spain speculation can range everywhere from the notion of some massive Shepardic influence (something I personally find to be highly unlikely) or testament to the periods when Iberia hosted Romans, Greeks, Phoenicians and Moors. I'm personally inclined to feel that all the aforementioned peoples contributed to the spread of haplogroup J in Iberia. And in all likeliness, I feel the Romans contributed to the lion's share of this.

When later studies present themselves, I'm sure a more comprehensive analysis of the specific subclades will be able to draw the necessary links to which specific groups contributed to to this lineage.

I should point out that neither the Shepardic nor Ashkenazi Jews are genetically homogeneous. Their genetic composition seems to indicate a mixture of Middle Eastern and European ancestry.
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Post by Celtica »

Villamil wrote:I am not sure, but I think that this is the study: http://download.cell.com/AJHG/pdf/PIIS0 ... diate=true

Here's a curious image from page 6.

Image

Haplogroup Distributions in Iberian, North African, and Sephardic Jewish Populations

Haplogroup profiles of samples from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, published North African samples, 34,47 and a Sephardic
Jewish sample. Sectors in pie charts are colored according to haplogroup in the schematic tree to the right, and sector areas are proportional to haplogroup frequency. Sample names, abbreviations, and sizes (within pie charts) are indicated. Subhaplogroups of R1b3 were not typed in the Sephardic Jewish sample.
Ah yes, I'm familiar with this study. Notice the rather small sampling sample taken from Asturies (clearly lending to its disproportionate levels of J). And again, this is a very vague study. It fails to indicate exactly what J haplotype was detected in these samples. Definitely not comprehensive enough to draw the sorts of conclusions necessary to vindicate the argument.
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Post by Manuell Alvarez »

Yes, the study of DNA and heritage is very interesting and fascinating. I worked for a person who claimed Northern Spanish and Shephardic heritage whose father was born in Greece.

Further, I was wondering if St. James brought Jewish converts to Christianity with him to Northern Spain when he came to convert the Iberians. This migration may explain some of the DNA test results.

Scientists claim that some 75,000 years ago, a catastrophe struck the earth and it left less than 3000 humans in its wake. They point out that this disaster was indicated by the amount of Micrcondial DNA that was detected and the fact that tree rings were also an indicator. This tells me that maybe we are all related and carry some of the same DNA markers.

I am hoping that DNA will tell me from which side of my family that my genetic blood clotting disorder developed. It would appear that this problem can jump over many generations. My son and siblings all have been tested and so far, I am the only victim. I have not ruled out the fact that in our family's prehistory, a first cousin may have married a first cousin in Spain or Slovakia.

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Post by Carlos »

Bueno, hacía muchísimo que no visitaba el foro, así que veo que me perdí alguna que otra cosa, a veces más interesante y a veces menos. Como en este momento tengo un poco de tiempo libre, paso a dar mi parecer.

Yo no soy genetista como Bob y mis conocimientos en ese campo son muy limitados, pero de Historia y movimientos de población sí que controlo algo. La primera cosa que hay que puntualizar es la siguiente: ¿cuálos son los genes de algo a lo que se pueda llamar "raza judía", existen? Es una pregunta retórica, claro.

Hay que aclarar que existe una gran confusión entre lengua, raza y religión. Por ejemplo, se suele hablar de antisemitismo y de semitas. El origen de la palabra semita es religioso medieval, o bíblico en última instancia si se prefiere. En la Edad Media se tomaba al pie de la letra la Biblia, y se creía firmemente en la tierra originaria (el Paraíso Terrenal) de toda la Humanidad y el poblamiento de todo el globo con la separación de las 12 tribus de Israel. Semita es un término derivado de Sem, uno de los tres hijos de Noé, junto a Cam y Jafet.

Se llegó a pensar que Sem dio origen a la "raza" de los pobladores de la región donde ahora se hallan judíos y palestinos. Cam daría lugar a los pobladores de África y Jafet a los euroasiáticos.

Mientras que "jafético" es un adjetivo que cayó en desuso desde hace mucho tiempo, semita o semítico y camítico son términos que todavía hoy se siguen usando para clasificar lenguas del planeta, anomalía que no ocurre con ninguna otra.

Dentro de la clasificacion de las lenguas, las semíticas incluyen el hebreo, pero también el árabe y alguna más. Es decir, todas las lenguas semíticas actuales se suponen derivadas de una única lengua anterior, exactamente igual que las indoeuropeas respecto al indoeuropeo común o las románicas respecto al latín.

Si queremos establecer alguna diferenciación en épocas antiguas, digamos 2000 o más años, entre los habitantes del Próximo Oriente, difícilmente podría ser racial, o sea, biológica (no se podrían distinguir los antepasados de los árabes de los de los judíos). Hoy en día se puede establecer una diferenciación lingüística y ante todo religiosa, pero en ese pasado de hace 2000 años la diferenciación probablemente sólo sería religiosa. O lo que es lo mismo, los mismos genes tendrían los israelitas bíblicos que los filisteos. Si acaso podríamos distinguir que los primeros pronunciaban "shibolet" y los segundos "sibolet".

Con lo cual habría que deducir que un judío "puro" contemporáneo tendría un aspecto físico indistinguible del de un árabe, por ejemplo, eso sin entrar en genética. Cuando Roma conquistó la zona, así debían ser los judíos que allí vivían, unos semitas con una religión peculiar y con algún grado de diferenciación lingüística, mientras que otros practicaban otra u otras religiones.

Después de la conquista romana, comenzó la diáspora judía por todo el orbe antiguo, es decir, los territorios del Imperio, y así llegarían algunos judíos a Europa.

Perseguidos en toda época, progomos y persecuciones de todo tipo por el medio, durante siglos siguieron moviéndose por toda Europa. Muchos de ellos salieron de territorios de habla alemana, llegando incluso hasta Rusia, y después de siglos de integración el hebreo ya no lo hablaba nadie como lengua vernácula, sino sólo como lengua de culto, exactamente igual que pasaba entre la mayoría de cristianos con el latín, que sobrevivió en la misa hasta mediados del siglo XX.

Esos judíos estaban, salvo en la religión y determinadas costumbres, integrados en sus países, al menos hasta donde se les permitía, de modo que su lengua era la común del país. Eso es lo que explica que el "yiddish" no sea más que un dialecto alemán peculiar, y así los encontrábamos por ejemplo en la Rusia de los siglos XIX y XX.

En la Península Ibérica pasó exactamente lo mismo, los judíos españoles y portugueses hablaban las mismas lenguas de los lugares donde estaban asentados: portugués, leonés, castellano, catalán... Cuando se los expulsó llevaron con ellos el castellano de la época, y acabaron parando en otras tierras como Marruecos, Turquía, Grecia, etc. Y probablemente por falta de tiempo, sucedió al contrario que con el hebreo, que conservaron en el ámbito familiar el español antiguo, siendo socialmente bilingües o políglotas, como una minoría más, que por cierto, fue muy bien acogida en el Imperio Otomano.

Como el nombre hebreo de la Península Ibérica era Sefarad, los judíos provinientes de ella se llamaban a sí mismos sefardíes ("españoles"). Y ésa es la historia de los judíos sefardíes. Ahora bien, decir que se conservaron "biológica o genéticamente judíos puros" desde los tiempos bíblicos hasta hoy, eso ya es mucho decir. Las prohibiciones de matrimonios mixtos, salvo conversión religiosa previa, eran muy reales, pero de eso a que no hubiera quien se saltara las prohibiciones, o que las conversiones no fueran falsas, hay un trecho bien grande. De hecho la propia religión judía, como la cristiana o la islámica, no es monolítica, existiendo varias corrientes, una de las cuales, la reformista, hace una interpretación no tan rígida de la Toráh, de modo que permite los matrimonios mixtos.

No hay más que ver las noticias del conflicto en Palestina y observar el aspecto físico de los israelíes judíos. Algunos tienen un aspecto de lo que en España llamarían "moros": morenos de tez, pelo negro, ojos oscuros, abundancia de labios y narices peculiares, muy frecuentemente dolicocéfalos... Pero otros tienen aspectos claramente europeos: cabellos castaños, rubios o pelirrojos, ojos azules. A veces combinados con cierta conformación de la boca y la nariz, pero otras veces indistinguibles de un señor danés, alemán o ruso. Y he aquí la cuestión: los árabes no se movieron del sitio y tienen aspecto de eso, de árabes. Son los judíos los que sí se movieron hacia Europa. Y si encima tienen aspecto de europeos y no de árabes, pues eso, blanco y en botella, leche. Por haber hay hasta judíos negros, los Falasha procedentes de Etiopía, a los que por cierto tratan con racismo los israelíes.

En definitiva, lo mismo que en muchos otros lugares, en la Península Ibérica ser judío llegó a ser sólo practicante de una religión, con mezcla de las poblaciones de diferentes creencias. Se sabe por ejemplo que en la Edad Media los judíos del Reino de Aragón (las actuales Aragón y Cataluña fundamentalmente) eran indistinguibles de los cristianos, por lo que en alguna de las ocasiones en que fueron discriminados y perseguidos se les obligaba a portar un símbolo en su ropa, curioso antecedente de la práctica de los nazis.

Habría por lo tanto que hacer una lectura al contrario de esa coincidencia entre la genética asturiana y la sefardí. Y es que el amor lo puede todo... :D
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