How Did Our Ancestors Get From the Middle East to Europe?

There are many ways our ancestor could have spread from the middle east to Europe. Following are several possible alternatives. There are many other possible alternatives.

We may know much more in a few years as more people take DNA tests and as the tests become more accurate.

The following images and some of the text are taken from a great article in Wikapedia about our "Y" Chromsome J2.

   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_J2_(Y-DNA)

Alternative 1

The maps show the distribution of our Y Chromosome J2. It spread from the middle east to Greece, the Balkans, Italy, France, and Spain. Our J2 is associated with the spread of agriculture from the fertile crescent to Europe.

Alternative 2. The spread of J2 along the Med looks like the Phoenicians to some researchers. They spread from the middle east by ship.

http://m172.blogspot.com/2008/10/phoenician-footprints-in-mediterranean.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081030-phoenician-dna-genographic-missions_2.html

Alternative 3

Another way our ancestor could have reached western Europe is during the Roman Empire expansion. The Roman Empire included most of the area where our J2 is located. Our ancestor could have come to Europe as a slave, soldier, trader, or citizen. The geographic path would have been similar to the first illustration.

Alternative 4

This alternative is quite interesting. The information is taken from Wikadpedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Aaron

The Wikapedia article discusses the Cohen Priest Genetic line of descent.  Aaron was the brother of Moses and began the line of Cohen Priests. All priests were to be direct genetic descendants of Aaron and would share his Y Chromosome. In reality not all Priests share one line.

The map below illustrates the possible path of the Cohen Priest genetic line. Our Y Chromosome is very similar to one of the Cohen lines, J2a and it is possible that our ancestors were their Jewish relatives and followed the same or similar path.

The Roman Empire destroyed the Jewish Nation in 70 AD. A large number of people were killed or enslaved. A number of people escaped to other countries.  A number of Jews immigrated first to Morocco, and then subsequently moved and settled in Spain, then France, later Germany, and then eastern Europe. The map below illustrates this migration.

Under this scenario our ancestors followed this route and spread throughout wester Europe. Some of our ancestors converted to Christianity. Our cousins remained Jewish and immigrated to Poland and Romania.

All scenarios above are of course speculation and we cannot know for sure exactly how are ancestors reached their destinations.  



The table below is taken from the Wikapedia article. Our J2a4h2 numbers are at the bottom of the table. As you can see, our numbers are close to the Cohen J2 line. Mutations occur periodically, as shown in the table.

Our haplogroup is J which is from the middle east. The maps below show the origination and migration path of men with the "J" Haplogroup.

The Map below from Wikipedia shows current concentrations of men with the "J" Haplogroup. Note that the highest concentration is in the middle east which probably shows where it originated.

Our Haplogroup is actually J2, a subdivision of J, which split from J and probably originated in the fertile crescent. It split from J 18,500 +/- 3,500 years ago.

Extracted From Wikapedia - Read more on the Link   


  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_J2_(Y-DNA)

"Haplogroup J2 is found mainly in the Fertile Crescent, the Caucasus, Anatolia, the Balkans, Italy, the Mediterranean littoral, the Iranian plateau, Central Asia, and South Asia.  More specifically it is found in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Greece, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, and more frequently in Iraqis 29.7% , Lebanese 25%, Palestinians16.8%, Syrians 22.5% , India 7%, Sephardic Jews 29%, Kurds 28.4%, Saudi Arabia 15.92%, Jordan 14.3%, Oman 10-15%, UAE 10.4%, Yemen 9.7%, in Israel, in Palestine, and in Turkey.^"



Very interesting.  We are descended from a Hollinger in Switzerland and are shown by the DNA test to be related to four other Hullinger / Hollinger men who descended from a common Swiss ancestor. 

But our deeper ancestry is from the middle east.  Our J-2 ancestor migrated into Switzerland. Most of the middle east was part of the Roman Empire, and he could have immigrated, been a slave, or a soldier.  

Hullinger / Hollinger Victims of the Holocaust

The Central Database of Shoa Victims' Names (Holocaust)

link below shows a number of Hollingers who were killed in the Holocaust. This was a surprise to us as all the Hullingers we knew were Protestant. We are very sorry for our Polish and Romanian cousins and consider ourselves fortunate that our ancestors stayed in Switzerland or migrated to America.