Phoenician civilization: Cultural influence without genetic footprint New research finds

An ancient Middle Eastern civilization that developed an early alphabet and spread its culture across the Mediterranean region did not leave a genetic legacy.

The research, which examined hundreds of ancient human genomes, offers new insights into the Phoenician civilization and its impact on the region, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The Phoenician civilization, which emerged over 3,000 years ago, was centered in what is now Lebanon. Over time, Phoenician city-states expanded across the Mediterranean, establishing a far-reaching maritime trading network. The culture thrived in places such as Carthage (modern-day Tunisia) until its destruction in 146 BC. Despite the vast spread of Phoenician cultural influence, the study suggests that the genetic footprint of Phoenicians is not as widespread.

The Phoenician city-states shared common features, including language—recorded with an alphabet that eventually influenced Greek and Latin writing—religious practices, and an economy based on trade. Many researchers had assumed that the people who adopted Phoenician culture also shared a common Middle Eastern ancestry, but the study challenges this view.

Population geneticist Harald Ringbauer from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, led the study, which analysed DNA from the remains of around 200 people found at Phoenician archaeological sites across the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa.

To Ringbauer’s surprise, people from Mediterranean outposts of Phoenician culture, known as Punic people, showed no genetic connection to ancient Middle Eastern populations, including those linked to the Phoenicians and their ancestors, the Canaanites. "The Phoenicians were a culture of integration and assimilation,” said Pierre Zalloua, a geneticist at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. “They settled where they sailed.”

The study found that the genomes of Punic people were more similar to those of ancient Greek and Sicilian populations than to their Middle Eastern counterparts. As time progressed, North African ancestry also became evident, particularly reflecting the rise of Carthage after 500 BC. "This unique mixture of ancestries is probably the result of a regular influx of diverse people connected by a 'Mediterranean highway' maintained by trade between Phoenician outposts," Ringbauer explained.

The research also identified a pair of possible second cousins, one from North Africa and one from Sicily, highlighting the widespread movement and interconnections facilitated by the Phoenician trade routes.

The absence of Middle Eastern ancestry in Punic populations comes as no surprise to some experts. Zalloua notes, “The Phoenicians were a culture of integration and assimilation,” suggesting that they were less concerned with preserving their original genetic identity and more focused on integrating into local populations as they spread their culture.

Ringbauer is now interested in understanding why people from diverse Mediterranean regions adopted Phoenician culture rather than sticking to their existing traditions. “How can there be such a disconnect?” he wonders. “Does this mean Phoenician culture was like a franchise that others could adopt? That’s one for the archaeologists.”

By Vugar Khalilov