"Brit-Am Now"-679
1. Steven Collins: More on the Scythians
2. Family History from Germany Illustrates Brit-Am Point
3. Brit-Am "take" on DNA Proven Through Cohen Gene.
additional information.
4.
5. Question About South Africa Answered on Web-Site

1. Steven Collins: More on the Scythians
From: Steve Collins <scollins@ll.net>
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-677
item #4. Question on the Scythians

Shalom Yair,

I would like to add a commentary in response to whoever asserted the Scythians were "cannibals" and doubted their Israelite origins. Yair's response was a good one, and I'd like to add a couple of points.

Any careful reading of Herodotus confirms the Scythians were not cannibals. That concept comes from a careless reading of Herodotus, The History, 4.17-22. Herodotus describes the Scythian tribes and their territories in South Russia and he asserts the true Scythians were skilled agriculturalists who exported corn to other nations. Other sources note that the Scythians were also some of the best metalsmiths in the ancient world, as their gold artwork is arguably the best in the ancient world. It is worth noting that the Scythians depict themselves as bearded Semites on their artwork, confirming their Israelite/Semitic origin. Herodotus has nothing but good to say about the "Royal Scythians," the dominant body of true Scythians in the region. He also records the names and customs of a few other indigenous tribes in that area. One of which he calls "the man-Eaters," which certainly indicates this tribe's customs included cannibalism. However, Herodotus clearly states that the "Man-Eaters [are] a tribe that is entirely peculiar and not Scythians at all (Emphasis added.)."  This conclusively shows that this cannibalistic tribe was NOT one of the Scythian (or Israelite) tribes.

Some confusion exists re: the term "Scythian." The term is sometimes loosely applied by some writers to all the tribes which lived in the region of South Russia, whether they are Israelite or not. The word "Scythian" technically indicates a nomadic lifestyle. not an ethnic ancestry. Since the Israelite Scythians were dominant, the term "Scythian" usually indicates the Israelite tribes in their Asian Diaspora but not always. Some historians refers to the two groups living in Scythia as the "Sacae Scythians" and the "Turanian Scythians." The "Sacae" (or "Saka") Scythian tribes preserve the name of "Isaac," after whom the birthright seed descended from Abraham was prophesied to be named (Genesis 21:12). These are Israelite tribes. The "Turanian" Scythians refer to non-Sacae (non-Israelite) tribes living in that same region.

As those who have read my book, Israel's Lost Empires, know, historical sources (for example, The Encyclopedia Americana, Tamara Talbot Rice's book, The Scythians) note that the Scythians first appeared in the Black Sea region in the 722-700 BC timeframe. This is exactly the time when Israelites fleeing the Assyrians would have been seeking a new homeland, and a refuge north of the Caucasus Mountains would have been a very wise and defensible choice.

Steven Collins

2. Family History from Germany Illustrates Brit-Am Point
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-676
item #2. Question on the Effects of Intermarriage and Ancestry

Hi Yair,
   It's interesting about families living in small villages and intermarrying with a few families. One branch of my maternal family came over here from Germany (Bavaria). My relative was the first to come in 1865 and most of the rest of the village came over by 1929 when a huge group of about 40 people came together. My family intermarried repeatedly with one or the other of the three families (Klein, Swartzkkofpt, and Sautter) even for about 50 years after they got to America, going back and forth between 3 cities to find mates with the family branches there. I had always thought Klein was a Jewish name and I know lots of Swartzes are Jews. But when I've tried to find out about religious persuasion it always comes up Catholic, although they were Lutheran when they got to America.
  G

3. Brit-Am "take" on DNA Proven Through Cohen Gene.
additional information.

Brit-Am has consistently claimed that DNA hereditary groupings
are subjected to environmental causes that are then transmitted by hereditary.

DNA divides types of male DNA into haplogroups.
One of these groups is J.
The accepted theory goes that after J was formed it split into
J1 and J2 and others Js.
After that on J1 a mutation occurred producing CMH (Cohen Modal Haplotype)
which is typically "young" development.

The Extracts
 show that the
"Cohen" DNA marker occurs in in both J1 and J2 haplogroups and
in some cases outside of J altogether.

It therefore follows that CMH must be a phenomenon that springs up independently
in certain areas and then is transmitted by hereditary. It springs up mainly (but not exclusively) in carriers of the
J haplogroup and can be useful in tracing hereditary but ONLY with reservation and contingent on additional information.
DNA may be of help to us but it does not provide all the answers and even the answers it does provide
need to be treated with some reservation.

This may be illustrated by people with blue eyes.
Blue eyes usually occur amongst people who also have fair hair.
The fairer the hair then the higher the probability that the person will have blue eyes
but no-one can guarantee it.
It sometimes happens that due to a freak of nature brownhaired brown eyed people give birth
to a brown haired  (or blondhaired) baby with blue eyes. There is a chance that this
 blue eyed baby will pass on a tendency to blue eyes amongst his descendants.
This does not necessarily mean that he is related in any way to other blue eyed people
though it could be so.
If other evidence is available showing a connection between
families the fact that some physical feature is common in both of them
adds to the total sum of evidence though taken in itself it means very little.

For a parallel phenomenon take a family name like "Friedman".
Someone named "Friedman" is most likely to have had ancestors from a German-linguistic group
when European Jews (Ashkenazic) who spoke Yiddish (a German-Hebrew dialect)
are included.
Bearers of the name are usually Central European Jews or Gentile Germans.
If they are Germans they probably do not have Jewish ancestry.
Gentiles with this name are not necessarily related to each other but there is a higher
than average chance that they are. So too with Jews of this name
possibly being related to each other.
A Gentile bearing this name is probably not of Jewish origin but since
many Jews do bear this name if ADDITIONAL  evidence is available the name
too in some circumstances could also indicate Jewish origin.

Getting Back to the Cohens and CMH:
http://dienekes.blogspot.com/2005/12/more-on-cohen-modal-haplotype.html
More on the Cohen modal haplotype

An Updated World-Wide Characterization of the Cohen Modal Haplotype.

J.E. Ekins et al.

EXTRACTS ONLY
Since the definition of the Cohen Modal Haplotype (CMH) in 1998, the 6 SNP-6 STR genetic motif has been utilized to infer connections of contemporary individuals and communities to the ancient Hebrew population.
...The bulk of the CMHg chromosomes were observed in J1 (53.0%) and J2 (43.2%), with a small portion falling outside of haplogroup J (3.8%). Members of the CMHg were observed throughout the world, with significant frequencies in various Arab populations: Oman (20.1%), Iraq (15.2%), Palestine (9.5%). ...
Estimates within J1 [6.5kybp(4K-12K)] and J2 [13kybp(7K-27K)] were substantially deeper than previous figures obtained from a heavily weighted Jewish sampling, indicating a likely origin of the compound haplotype prior to the establishment of the Hebrew population.


NOTE ESPECIALLY:
"The bulk of the CMHg chromosomes were observed in J1 (53.0%) and J2 (43.2%), with a small portion falling outside of haplogroup J (3.8%)."

Brit-Am Summary of Conclusions:
[Figues quotes are taken from different studies and may vary from study to study
but the general trend is accepted]
We may make the following inferences concerning the CMH and these
suggestions may be applicable to DNA studies and their applicability in general.
People bearing the CMH may have originated in the Middle East (but not necessarily so)
since we have to take cognizance of the fact that:

<<The Cohen modal haplotype is the most common haplotype among
    Southern Italians*1, Central Italians*2, Hungarians*3, and Iraqi
    Kurds*4, and is also found among many Armenians*5 and South African>>.


<<The so-called Cohen Modal Haplotype (CMH) is shown in the study to be
found in populations as follows

KURDISH JEW                                     40%
ASHKENAZI JEW                           24%
PALESTINIAN ARAB                                12%
SEPHARDIC JEW                           8%
NORTH AFRICA BERBERS AND ARABS  8%
BULGARIANS                                      4%
MUSLIM KURDS                            4%

Bearers of the CMH are not necessarily related to each other.
If a Jew has the CMH there is a higher than average probability that he is a Cohen
but he may not be.
[Almost half of the Cohens in both the Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities have the
CMH but more than half do not].
Certain groups (such as Jewish Cohens) may have an inherited disposition
for their DNA to throw a "switch" and produce the CMH. Once the "switch" is activated
it is passed on through heredity until being "switched" off.
If a Gentile has the CMH he is probably NOT of Jewish origin UNLESS other evidence
is available also pointing to Jewish origins in which case the CMH factor may be admissible
as supplementary evidence.
In other words concerning large populations we can USA DNA as supplementary evidence
 but not much more than that.


4.
5. Question About South Africa Answered on Web-Site
Question: Greetings again

- What do the prophets say of South Africa and the Boers.?
Please - if you have the time - please let me know.
Thanks
Adriaan

Answer:
Adriaan Shalom,
Sorry for the delay
A whole new entry on our web-site has been dedicated to answering your question.
Go to:
http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesSouthAfrica.html
Replies to Queries.  Questions and Answers. South Africa

1. What do the Prophets say of South Africa and the Boers?
Adriaan

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