Thursday, October 30, 2008

Who's Your Phoenician Daddy?


Ancient maritime traders of the Mediterranean may have left behind a large genetic footprint in the region, where 1 in 17 men still harbors Phoenician DNA, according to a new study.

The findings could fill a gap in the history of the Phoenician civilization, which originated two to three thousand years ago in the eastern Mediterranean—in what is now Lebanon and Syria—and included prominent traders, according to Chris Tyler-Smith, lead author and associate researcher at National Geographic Society's Genographic Project. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)


kewl. I ahve to say, though, that it would not entirely be correct to say the Phoenicians had disappeared by the time the Romans appeared. Tyre and Carthage and all those types were around. A little.


PS Mild soft spot for the Phoenicians. I know you all would have never guessed that...

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