Original subtitles

Some Jews can be found in Africa, while

others never left their homeland. We

identified seven of the largest Jewish

groups across the world who have lived

in a variety of countries throughout

history, and we are going to rank them

based on their ancient Israelite

ancestry. Now, you might learn about a

special 3,000-year-old people, and this

mysterious group might be the most

Jewish of them all. Our journey starts

in Africa, quite an unexpected place for

Jews. Yet, Ethiopia is home to a people

known as the Beta Israel, who have been

isolated from other Jews for more than a

thousand years. But are they really

linked to the first Israelites from the

Levant? Ethiopian Jews number around

170,000 people. Only a small minority

remain in their ancestral homeland as

most of the population immigrated to the

state of Israel. Now, scientists found

something unexpected when looking at

their DNA. The beta Israel form their

own distinct cluster when compared with

other Jews. However, they are similar to

some Ethiopian ethnicities, more

specifically the Smitic speaking Tigrans

and Amharas. So, how much are they

related to ancient Levventine people?

The beta Israel likely descend from a

few itinerant Jews. These founders

converted the population and married

local women and as a result didn't leave

much genetic trace in modern Ethiopian

Jews. Now another Jewish group can be

found not far from the Horn of

Africa. Yemen was home to one of the

oldest Jewish communities and probably

the largest who doesn't have any ties to

Europe. Yemenite Jews have lived in

southern Arabia for many centuries. But

these people, also known as the

Tammanim, almost all left for other

lands. Yemenite Jewish history started

before the first millennium. Yet it was

brought to an abrupt end with the

founding of Israel as the taem

immigrated on mass to the newly created

state and DNA studies may explain why

their traditions are so unique. The

Taanim form their own separate group in

the Jewish world since their genetic

profile does not overlap with

non-monites which is similar to what can

be observed among Ethiopians. Now they

might still resemble other Jews more

than the beta Israel do. Although there

is some genetic proximity with ancient

Israelites as a result of shared Middle

Eastern ancestry between both groups, it

seems that Yemenite Jews are not

different from their host population,

suggesting that they descend from Arabs

who converted to

Judaism. What if I told you that Jews

can be found in the world's most

populous country? Actually, Indian Jews

are split into several distinct groups,

including some with a very long history

in this nation, and they might have a

bigger Jewish heritage than you

expected. Coachin Jews are the oldest

Jewish community in India while the

Benet Israel form the largest Jewish

group of the country. Both have a

predominantly indigenous maternal

lineage but the latter might be more

genetically related to other Jews. The

Beanie Israel have a different paternal

ancestry since many of their men carry

DNA that comes from the Middle East.

This genetic signature links them

directly to the Levant. So how much does

this impact the total heritage of Indian

Jews? Despite this paternal connection,

Indian Jews remain mostly local. Their

overall genetic makeup is similar to

other South Asians, and the input linked

to Iron Age Levantines is rather small.

Now, the following group is more tied to

Israelites than most people

think. The Ashkanazi make up by far the

biggest Jewish diaspora, constituting

around 70% of the world's Jewish

population. This community first

appeared as a distinct group during

medieval times, and you will be shocked

by the European country they share the

most with. Ashkanazi Jews started with a

small number of Levventine founders who

mixed with local populations early on in

their history before establishing

themselves in central and then eastern

Europe. But the main source of their

European ancestry is found southwards.

Around half of Ashkenazi heritage comes

from Europe with most of it being tied

to the southern part of the continent,

especially to Italy where they settled

during the Roman era, making them

particularly close to some Mediterranean

people. Ashkanazi Jews have a moderate

amount of Israelite DNA which is

explained by roughly half of their

ancestry being Levventine. This makes

them very similar to people from Malta

or Sicily. Now they resemble a Jewish

group who lived in another part of

Europe. Spharti and Ashkanazi Jews might

have shared part of their history since

they descend from the same group of

people who moved to Europe. But the

Sphart settled in the Iberian Peninsula.

Yet they were forced out of this region

at the end of the 15th century. Most

Spharti Jews settled in North Africa

after their expulsion, forming large

communities in Morocco and Tunisia,

while others moved to various parts of

the Ottoman Empire. So where can we find

the populations who are the most like

them? Several other Jewish groups share

similarities with the Sphardum. The Jews

of Italy have a comparable genetic

background. The same is true for the

Romaniotes who used to live in Greece

and together they form a distinct

European Jewish cluster. Modern studies

show that Spafarti Jews are close to the

Ashkanazim. They carry a similar amount

of ancient Israelite ancestry, but the

European component is slightly lower in

the sephodimm. That brings us to some

Jewish populations who formed outside of

Europe. Misrahim is a relatively new

subdivision in the Jewish world. This

term was coined when the state of Israel

was established as a way to group the

so-called Eastern Jews who didn't come

from Europe and they went on to form a

major part of the Hebrew nation. Half of

Jewish Israelis identify as Sphafhardi

or Misrahi as there is some overlap

between the two classifications, but the

latter mostly refers to Middle Eastern

and Central Asian Jews. Now, the

different cultures inside of this group

are still very distinct. This

classification includes diverse

independent groupings such as mountain

Jews from the Cauasus or the Persian

Bkarian Jews and groups who lived closer

to Israel and Syria or Iraq. So, what

does the genetic makeup of these people

look like? Their Israelite heritage can

range from moderate to high and will

vary from one community to another with

the rest of their ancestry coming from

local Middle Easterners. Now, let's look

at a group that might be the most

ancient of them

all. Samaritans may be one of the

world's most intriguing ethnic groups.

They split from mainstream Judaism

thousands of years ago and are therefore

considered a separate religious group,

but the chief rabbinate of Israel

classifies them as ethnic Jews. Today,

there are only about 900 Samaritans left

who live in just two communities in

Israel and Palestine. They have always

stayed in their ancestral homeland close

to Mount Garazim. So this might explain

why their DNA profile is so unique.

Scientific studies show that Samaritans

are a special group. They fall in the

middle of the core Levventine genetic

cluster. This makes them very close to

Christians from Palestine or Lebanon.

Now they might be the ones who have

changed the least since the end of the

Bronze Age. Samaritans are almost

identical to the first Israelites as

this community has changed very little

since biblical times. Their isolation

helped preserve their genetic makeup

over the centuries.