The Book of Micah with Brit-Am/Hebrew Awareness Commentary
Continued from Micah ch.5. part 1.
The Book of Micah with Brit-Am/Hebrew Awareness Commentary. Chapter 5.
Adapted from:
Who are the descendants of the Scythians today?
https://www.quora.com/Who-are-the-descendants-of-the-Scythians-today/answer/Yair-Davidiy
Map of Israelite Migrations including those of Scythians to Western Europe.
The term Scythian could be applied to a number of peoples. In the Classical sense it meant specific group who were a minority in their own regions of southern Russia (Black Sea coast) and the Caspian Sea area and from there moved to Western Europe.
The term "Scythians" is also mistakenly applied to inhabitants of "Scythia" which could mean all of Eurasia and more. In Classical Terms the early Scythians as allies of the Medes first appeared in the Middle East. As allies of the Medes they were the main party responsible for destroying Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire. They then moved into southern Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. They had a realm centered around the Crimea and estuaries of the Don and Donetz Rivers. One of their major groups were known as Royal Scythians but there were others. Together they ruled over a large number of other peoples who because they dwelt in "Scythia" are often confused with the Scythians. The Scythians-proper were related to the Cimmerians who at an early stage moved west and helped found Celtic Civilization after ca. 500 BCE. The Scythians themselves were later pushed out of Scythia by Sarmatians and other peoples. They moved through Germany into Scandinavia and the western coasts of Europe and as Angles and Saxons and the like invaded Britain. Irish and Scottish legends identified their ancestors with Scythians. Bede described the Angles and Saxons as coming out of Scythia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says the same. Scandinavian traditions traced their ancestors to the Don River Estuary area which was the Scythian center. The Scythians also had a base east of the Caspian Sea. Jewelley and other factors indicate that from here came the "Viking" settlers of Scandinavia in the period 400 to 700 CE. Frisian legends trace their ancestor and that of the Anglo-Saxons to this region and before that to the Land of Israel. Roman writings sometimes refer to Britain and Frisia as "Scythia." These movements are not inconsistent with archaeological findings and demographic changes.
The DNA Problem
Conventionally as of the present the Scythians are associated with the present-day inhabitants of Russia and the Ukraine. Their DNA as reported as usually R1a which is the same as that of many in Eastern Europe, Russia, and India. The DNA of most peoples in the west however shows a predominance of Y(Male determined)DNA haplogoup R1b.
How then can we relate West Europeans to Scythians when their DNA is different?
First of all even though the dominant haplogroup today in Russia and its neighbors is R1a some groups have large proportions of R1b. In fact in Ancient Times R1b may have been predominant in the area but was later displaced, as the following examples indicate:
Bashkirs
Turkic ethnic group Bashkirs ...Total population approx. 2 million [1] Regions with significant populations Russia 1,584,554 [2] Kazakhstan 41,000 [3] Uzbekistan 58,500 ... Languages Bashkir , Russian [16] Religion Sunni Islam [17] Related ethnic groups Turkic peoples , closest to Nogais , also to Kyrgyzes , Kazakhs , Karakalpaks and Tatars The Bashkirs... are a Turkic people , indigenous to Bashkortostan and the historical region of Badzhgard . This area extends both sides of the Ural Mountains where Eastern Europe meets North Asia ....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashkirs#Genetics
Genetic studies have revealed Y-DNA haplogroups the dominant frequency for Bashkir males is the haplogroup R1b (R-M269 and R-M73) which is, on average, 47.6%. The Y-DNA haplogroup R-M269 (R1b1a2) is the most common European haplogroup, greatly increasing in frequency on a West to East its prevalence in Wales at 92.3% to Poland estimated at 22.7%.
Haplogroup R1b
Most frequently occurring paternal lineage in Western Europe ... It is the most frequently occurring paternal lineage in Western Europe , as well as some parts of Russia (e.g. the Bashkir minority) and Central Africa (e.g. Chad and Cameroon ). The clade is also present at lower frequencies throughout Eastern Europe , Western Asia , as well as parts of North Africa and Central Asia . R1b has two primary branches: R1b1a-L754 and R1b1b-PH155. R1b1a1a2-M269, which predominates in Western Europe, and R1b1a2-V88, which is common in Central Africa, are both subclades of R1b-L754. R1b1b-PH155 is so rare and widely dispersed that it is difficult to draw any conclusions about its origins. It has been found in Bahrain , Bhutan , Ladakh , Tajikistan , Turkey, and Western China. According to ancient DNA studies, R1a and the majority of R1b would have expanded from the Caspian Sea along with the Indo-European languages . ... Origin and dispersal [ edit ] Genetic studies performed since 2015 have revealed that the Yamna culture, thought to have spoken some stage of Proto-Indo-European , carried R1b-L23.... R1b must have arisen relatively soon after the emergence of R1. Early human remains found to carry R1b include:... Several males of the Iron Gates Mesolithic in the Balkans .... Several males of the Mesolithic Kunda culture and Neolithic Narva culture buried in the Zvejnieki burial ground in modern-day Latvia... Several Mesolithic and Neolithic males buried at Deriivka and Vasil'evka in modern-day Ukraine.... An EHG buried near Samara , Russia ... An Eneolithic male buried at Khvalynsk , Russia.... A Neolithic male buried at Els Trocs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R1b
A male of the Botai culture in Central Asia.... Males of the closely related Yamnaya culture, Afanasievo culture, Catacomb culture, Poltavka culture... and Bell Beaker culture (4800-3800 BP) of Eurasia overwhelmingly carry R1b1a1a2a2.
In addition to the above changes in DNA may be a result of the ENVIRONMENT! Prior to DNA scientists used the equivalent of forensics to determine ethnicity. This was a valid determinant. People with certain facial features and various shapes of skull transmitted these features via heredity and could be assumed to be related to each other. It was later recognized that environmental influences also helped determine these delimitations. Whole populations at some stage would be universally affected by the said physical changes at around the same time. The same applies to animal populations. The changes once in place became heritable. DNA is now used since it is considered immutable, and transmitted entirely by heredity from parent to child. It now seems probable however that the same phenomenon recognized with forensics also applies to DNA. Environmental "events" result in mass alterations across the board of the DNA of whole populations.
Here are pictures of different peoples all of whom are dominated by YDNA haplogroup R1b.
Bashkirs, almost half R1b DNA.
Irish about 95% R1b DNA.
North Cameroon, about 70% R1b DNA
Map of R1b Worldwide Distribution
Continued at Michah 5 part 2.