Could Thomas Jefferson’s DNA Trail Reveal Middle-Eastern Origins?

Juan Cole 02/02/2010

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Could Thomas Jefferson's DNA Trail Reveal Middle-Eastern Origins?

Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the Jefferson clan in the British Isles may have descended from a Phoenician merchant family that set up a trading post up there.

Maybe the Lebanese (many of whom trace their ancestry to the Phoenicians) will get more interested in Jefferson’s thought if they realize he may share a direct, fairly recent common patrilineal ancestor.

And, of course, the finding lends a whole new meaning to the phrase “Americans of Middle Eastern descent”!

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About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page