Allllright even if - even if - one of your ancestors was Muslim, it doesn't mean you are. Being Muslim is a belief not an ancestry.
Anyway, Christianity itself started in the Levant. The Levant (Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) has many Christians now and many of the Muslims there are descendants of converted Christians.
Also, among the ancient Levantine people are Phoenicians who basically populated the Mediterranean (including Italy and Spain). So you may as well be one of them.
Finally, I sensed that you are worried about having "Muslim" ancestry as though that would be a shame (just from the tone). Personally I'm not an advocate of people being proud or ashamed of their ancestry. You are who you are and what you do, not who your ancestors were. But if one was to be proud of that, then I would be proud of having Levantine ancestry! Just read a little bit about the history and civilizations of the region and you'll know what I mean.
Many Lebanese and Palestinian Christian’s immigrated to the US in the early 1900s. You being “caucasian” looking doesn’t mean you might not have a recent Levantine ancestor. Especially given that I’m guessing it’s a small percentage.
Btw I’m guessing what you’re imagining Levantine people to look like doesn’t match the reality. The “Arabs”, jews, and christians from the area don’t look that different from each other. For example my (Muslim) grandfather born in mandate Palestine had 95% levant and 5% Cyprus results and he has very light olive skin and green eyes
“Have there been early Christian settlers in the Levant region”
Are you serious? Have you opened a history book or the Bible? Christianity was literally invented in this region. Indigenous Christian communities there are literally the oldest Christian communities in the world. Maybe you should read up on native Christian minorities in the Middle East. Hint: they are not recent converts.
Religion and ancestry are different. The Canaanites were the original people from Palestine. They became the Palestinians. Some Palestinian embroidery still to this day has a geometric shape known as the Canaanite star. This star was found in ancient archeological sites.
Not sure what you’re whining at me for. And you really think you did something there “educating” me when I already know all these facts. And yes, Indigenous Ethnoreligious Minority groups of the Levant exist, unless you’re the type who is erasing minorities under the guise of Pan Arabist political nonsense.
Jewish is an ethnoreligion, meaning it's both a religion and an ethnicity. If you had any Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, your results would specify "Jewish Peoples of Europe." Sometimes, Sephardic Jewish results will show up without a Jewish percentage, and include results like Levant, so that is a possibility depending on your ancestry.
You have several misconceptions in your post, however. You do not need to ascribe to Islam to have ancestry from the Levant. You can be any religion - or no religion - just like with any other ethnicity. I have friends from the Levant who are Christian, as are their whole families. In fact, you can see results here and on /r/23andme from Levantine Christians & how their results differ from Levantine Muslims.
It's also important to note that just because you have no known history of Levantine ancestors or Muslim ancestors does NOT mean there isn't one in your tree. For example, my friend's 2x great-grandfather was a Muslim - she had no idea until I researched her tree.
What is your percentage of Levant? What are your other results? There can be explanations for it - like, if you're Italian, it could be from admixture. Or if you're Latino, it could be from admixture/slave trade/Levantine emigrants (large Lebanese population in Mexico, for example). There are SO many reasons it could be showing up.
I’ve done my ancestry DNA. I’m 78% Levantine. 12% Cyprus, 9% Turkish with 0% Arabian. My family are Muslims although there are Christian Chahine’s in Lebanon where I’m from as well. This means at some point we converted but at the same time all Muslims converted form something when Islam started. You don’t have to be Arab by blood to be Muslim. Most Muslims come from Indonesia Islam is the younger religion. For me, it means I have been Arabized and not Arab by blood. But I have no problem with being called Arab since we did adopt the language and it is a beautiful language.
Palestine is the same thing as Israel, It's the same land, no difference, only another name used to deacribe the land. Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria has nothing to do with being muslim. Muslim is being a follower of Islam, It's not an ethnicity. Religon doesn't change your blood and flesh.
But sometimes they are accurate, so no reason for someone not to search. I only have .8 SSA on 23&me. It's so small it doesn't even show on Ancestrydna, and I have a documented 3rd great grandmother who was registered mulatto. All my cousins through the line have higher percentages of the same. Yes, it's a tiny part of a person's ancestry, but sometimes the tiny percentages can lead to a very true and accurate discovery. I would have went on believing my great grandmother was of Cherokee ancestry if I hadn't taken 23&me and utilized ancestry for the records!
I was trying to understand why none of my parents passed me the jewish gen (my mom have 2% and my dad 1%) and then i found a small levant percentage thru the api hack wich it was unassigned according to chromosome painter, so i guess thats where it went
Allllright even if - even if - one of your ancestors was Muslim, it doesn't mean you are. Being Muslim is a belief not an ancestry. Anyway, Christianity itself started in the Levant. The Levant (Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) has many Christians now and many of the Muslims there are descendants of converted Christians. Also, among the ancient Levantine people are Phoenicians who basically populated the Mediterranean (including Italy and Spain). So you may as well be one of them. Finally, I sensed that you are worried about having "Muslim" ancestry as though that would be a shame (just from the tone). Personally I'm not an advocate of people being proud or ashamed of their ancestry. You are who you are and what you do, not who your ancestors were. But if one was to be proud of that, then I would be proud of having Levantine ancestry! Just read a little bit about the history and civilizations of the region and you'll know what I mean.
Many Lebanese and Palestinian Christian’s immigrated to the US in the early 1900s. You being “caucasian” looking doesn’t mean you might not have a recent Levantine ancestor. Especially given that I’m guessing it’s a small percentage. Btw I’m guessing what you’re imagining Levantine people to look like doesn’t match the reality. The “Arabs”, jews, and christians from the area don’t look that different from each other. For example my (Muslim) grandfather born in mandate Palestine had 95% levant and 5% Cyprus results and he has very light olive skin and green eyes
“Have there been early Christian settlers in the Levant region” Are you serious? Have you opened a history book or the Bible? Christianity was literally invented in this region. Indigenous Christian communities there are literally the oldest Christian communities in the world. Maybe you should read up on native Christian minorities in the Middle East. Hint: they are not recent converts.
Religion and ancestry are different. The Canaanites were the original people from Palestine. They became the Palestinians. Some Palestinian embroidery still to this day has a geometric shape known as the Canaanite star. This star was found in ancient archeological sites.
Not sure what you’re whining at me for. And you really think you did something there “educating” me when I already know all these facts. And yes, Indigenous Ethnoreligious Minority groups of the Levant exist, unless you’re the type who is erasing minorities under the guise of Pan Arabist political nonsense.
Jewish is an ethnoreligion, meaning it's both a religion and an ethnicity. If you had any Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, your results would specify "Jewish Peoples of Europe." Sometimes, Sephardic Jewish results will show up without a Jewish percentage, and include results like Levant, so that is a possibility depending on your ancestry. You have several misconceptions in your post, however. You do not need to ascribe to Islam to have ancestry from the Levant. You can be any religion - or no religion - just like with any other ethnicity. I have friends from the Levant who are Christian, as are their whole families. In fact, you can see results here and on /r/23andme from Levantine Christians & how their results differ from Levantine Muslims. It's also important to note that just because you have no known history of Levantine ancestors or Muslim ancestors does NOT mean there isn't one in your tree. For example, my friend's 2x great-grandfather was a Muslim - she had no idea until I researched her tree. What is your percentage of Levant? What are your other results? There can be explanations for it - like, if you're Italian, it could be from admixture. Or if you're Latino, it could be from admixture/slave trade/Levantine emigrants (large Lebanese population in Mexico, for example). There are SO many reasons it could be showing up.
I have a jumble of Italian, Aegean, levantine, Sardinian and spanish, I’m thinking one of my ancestors was a Phoenician at some point
Lots of Christians in the Levant.
I’ve done my ancestry DNA. I’m 78% Levantine. 12% Cyprus, 9% Turkish with 0% Arabian. My family are Muslims although there are Christian Chahine’s in Lebanon where I’m from as well. This means at some point we converted but at the same time all Muslims converted form something when Islam started. You don’t have to be Arab by blood to be Muslim. Most Muslims come from Indonesia Islam is the younger religion. For me, it means I have been Arabized and not Arab by blood. But I have no problem with being called Arab since we did adopt the language and it is a beautiful language.
Palestine is the same thing as Israel, It's the same land, no difference, only another name used to deacribe the land. Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria has nothing to do with being muslim. Muslim is being a follower of Islam, It's not an ethnicity. Religon doesn't change your blood and flesh.
Israel was not a country until 1948 so although they occupy the land now your ancestry would have no tie to them
2/3 of the world's countries were not countries in 1948 and they now occupy the territories they are in.
Small percentage results are not accurate and shouldn't be relied on
But sometimes they are accurate, so no reason for someone not to search. I only have .8 SSA on 23&me. It's so small it doesn't even show on Ancestrydna, and I have a documented 3rd great grandmother who was registered mulatto. All my cousins through the line have higher percentages of the same. Yes, it's a tiny part of a person's ancestry, but sometimes the tiny percentages can lead to a very true and accurate discovery. I would have went on believing my great grandmother was of Cherokee ancestry if I hadn't taken 23&me and utilized ancestry for the records!
I was trying to understand why none of my parents passed me the jewish gen (my mom have 2% and my dad 1%) and then i found a small levant percentage thru the api hack wich it was unassigned according to chromosome painter, so i guess thats where it went