Research Notes. Studies that may have some relevance to finding the Lost Ten Tribes. 23 January 2036, 4 Shevet 5786.
RESEARCH RESULTS OF INTEREST THAT MAY, OR MAY NOT, BE ENTIRELY RELIABLE.
DNA. Cohens and Levites.
1. Descendants of Levi. Cohens and Levites.
2. Levites.
3. Cohens.
4. Observations. Adaptation of DNA.
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1. Descendants of Levi. Cohens and Levites.
Israel begat 12 sons from whom came the 12 Tribes of Israel. The first 4 of these sons whom he had from his wife Leah were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
From the tribe of Levi emerged the family of Amram that included the brothers Moses and Aharon.
From Aharon descend the Cohens.
From Moses and all the others came the Levites.
The Cohens officiated in the Temple and were to receive special offerings.
The Levites also served in the Temple but in a subsidiary capacity.
The Cohens had to observe certain taboos from which the Levites and other Israelites were exempt.
These include a prohibition against marrying a divorced woman. They also had to maintain a higher level of purity and were to receive special offerings of their own.
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2. Levites.
Here is an Introduction to the case of the Levites.
R1a-Y2619 Ashkenazi Levites
https://sites.google.com/site/levitedna/home
According to a 2003 study, about 52% of Ashkenazi men with a tradition of Levite descent belong to the R1a haplogroup. That haplogroup is less common among Ashkenazim without a tradition of Levite descent (and R1a-Y2619 men without a tradition of Levite descent are often able to determine from genealogical records or tombstones that their direct male line is in fact Levite). The haplogroup is found only rarely among Sephardim (both Levites and non-Levites).
R1a-Y2619
In short, all R1a-Y2619 Ashkenazi Levites are descended on their direct male lines from a single man (referred to on this website as the R1a-Y2619 Ashkenazi Levite progenitor) who lived about 1,743 years ago, according to the 2017 Behar paper, or about 1,200 years ago, according to the YFull tree as of July 2021. About 7.9% of the Ashkenazi population - about 300,000 men living today - are descended from the R1a-Y2619 Ashkenazi Levite progenitor on their direct male lines. R1a-Y2619 is one of the largest Y-DNA clusters - if not the largest Y-DNA cluster - among Ashkenazi Jews.
The R1a-Y2619 Ashkenazi Levite progenitor was not only Jewish but also Levite, as is evidenced by the fact that men on all R1a-Y2619 branches are predominantly not only Jewish but also Levite.
The R1a-Y2619 Ashkenazi Levite progenitor was very likely Ashkenazi. as is evidenced by the fact that men on all R1a-Y2619 Ashkenazi branches are predominantly of Ashkenazi origins; however, there has been some migration of R1a-Y2619 Ashkenazi Levite lines to non-Ashkenazi regions.
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/ashkenazi-levite/about
The R-Y2619 genetic variation is found among ~50 percent of those Ashkenazi males who claim a tradition of Levitic descent.
Here is a more refined updated appreciation of the subject:
The genetic variation in the R1a clade among the Ashkenazi Levites� Y chromosome
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14761-7
Doron M. Behar
ca. 75% of contemporary Jews are Ashkenazim.
"Approximately 300,000 men around the globe self-identify as Ashkenazi Levites, of whom two thirds were previously shown to descend from a single male.
"Fully ~200,000 males with the tradition of Levite descent share a recent common direct male ancestor within recent historical time frames."
65% of Ashkenazi Levites carried haplogroup R1a-M198. (Otherwise known as R1a-Y2619 referred to above), This was later revised, upgraded, and re-defined as R1a-M582.
The reference is to haplogroup R1a-M582 which is part of R1a in general.
A test case found that 65% of Ashkenazi Levite carried this marker which is a refined version previously known as
R1a-M582. R1a-M582 was also found in 15.7 % of non-Ashkenazi Levites ONLY among Jews in the Middle East.
Previously as R1a-M198 it had been found ONLY among Ashkenazi Levites.
When it was re-defined and expanded as R1a-M582 it also included 15,7% of non-Ashkenazic Levites.
"a sister clade of R1a-Y2619 within R1a-M582 were sampled in Iranian Azeris, a Kerman, a Yazidi and one sample from Iberia. Further, the phylogeny demonstrates a rich diversity of R1a samples distributed throughout the Middle East, Anatolia, Caucasus and the Indian sub-continent, whereas East European branches represent an early split within R1a.
"IN OTHER WORDS a related but different group was found among non-Jews throughout the Middle East and India, etc. This whole collection (including the Jewish R1a-M582) is part of a sub-division of R1a which is different from R1a in Eastern Europe.
R1a-Y2619 entered Europe via Ashkenazi Jews and the east and not through Iberia (Spain and Portugal).
Many Jews (including Cohens) belong to haplogroups J1 and J2:
".. a recent study revealed the presence of both J1a-P58 and J2-M12 Y-chromosomes, frequent among contemporary Jews, in two Canaanite samples date to 3,700 ybp37.
The Jews ar one stage experienced a bottleneck of 350 indiviuals.
# It can be further argued that the fact that the non-Ashkenazi Levite R1a-Y2619 men are well distributed within the Ashkenazi Levite phylogeny, rather than clustered separately, lends more credence to the scenario that the R1a-Y2619 male entered Europe with the Ashkenazi founders. #
38% of Ashkenazis are Haplogroup J, 24% are E, 9% are G.
The phylogeny of haplogroup R1b-M269 shows the presence of this haplogroup in various Jewish communities. The Ashkenazi samples clustered primarily with European R1b samples or created recently forming clusters.
all Ashkenazi samples belonging to haplogroup R1a-M582 can be reclassified as R1a-Y2619.
In Conclusion,
we find a branch of R1a among Jews especially Ashkenazi Jews. 65% of Ashkenazi Levites and 15% of Non-Ashkenazis have this marker. It is found ONLY among Jewish Levites.
It is distantly related to a type of R1a found among non-Jews in the Middle East and India.
Nevertheless it is found mainly in regions of European R1a. It is considered to be a foundational element among Ashkenazi Jews.
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3. Cohens:
Y-chromosomal Aaron
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Aaron
The original scientific research was based on the hypothesis that a majority of present-day Jewish Kohanim share a pattern of values for six Y-STR markers, which researchers named the extended Cohen Modal Haplotype (CMH).[4] Subsequent research using twelve Y-STR markers indicated that nearly half of contemporary Jewish Kohanim shared Y-chromosomal J1 M267 (specifically haplogroup J-P58, also called J1c3), while other Kohanim share a different ancestry, such as haplogroup J2a (J-M410).[5]
For human beings, the normal number of chromosomes is 46, of which 23 are inherited from each parent. Two chromosomes, the X and Y, determine sex. Females have two X chromosomes, one inherited from each of their parents. Males have an X chromosome inherited from their mother, and a Y chromosome inherited from their father.
Males who share a common patrilineal ancestor also share a common Y chromosome, diverging only with respect to accumulated mutations. Since Y-chromosomes are passed from father to son, all Kohanim men should theoretically have nearly identical Y chromosomes; this can be assessed with a genealogical DNA test. As the mutation rate on the Y chromosome is relatively constant, scientists can estimate the elapsed time since two men had a common ancestor.
.... they found that the Kohanim appeared to share a different probability distribution compared to the rest of the Jewish population for the two Y-chromosome markers they tested (YAP and DYS19). They also found that the probabilities appeared to be shared by both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Kohens, pointing to a common Kohen population origin before the Jewish diaspora at the destruction of the Second Temple. However, this study also indicated that only 48% of Ashkenazi Kohens and 58% of Sephardic Kohens have the J1 Cohen Modal Haplotype. Such genetic markers were also found in approximately 5% of Jews who did not believe themselves to be kohanim.[14]
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Observations. Adaptation of DNA.
Cohens and Levis are both descedants of Levi. They should have the same DNA. The DNA they now have may inthe case of the Cohens be the same as, or similar to, each other. But they are not. on the other hanve what they now each have is unikqie tot hemselves and ALSO compatible with the peoples around them. This indicates that they have not unduly intermixed BUT their DNA has adapted.