J-L817 Y-DNA clade

A descendant of a Syrian Jew (member of Y-DNA Haplogroup J project) has tested positively for SNP marker L817 but negatively for L818. Thus, a yet another level of our clade's phylogeny is now defined by its own SNP marker.

A Kurdish person has tested positively for SNPs L817 and L818 but negatively for SNP L816 in Family Tree DNA testing. This result is the same as the one obtained in 2012 in a person whose paternal lineage originates from Germany and is the first confirmed J-L817 case in a member of a Middle-Eastern nation other than Jews.

Based on the additional Y-STR test results, it was decided to add DYS425=0 as an additional criterion for definition of subgroup D in our J-L817 Clade project at Family Tree DNA. Estimate of time to most recent common ancestor for subgroup D was changed from 575 to 600 years before present.

Following the approval by Haplogroup J project administrators and Family Tree DNA, Bnei Yahya project was renamed into J-L817 clade project and moved to Y-DNA haplogroup projects category.

As the year draws to a close, we decided it's time to update our website based on the facts about our paternal lineage we have accumulated thus far, and some speculative hypotheses that arise from these facts.

A J1c3* kit tested positively for SNP markers L817 and L818 and negatively for L816. The kit in question has the following Y-STR results: DYS392=14, DYS439=12. The kit owner's earliest known paternal ancestor was from Germany; he reports no known Jewish or other Middle-Eastern ancestry. The kit in question is 19 steps away from the base haplotype based on more than sixty 67-marker tests that are confirmed or predicted to be L816+ (among the latter, the most remote ones are only 9 steps away from the base haplotype). Let me express our thanks to Don for ordering the tests!

The hypothesis that SNPs L816, L817 and L818 can provide the basis to strictly define Yahya Cluster as a subclade of Y-DNA haplogroup J1c3 has received new confirmation: two members of Bnei Yahya FTDNA project tested positively for all of these SNPs.

In order to facilitate the study of male lineages that belong to J1c3* Yahya cluster we have launched the Bnei Yahya project at Family Tree DNA. All persons who tested at or transferred their Y-DNA results to Family Tree DNA, are predicted or confirmed to belong to Y-DNA haplogroup J1, and have DYS392~13 are encouraged to join the project.

L816, L817, and L818 have been made available for testing at Family Tree DNA. Persons whose STR haplotype is close to the modal haplotype of J1c3* Jewish Cluster A are encouraged to test for SNPs L816, L817, and L818. To order an SNP test, FTDNA customers need to select "Order Tests and Uprgrades" in My Account section at their My FTDNA page, go to "Order Advanced Tests", select "SNP" in the drop-down menu, and choose a particular SNP.

The first Walk Through the Y (WTY) test ordered at FTDNA by a member of J1c3* Jewish Cluster A resulted in the discovery of five new SNPs. Three of them, L816, L817, and L818, may prove to either provide the basis for a strict definition of J1c3* Jewish Cluster A as a subclade of haplogroup J1c3 (J-P58), or permit to clarify the cluster's internal structure. Clarifying the location of these SNPs on J1c3 haplotree will require additional testing by the other members of the cluster.