Alexandria (Egypt)

The history of Alexandria dates back to the city's founding, by Alexander the Great, in 332 BC. It was the seat of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, and quickly became one of the greatest cities of the Hellenistic world — second only to Rome in size and wealth. It fell to the Arabs in 641 AD, and a new capital of Egypt, Fustat, was founded on the Nile.

• Sample :

Full scale

• Brief anthropological analysis :

- Type 1 : Dark complexion (black eyes though light eyes are not uncommon, black hair, tanned skin, ...), leptomorphic, arched convex nose (droopy tip), close-set eyes, full lips, deeply drawn lines around the oral cavity
~ Dinaromorphic Mediterranean




This phenotype is what might be dubbed "Arabid" by most authors : it's very common in Eastern North Africa and is generally associated with Semitic people. Some male individuals show rather puffy features (full lips, broad nose, broad chin, ...) not uncommon in the Eastern Mediterranean.




- Type 2 : Dark complexion (black eyes, black hair, ...), brachymorphic, coarse features, large face, massive and low-rooted nose that can get convex, full lips, somehow wide-set eyes
~ Alpinoid




This is a classical type from the Levant : the lack of Berberid features - so common in the Maghreb - is to be noticed. It confirms modern genetic studies that Egyptians are more closely related to Middle-Easterners than to Maghreb people.

• Final morphotypes :
  

Lori (Armenia)

The history of the area possibly dates back to the Bronze Age, with interesting tombs and other material found and housed in the local museum. But with no doubt, the area of nowadays Vanadzor was part of Gugark, the thirteenth province of the Kingdom of Armenia (Armenia Mayor) until the end of the Artaxiad Dynasty's rule over Armenia, in the 1st century AD.

• Sample :

Full scale

• Brief anthropological analysis :

- Type 1 : Dark complexion (black eyes, black hair, tanned skin, ...), more or less leptomorphic, arched and large nose, close-set eyes, full lips
~ Armenoid




This type resembles the European Dinarid, with the main exceptions of greater absolute facial dimensions and a larger nose : such type is quite prevalent in Armenia. Amore brachymorphic variant can be found as well.





- Type 2 : Dark complexion (black eyes, black hair, ...), brachymorphic, coarse features, large face, little and puffy nose, full lips, wide eyebrows, wide-set eyes
~ Alpinoid




Old anthropology would have labelled those individuals as "Asiatic Alpinoid", a generic term to describe extra-European Alpinoid types even though that term is not useless to denote some peculiar aspects such as very rounded features, full lips, little eyelids, ...

• Final morphotypes :

Nabeul (Tunisia)

A former Roman colony, Nabeul's name is an Arabised form of the Greek Neapolis 'new city. It is located in Cap Bon, a peninsula in far northeastern Tunisia. Ruins of Punic town Kerkouane are located here. The Punics (from Latin pūnicus meaning in Phoenician) were a group of western Semitic-speaking peoples originating from CarthageNorth Africa who traced their origins to a group of Phoenician and Cypriot settlers, but also to North African Berbers. Punics were probably a mix of Berbers and Phoenicians in terms of culture and ancestry.

Addendum : Y-DNA in the Western Mediterranean

• Sample :

Full scale

• Brief anthropological analysis :

- Type 1 : Dark complexion (black eyes, black hair, tanned skin, ...), leptomorphic, arched convex nose (droopy tip), close-set eyes, full lips, deeply drawn lines around the oral cavity
~ Dinaromorphic Mediterranean





This phenotype is what might be dubbed "Arabid" by most authors : it's very common in North Africa. Other classically North African Mediterranean types are to be found as well : larger face, large jaw, arched nose (droopy tip), ...





- Type 2 : Dark complexion (black eyes, black hair, ...), brachymorphic, coarse features, large face, massive and low-rooted nose that can get convex, full lips, somehow wide-set eyes
~ Alpinoid




Berberid features (little and low-rooted puffy nose, wide forehead, bulbous temples, ...) are not as obvious as in Kabyle lands.

• Final morphotypes :

Bethlehem (Palestine)

The Hebrew Bible identifies Beit Lehem as the city David was from and the location where he was crowned as the king of Israel. The New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke identify Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The town is inhabited by one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, though the size of the community has shrunk due to emigration. Bethlehem has a Muslim majority, but is also home to one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities.

• Sample :

Full scale

• Brief anthropological analysis :

- Type 1 : Dark complexion (black eyes, black hair, tanned skin, ...), leptomorphic, leptoprosopic, arched convex nose, close-set eyes, full lips, deeply drawn lines around the oral cavity
~ Mediterranean




This phenotype is dubbed "Arabid" by most authors. It is undoubtedly very common amongst the autochtonous people of the Middle-East and North Africa.


- Type 2 : Dark complexion (black eyes, black hair, rather dark skin, ...), brachymorphic, coarse features, large face, massive and low-rooted puffy nose that can get convex, full lips, somehow wide-set and rather slanted eyes
~ Alpinoid/Berid




This type is quite original with some individuals showing rather original features that can be found from Morocco to India as far as I know. It seems to be widespread in Egypt, the Arabian peninsula and Iraq as well : more samples will be needed to detect the full extent of those features. I'm a bit clueless about that type for the moment. Somehow, some individuals do remind me of a young Arafat.

• Final morphotypes :

Tizi Ouzou : Kabylia (Algeria)

The area is populated by the Kabyles, a Berber ethnic group , the second most populous Berber people after the Chleuhs in Morocco. They speak the Kabyle variety of Berber. The Kabyle people have always inhabited the peaks of the Algerian Highlands, the eastern parts of the Atlas Mountains, located in modern Algeria. Several sources, from anthropology to the genome, conclude that the Kabyles are autochthonous inhabitants of this territory, to which they refer as "Homeland".

Kabyle-speaking lands


Addendum : Y-DNA in the Western Mediterranean

• Sample :

Full scale

• Brief anthropological analysis :

- Type 1 : Dark complexion (black eyes, black hair, tanned skin, ...), leptomorphic, arched convex nose (droopy tip), close-set eyes, full lips, deeply drawn lines around the oral cavity
~ Dinaromorphic Mediterranean




This phenotype is what might be dubbed "Arabid" by most authors : it's very common in North Africa. A rarer and depigmented variant is very unique to the area : it exhibits very local Kabyle features such as rufosity, high cheekbones, strong browridges, ... which link these individuals with the second type.




- Type 2 : Intermediate complexion (pinky cheeks, light green-grey eyes, ...), more or less brachymorphic, rather large face, little and low-rooted puffy nose, wide forehead, bulbous temples, large and strong jaws, close-set eyes (rather little eyelids), general coarse features
~ Berberid




This is a very common type in Algeria, and elsewhere in Maghreb. It might be particularly associated with Berber-speaking people. Zidenine Zidane might be a good example of such type.

• Final morphotypes :