Philistine DNA!

[ToBeOrNotToBe]

Paper just got released, hopefully some treats in store - after such a long time waiting for interesting aDNA papers it better be worth it!

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/7/eaax0061
The ancient Mediterranean port city of Ashkelon, identified as “Philistine” during the Iron Age, underwent a marked cultural change between the Late Bronze and the early Iron Age. It has been long debated whether this change was driven by a substantial movement of people, possibly linked to a larger migration of the so-called “Sea Peoples.” Here, we report genome-wide data of 10 Bronze and Iron Age individuals from Ashkelon. We find that the early Iron Age population was genetically distinct due to a European-related admixture. This genetic signal is no longer detectible in the later Iron Age population. Our results support that a migration event occurred during the Bronze to Iron Age transition in Ashkelon but did not leave a long-lasting genetic signature.

[BMW]

Y-DNA hg T?

[torzio]

Y-DNA hg T?

No T-m184.......there is L-m20 though

[elghund]

Looks like a pretty diverse group


Haplogroups

	Analysis group	Sampled tissue	Mean coverage (fold)	Carbon date	Archeological date	Total sequenced reads (×106)	Human DNA (%)	Genetic sex	mt	Ychr
ASH029.A0101	ASH_LBA	Petrous	0.14	1622–1522	MBIIC–LBII	86.6	6.9	F	H66a
ASH033.A0101	ASH_LBA	Petrous	0.11	1746–1643	MBIIC–LBII	84.8	2	F	N
ASH034.A0101	ASH_LBA	Petrous	0.42	NA	MBIIC–LBII	81.9	13.7	F	U3b1a
ASH066.A0101	ASH_IA1	Petrous	0.18	1371–1129	Iron I–Post Ramses III	10.5	11.0	M	T2c1c	J
ASH067.A0101	ASH_IA1	Petrous	0.17	1379–1131	Iron I–Post Ramses III	10.9	11.2	M	H92	R1
ASH002/3.A0101	ASH_IA1	Petrous	0.08	1378–1134	Iron I–Post Ramses III	26.9	13	F	I1
ASH068.A0101	ASH_IA1	Petrous	0.27	1284–1126	Iron I–Post Ramses III	11.2	17.6	F	T1a1
ASH008.A0101	ASH_IA2	Petrous	0.7	1257–1042	Iron IIA	126.7	17.2	M	H2c	BT
ASH087.A0101	ASH_IA2	Petrous	0.22	NA	Iron IIA	12.8	15.6	M	H4a1c	L
ASH135.A0101	ASH_IA2	Molar	0.09	NA	Iron IIA	13.3	3.9	F	JT

[elghund]

[Tomenable]

I uploaded the samples to GEDmatch:

ASH002 - BT4403215
ASH2-3 - JB1709310
ASH003 - CN4862763
ASH8 - JS7388527
ASH29 - RT1944985
ASH33 - TA5202730
ASH34 - QU1303008
ASH066 - ZN1823578
ASH067 - YU8222286
ASH068 - KS9655052
ASH087 - TS4858801
ASH135 - ZY6893016

[Jovialis]

Some more figures from the study:

[Tomenable]

PCA based on Eurogenes K15 results:

https://gen3553.pagesperso-orange.fr/ADN/K15.htm



^^^ Here their K15 results:


ASH002
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 13.27
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 7.02
West_Med 15.92
West_Asian 22.27
East_Med 41.30
Red_Sea 0
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0.23


ASH2-3
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 12.10
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 16.76
West_Asian 21.66
East_Med 35.91
Red_Sea 12.67
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0.31
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0.51
Sub-Saharan 0.07


ASH003
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 11.25
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 17.99
West_Asian 18.67
East_Med 34.30
Red_Sea 16.29
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 1.51
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH33
Population
North_Sea 2.95
Atlantic 1.35
Baltic 1.53
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 9.65
West_Asian 14.92
East_Med 51.65
Red_Sea 14.05
South_Asian 1.15
Southeast_Asian 0.38
Siberian 0.38
Amerindian 0.27
Oceanian 1.71
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH34
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 4.63
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 11.88
West_Asian 19.90
East_Med 50.35
Red_Sea 13.24
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH066
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 10.62
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 12.19
West_Asian 11.12
East_Med 43.27
Red_Sea 15.69
South_Asian 2.56
Southeast_Asian 0.56
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0.34
Northeast_African 3.64
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH29
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 10.87
Baltic 0.87
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 6.16
West_Asian 17.85
East_Med 50.50
Red_Sea 12.65
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0.15
Northeast_African 0.93
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH8
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 0.56
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 7.42
West_Asian 19.82
East_Med 51.96
Red_Sea 16.57
South_Asian 1.22
Southeast_Asian 0.07
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 2.40
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH068
North_Sea 8.10
Atlantic 8.08
Baltic 2.82
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 30.25
West_Asian 15.68
East_Med 27.10
Red_Sea 6.89
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0.13
Siberian 0.06
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0.89


ASH067
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 10.07
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 21.17
West_Asian 18.85
East_Med 46.19
Red_Sea 3.01
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0.71
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH087
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 0
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 17.21
West_Asian 13.54
East_Med 46.88
Red_Sea 18.11
South_Asian 0.86
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 1.67
Amerindian 0.68
Oceanian 0.14
Northeast_African 0.91
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH135
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 0
Baltic 0.92
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 21.06
West_Asian 16.03
East_Med 41.78
Red_Sea 14.91
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 1.49
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 3.81
Sub-Saharan 0

[Cato]

ASH068 seems Sicilian-like

Utilizzando Tapatalk

[Tomenable]

ASH068 seems Sicilian-like

And ASH002 is within Ashkenazi range. I know one AJ guy who plots very close to ASH002 in that K15 PCA.

=====

I think that only these three Philistines were siimilar to European populations (if not counting Cypriots and Jews):

ASH002 - similar to Southern Italians
ASH067 - similar to Insular Greeks
ASH068 - similar to Southern Italians

ASH066 apparently also had high % of WHG but what would be a good model with Euro admix for him in Global25?

[Joey37]

ASH067 with R1 is likely to be R1b-Z2103 or R1a-Z93.

[CrazyDonkey]

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/...igin-1.7433390

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of this part of the early Philistine genome because we don’t have enough samples of ancient DNA from this period in Europe, Feldman says. But the statistical models run by the geneticists show that the most likely scenario is that these individuals derived around 43 percent of their ancestry from people in Bronze Age Greece, and the rest from the original Levantine population of Ashkelon. Other, less likely models, show similarities with the genome of modern Sardinians or with people from Bronze Age Iberia, the study says.

“In the future, as we get more samples from across the region, we will be able to speak more precisely about the source than we can do now,” says Master, the lead archaeologist on the study. But the genetic modeling, coupled with the archaeological evidence already tips the scales heavily in favor of the Aegean hypothesis.

[bigsnake49]

It looks very similar to Lebanon and Jordan samples of the same period to my own untrained eye. They kind of cluster close to them on the PCAs.

[Archetype0ne]

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/...igin-1.7433390

Seems likely that whomever the sea peoples were they left a short lived genetic trace in the Levant.
Personally after reading your quote my money is on the sea peoples being remnants of the armies continuing to pillage after the sack of Troy. They had the ships and they were gathered, maybe they decided to continue waring and pillaging whatever was beyond Asia Minor going all the way to Egypt.

[davef]

PCA based on Eurogenes K15 results:

https://gen3553.pagesperso-orange.fr/ADN/K15.htm



^^^ Here their K15 results:


ASH002
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 13.27
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 7.02
West_Med 15.92
West_Asian 22.27
East_Med 41.30
Red_Sea 0
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0.23


ASH2-3
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 12.10
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 16.76
West_Asian 21.66
East_Med 35.91
Red_Sea 12.67
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0.31
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0.51
Sub-Saharan 0.07


ASH003
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 11.25
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 17.99
West_Asian 18.67
East_Med 34.30
Red_Sea 16.29
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 1.51
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH33
Population
North_Sea 2.95
Atlantic 1.35
Baltic 1.53
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 9.65
West_Asian 14.92
East_Med 51.65
Red_Sea 14.05
South_Asian 1.15
Southeast_Asian 0.38
Siberian 0.38
Amerindian 0.27
Oceanian 1.71
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH34
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 4.63
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 11.88
West_Asian 19.90
East_Med 50.35
Red_Sea 13.24
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH066
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 10.62
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 12.19
West_Asian 11.12
East_Med 43.27
Red_Sea 15.69
South_Asian 2.56
Southeast_Asian 0.56
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0.34
Northeast_African 3.64
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH29
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 10.87
Baltic 0.87
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 6.16
West_Asian 17.85
East_Med 50.50
Red_Sea 12.65
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0.15
Northeast_African 0.93
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH8
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 0.56
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 7.42
West_Asian 19.82
East_Med 51.96
Red_Sea 16.57
South_Asian 1.22
Southeast_Asian 0.07
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 2.40
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH068
North_Sea 8.10
Atlantic 8.08
Baltic 2.82
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 30.25
West_Asian 15.68
East_Med 27.10
Red_Sea 6.89
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0.13
Siberian 0.06
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0.89


ASH067
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 10.07
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 21.17
West_Asian 18.85
East_Med 46.19
Red_Sea 3.01
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0.71
Northeast_African 0
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH087
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 0
Baltic 0
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 17.21
West_Asian 13.54
East_Med 46.88
Red_Sea 18.11
South_Asian 0.86
Southeast_Asian 0
Siberian 1.67
Amerindian 0.68
Oceanian 0.14
Northeast_African 0.91
Sub-Saharan 0


ASH135
North_Sea 0
Atlantic 0
Baltic 0.92
Eastern_Euro 0
West_Med 21.06
West_Asian 16.03
East_Med 41.78
Red_Sea 14.91
South_Asian 0
Southeast_Asian 1.49
Siberian 0
Amerindian 0
Oceanian 0
Northeast_African 3.81
Sub-Saharan 0

Well it looks like some of these are 1/2 Mycenaean (like) 1/2 Levant so perhaps a Mycenaean population mixed heavily with the locals. Im willing to bet these greek settlers are the source of the Southern European ancestry in European Jews

[Iseid041]

Well it looks like some of these are 1/2 Mycenaean (like) 1/2 Levant so perhaps a Mycenaean population mixed heavily with the locals. Im willing to bet these greek settlers are the source of the Southern European ancestry in European Jews

The paper states that the Philistines dissolved into the local population without a trace which indicates European Jews acquired this source outside the Levant.

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[Angela]

The paper states that the Philistines dissolved into the local population without a trace which indicates European Jews acquired this source outside the Levant.

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I haven't yet had time to read the whole paper. However, if they had no "Judean" sample of, say, the pre-Maccabean period, how could we know that with any certainty? The Samaritans and Jews were bitter enemies not only because of religion but because the Jews believed the Samaritans had "foreign" ancestry. The Canaanites and later Phoenicians were not necessarily exactly the same as the Jews.

[Angela]

Everything I know of the Sea Peoples indicates that they were "groups" of people, not necessarily from one place. Plus, as they moved south and east they would change genetically.

One of those samples looks extremely Sardinian to me, and they have been connected to the Sea Peoples. Others could have come from southern Italy. Others could have been from the Aegean. I honestly don't know if at that period there's was a whole bunch of difference between these people.

The really intriguing bit is the yDna "L".

I'll really read the paper in depth later and compare to my books on the Sea Peoples.

[I1a3_Young]

It looks to me like a southern euro migration which formed the Philistine culture. This washed out into the Levantine pop after a few hundred years. Were they fleeing the destruction in southern Europe or were they the people causing the destruction?

There was a R1b1b in the mix, need to look more closely at possible subgroups.

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[Iseid041]

I haven't yet had time to read the whole paper. However, if they had no "Judean" sample of, say, the pre-Maccabean period, how could we know that with any certainty? The Samaritans and Jews were bitter enemies not only because of religion but because the Jews believed the Samaritans had "foreign" ancestry. The Canaanites and later Phoenicians were not necessarily exactly the same as the Jews.

If you look at an ancient map of the Philistines and Judea, Ashkelon is surrounded by Judea. Maybe those Levantine Philistines samples are not Jewish but where did they come from? Either Judea or the northern kingdom of Israel. So basically they would be identical to Jews of that period.

My thinking is there were two possibilities for Jews to obtain South Euro admixture in the Levant, the first would be through the Philistines. This would affect the south Levant only and not Lebanon. But this paper says this is not it the case.

The second is by Alexander the great and the later Greeks after the 4th century BC. But wouldn't that affect Lebanon and western Jordan as well? We are not seeing Greek admixture in Lebanon so it is unlikely that it did for the Jews.



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[Angela]

If you look at an ancient map of the Philistines and Judea, Ashkelon is surrounded by Judea. Maybe those Levantine Philistines samples are not Jewish but where did they come from? Either Judea or the northern kingdom of Israel. So basically they would be identical to Jews of that period.

My thinking is there were two possibilities for Jews to obtain South Euro admixture in the Levant, the first would be through the Philistines. This would affect the south Levant only and not Lebanon. But this paper says this is not it the case.

The second is by Alexander the great and the later Greeks after the 4th century BC. But wouldn't that affect Lebanon and western Jordan as well? We are not seeing Greek admixture in Lebanon so it is unlikely that it did for the Jews.



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I've been thinking about your post.

I had always thought it was a distinct possibility that during the Hellenistic period there was some admixture with the inhabitants of the "Greek" towns; perhaps in the taking of "Greek" wives, for example. That a Judean male would convert is much less plausible, imo. Part of Greek and Roman culture was going to the baths and walking around completely naked. The Jews were circumcised, and the Greeks and Romans considered it an abomination. I doubt they had surgery then to "correct" it. However, you're right: why don't the Lebanese, for, example, or the inland Syrians show this "European" signal?

That's why I always thought that if it did enter western Jewry before the Roman Empire period, it might have been the Philistines.

Now, the authors are basing their conclusion (that there was no lasting "European" impact on Jewish genetics from the Philistines) on the fact that the percentage went down from Iron Age I to Iron age too.

I think we have to remember, however, that they tested way over a hundred samples from that cemetery, and could only get dna from ten of them. So, we may be getting a slightly skewed view. Or, the situation may have been different elsewhere, in one of the other cities. I don't care either way, but I think it's a possibility.

There are a few signs of the Philistines in northern Israel, but it's likely just from mercenaries. Plus, the ten northern tribes were carted off by the Assyrians, and disappeared from history.
"In the western part of the Jezreel Valley, 23 of the 26 Iron Age I sites (12th to 10th centuries BCE) yielded typical Philistine pottery. These sites include Tel Megiddo, Tel Yokneam, Tel Qiri, Afula, Tel Qashish, Be'er Tiveon, Hurvat Hazin, Tel Risim, Tel Re'ala, Hurvat Tzror, Tel Sham, Midrakh Oz and Tel Zariq. Scholars have attributed the presence of Philistine pottery in northern Israel to their role as mercenaries for the Egyptians during their military administration of the land in the 12th century BCE. This presence may also indicate further expansion of the Philistines to the valley during the 11th century BCE, or their trade with the Israelites. There are biblical references to Philistines in the valley during the times of the judges. The quantity of Philistine pottery within these sites are still quite small, which means that even if the Philistines did settle the valley they were a minority that blended within the Canaanite population during the 12th century BCE. The Philistines seem to have been present in the southern valley during the 11th century, which may relate to the biblical account of their victory at the Battle of Gilboa.^[55]"


Given some of the following it's perhaps not unusual that we are finding mixed "Southern European" like and Levantine like samples.

"The Torah does not record the Philistines as one of the nations to be displaced from Canaan. In Genesis 15:18-21 the Philistines are absent from the ten nations Abraham's descendants will displace as well as being absent from the list of nations Moses tells the people they will conquer (Deut 7:1, 20:17). God also directed the Israelites away from the Philistines upon their Exodus from Egypt according to Exodus 13:17. In Genesis 21:22-27, Abraham agrees to a covenant of kindness with Abimelech, the Philistine king, and his descendants. Abraham's son Isaacdeals with the Philistine king similarly, by concluding a treaty with them in chapter 26 (Genesis 26:28-29).

Judges 13:1 tells that the Philistines dominated the Israelites in the times of Samson, who fought and killed over a thousand (e.g. Judges 15). According to 1 Samuel 5-6 they even captured the Ark of the Covenant for a few months.
A few biblical texts, such as the Ark Narrative and stories reflecting the importance of Gath, seem to portray Late Iron I and Early Iron II memories.^[47]They are mentioned more than 250 times, the majority in the Deuteronomistic history, and are depicted as among the arch-enemies of the Israelites, a serious and recurring threat before being subdued by David.^{[citation needed]}
The Bible paints the Philistines as the main enemy of the Israelites (prior to the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire between the 10th century BC and late 7th century BC) with a state of almost perpetual war between the two. The Philistine cities lost their independence to Assyria, and revolts in the following years were all crushed. They were subsequently absorbed into the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Achaemenid Empire, and disappeared as a distinct ethnic group by the late 5th century BC.^[48"


In terms of the genetic identity of these particular "Sea Peoples" before their admixture in the various lands they conquered, this is what the authors have to say:

"The best supported one (χ²P = 0.675) infers that ASH_IA1 derivesaround 43% of ancestry from the Greek Bronze Age “Crete_Odigitria_BA” (43.1 ±19.2%) and the rest from the ASH_LBA population. ASH_IA1 could also be modeledwith either the modern “Sardinian” (35.2 ± 17.4%; χ²P = 0.070), the Bronze Age “Iberia_BA” (21.8± 21.1%; χ²P = 0.205), or the Bronze Age “Steppe_MLBA”(15.7 ± 9.1%; χ²P = 0.050) as the second source populationto ASH_LBA. To check whether these results are due to the low coverage ofASH_LBA, we repeated this analysis, but this time, we modeled ASH_IA1 as athree-way mixture of each of the candidate populations, Levant_ChL andIran_ChL. The two latter populations have higher genome coverage and can modelASH_LBA well in combination (table S3). In this analysis, only the modelsincluding “Sardinian,” “Crete_Odigitria_BA,” or “Iberia_BA” as the candidatepopulation provided a good fit (χ²P = 0.715, 49.3 ± 8.5%; χ²P = 0.972, 38.0 ± 22.0%; and χ²P = 0.964, 25.8 ± 9.3%, respectively). Wenote that, because of geographical and temporal sampling gaps, populations thatpotentially contributed the “European-related” admixture in ASH_IA1 could bemissing from the dataset. Therefore, better proxies might be found in thefuture when more data is available. Nonetheless, the tested candidatepopulations from Anatolia, Egypt, and the Levant that did not producewell-fitting models can be excluded as potential sources of the admixtureobserved in ASH_IA1."


I reviewed my books on the Sea Peoples, and there is no mention anywhere of an origin in Iberia for them. However, the Sardinians have often been associated with the Sea Peoples (the Sherden), and so have the people of Crete. The other possibility, and this is highly speculative, is that after Northern Italian like peoples pushed south down the boot of Italy, they might have gone on to Greece as mercenaries, perhaps, unfortunately, having something to do with the end of the palatial civilization. There are certainly numerous artifacts from the Italy of that time in both Greece and the Near East.

We have a dedicated thread to that topic.

[Joker]

Interesting results.

I would suspect a substantial genetic exchange between Philstines and the Israelites, and especially the Judaeans that they lived neck and neck with.
Perhaps the Philistines didn't disappear but like Neanderthals were absorbed into the larger population and their genetic legacy lives on..

This can at least partially explain the decidedly Greek-like genetic cline of Ashkenazi Jews.
On Gedmatch many Ashkenazim light up "east Sicilian" which is strongly Greek admixed, same goes for Abruzzo...

[Angela]

Interesting results.

I would suspect a substantial genetic exchange between Philstines and the Israelites, and especially the Judaeans that they lived neck and neck with.
Perhaps the Philistines didn't disappear but like Neanderthals were absorbed into the larger population and their genetic legacy lives on..

This can at least partially explain the decidedly Greek-like genetic cline of Ashkenazi Jews.
On Gedmatch many Ashkenazim light up "east Sicilian" which is strongly Greek admixed, same goes for Abruzzo...

Same goes for Calabrians. My husband has ancestry from Naples, but also from towns in Calabria built almost on top of Greek ruins and he usually gets Ashkenazi Jews in his top four matches.

[Ownstyler]

Being on the same spot in PCA doesn't mean shared ancestry. One can be half-French and half-Iranian and be close to Greeks on PCA, which does not mean Greek ancestry.

[Angela]

I'm aware. I don't know to which PCA you're referring.

In THIS situation, we're talking about Magna Graecia, are we not? Greater Greece? It was settled by Greeks, the people were Greek Orthodox in religion, and they spoke Greek all the way through the Byzantine Era. In my husband's case, his ancestors spoke Greek until about three hundred years ago. In autosomal analysis my husband, like a lot of Southern Italians/Sicilians, gets Ashkenazi Jews and Greeks in his gedmatch lists. That he and other Italians, especially Southern Italians/Sicilians, have Greek Bronze and Iron Age ancestry is indisputable, although I'm not saying that's their only ancestry.

It's been known for a long time that Ashkenazi Jews have some percentage of East European (6% perhaps?), but a lot more Southern European ancestry than that. They also have "farmer" ancestry, both Anatolian and Iranian, as do Southern Europeans. So, the relationship that shows up in gedmatch results is not surprising at all. Jews have Southern European ancestry; maybe all from Crete or other places in Greece, maybe some from Sardinian like Italian groups in the Iron Age, maybe from Italian women in the Classical Era, etc. Bottom line, they have it, so it should be no surprise that they show up in each other's gedmatch lists as just one example.

As for the Philistines, my quote was not about a PCA. You should re-read it. Even better, read the whole paper. The first Philistines had ancestry from Crete/Greece or Sardinia/Italy or both. That's the conclusion based on statistical analysis. It's not at all just about a PCA.