I was looking at the mtDNA maps on 23andMe and noticed that Libya had a very different set of haplogroups from its neighbours. It is much more European. Libya is an African pocket of mtDNA I, K, T, U3, U4, U5 and X, all the haplogroups associated with the Caucasus and the Pontic steppes. The only typical Indo-European haplogroup missing is W (more common in the northern steppe and forest-steppe, where the Balto-Slavic and Indo-Iranian branches originated).
The Greeks are known to have established colonies in Libya (7th century BCE in Cyrenaica), but could they have had such an impact on the modern population ? The Phoenicians also settled in Libya, but they couldn't have brought I, U4 or U5.
There is not that much haplogroup H, so I am inclined to think of a direct IE invasion from the steppe/Caucasus region. Wikipedia mentions invading horsemen during the Bronze Age. The ancient Libyans invaded Egypt during the 13th century BCE. A fresco of the tomb of Seti I, (1279 BCE) depict by the Libyans as light-skinned (much lighter than the Egyptians). This is undeniable proof that Europeans had settled in Libya before 1300 BCE, so well before the Greeks.
The Y-DNA maps show a substantial amount of R1b1b2 and a little R1a. The analysis of haplogroup J shows some Greek J2a4a1 (M92) and J2b (M102) in Cyrenaica. But R1b1b2 is all over Libya and R1a closer to Tunisia, where the Greeks didn't establish colonies.
The only way the isolated and resource-poor Libyans could have successfully invade Egypt during the Bronze Age is if they had superior technology. The only people susceptible to provide that were the Indo-Europeans. The Libyans seem to have been associated to the mysterious Sea Peoples, who were also likely Indo-Europeans from the Black Sea shores. The Lybians ruled Egypt from 943 to 713 BCE (22nd Dynasty).
The Greeks are known to have established colonies in Libya (7th century BCE in Cyrenaica), but could they have had such an impact on the modern population ? The Phoenicians also settled in Libya, but they couldn't have brought I, U4 or U5.
There is not that much haplogroup H, so I am inclined to think of a direct IE invasion from the steppe/Caucasus region. Wikipedia mentions invading horsemen during the Bronze Age. The ancient Libyans invaded Egypt during the 13th century BCE. A fresco of the tomb of Seti I, (1279 BCE) depict by the Libyans as light-skinned (much lighter than the Egyptians). This is undeniable proof that Europeans had settled in Libya before 1300 BCE, so well before the Greeks.
The Y-DNA maps show a substantial amount of R1b1b2 and a little R1a. The analysis of haplogroup J shows some Greek J2a4a1 (M92) and J2b (M102) in Cyrenaica. But R1b1b2 is all over Libya and R1a closer to Tunisia, where the Greeks didn't establish colonies.
The only way the isolated and resource-poor Libyans could have successfully invade Egypt during the Bronze Age is if they had superior technology. The only people susceptible to provide that were the Indo-Europeans. The Libyans seem to have been associated to the mysterious Sea Peoples, who were also likely Indo-Europeans from the Black Sea shores. The Lybians ruled Egypt from 943 to 713 BCE (22nd Dynasty).