Genetic similarities between Native Americans and Jews

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The hypothesis that the Indians were descendants of ancient Jews, Egyptians or Greeks has existed for centuries, but has been perceived as highly controversial. James Adair, an 18th century colonist who traded with the Indians for 40 years, wrote that their language, customs and social structure are very similar to those of the Hebrews.

He wrote in his book A History of the American Indians: “It is very difficult to get to overcome oneself, let alone others, to change attitudes. I expect to be censored for contradicting conventional wisdom or interfering with a debate that has excited scientists since the discovery of America."

In recent years, Dr. Donald Panther-Yates, who holds similar views, has faced negative reactions from other scientists.

There is a widely held opinion in science that the Indians descended from the Mongols. A 2013 study published in the journal Nature points to some ancient European roots. An analysis was made of 24,000-year-old human remains from Siberia. Scientists did not reveal any similarities with Asian peoples, only with European ones, while a clear connection with American Indians surfaced. But the modern scientific community is skeptical about the idea that the Indians could be the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of the Middle East or the ancient Greeks, as suggested by Yeats and other scientists.

Yates is himself a Cherokee Indian. He holds a Ph. D. in Antiquity Studies and is the founder of the DNA Consultants Institute for Genetic Research. All this allowed him to develop unique theories about the history of the American Indians and their connections with ancient cultures. DNA tests can support these theories.

Genetic similarities

Indians belong to five genetic groups known as haplotypes, each of which is represented by letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, and X.

In his article "Cherokee DNA Abnormalities," he points out an error common in many genetic analyzes. “Geneticists say that A, B, C, D and X are Native American haplotypes. Therefore, they are present in all Indians. But this is the same as saying: all people move on two legs. Therefore, if the skeleton of a creature has two legs, then it is a person. But in fact, it could be a kangaroo."

Any discrepancy with haplotypes is usually attributed to the mixing of races after the colonization of America by Europeans, and not to the original genes of the Indians.

But Yeats, who analyzed Cherokee DNA, concluded that this confusion could not be attributed to an admixture of European genes after 1492.

“Where, then, did the non-European and non-Indian genes come from? he asks. - The level of haplogroup T in the Cherokee (26, 9%) is comparable to the level of the inhabitants of Egypt (25%). Egypt is the only country where T dominates the other mitochondrial lineages."

Yeats paid special attention to haplotype X, which is "practically absent in Mongolia and Siberia, but common in Lebanon and Israel."

In 2009, Liran I. Sluch of the Israel Institute of Technology published a study in the journal PLOS ONE claiming that the haplotype had spread throughout the world from the Hills of Galilee in northern Israel and Lebanon. Yeats writes: "The only people on earth with a high level of haplotype X, besides the Indians of such tribes as the Ojibwe, are the Druze living in northern Israel and Lebanon."

Cultural and linguistic similarities

Despite the fact that much of the Cherokee culture was lost, Yeats notes in his book The Cherokee Clans that there are still legends about ancestors who sailed across the seas and spoke a language similar to ancient Greek. Some parallels can be traced between the languages of the Indians, Egyptians and Hebrew.

The prototype of the white-skinned demigod Maui of the Cherokee Indians may be the Libyan leader of the fleet, who was killed by Pharaoh Ptolemy III around 230 BC, Yates believes. The word maui is similar to the Egyptian word for navigator or guide. Legend has it that Maui taught the Indians all the arts and crafts. He gave the name for the Cherokee chiefs "amatohi" or "wash," which can be translated as "sailor" or "admiral," Yates says.

He recalls the legend of a Cherokee clan about Maui's father Tanoa. Yeats believes that Tanoa may have been of Greek origin. “Tanoa was the father of all fair-haired children, he came from a land called Atia,” he writes.

Atia can refer to Attica, the historical region that surrounded the Greek capital of Athens. "Atia" was the place where there are "many high alabaster temples", one of which is very spacious, it was created as a meeting place for people and gods. There were sports competitions, holidays in honor of the gods, meetings of great rulers, it was the source of wars that forced people to move overseas.

“It's hard to come up with a legend that more accurately reflects Greek culture,” Yates writes. In the Hawaiian language there is a word "brown" - entertainment, relaxation. Almost the same word was used in Greek. " He noted other similarities.

“According to the elders, the Cherokee, like the Hopi, in ancient times spoke a language that was not of Indian origin. But then they switched to Mohawk to continue living with the Iroquois. Their old language seems to have included a large number of borrowings from Greek, the language of Ptolemaic Egypt and Hebrew,”he says.

Adair noted linguistic similarities between Hebrew and the languages of the American people.

As in Hebrew, nouns in Indian languages do not have cases and declensions, Adair writes. Another similarity is the lack of comparative and superlative degrees. “In no language, with the exception of Hebrew and Indian languages, is there such a deficit of prepositions. Indians and Jews do not have official parts of speech to separate words. Therefore, they must attach certain characters to words in order to overcome this deficiency,”he writes.

A glimpse from the past

Adair is able to shed light on the culture of the Indians, which is beyond the power of Yeats. Adair actively communicated with the Indians hundreds of years ago, when their traditions were still alive. Of course, it should be assumed that, as a foreigner, he could misinterpret some aspects of their culture.

“From my observations, I have concluded that American Indians are direct descendants of Israelis. Perhaps this division occurred when ancient Israel was a maritime power, or after they fell into slavery. The latest version is the most likely,”says Adair.

They have a similar tribal structure and organization of priests, as well as the custom of setting up a sacred site, he said.

He gives one example of the similarity of customs: “According to the laws of Moses, a woman after a journey must undergo purification. Indian women also have a custom of retiring from their husbands and any public affairs for some time."

Adair explains the absence of the custom of circumcision as follows: “The Israelites lived in the wilderness for 40 years and might not have returned to this painful custom if Joshua had not introduced it. The first settlers in America, faced with difficult living conditions, could abandon this custom and then completely forget, especially if they were accompanied on the journey by representatives of the eastern pagan peoples."

It seems that the Cherokee themselves are ambivalent about Yeats' work. The central Cherokee site has published excerpts from Yeats' research, but individual comments made by its readers indicate that Cherokee are unwilling to support such theories.

Speaking of the Cherokee clan, Yeats states, "Some of them practiced Judaism, even though the elders of the United Kituwa (Cherokee organization) vehemently deny it."