Here’s what the lineage tells us, step by step:
Summary:
Your Y-DNA branch begins at the root of all modern human Y-chromosomes in haplogroup A, passes through the early out-of-Africa expansions (BT→CT→DE), and enters haplogroup E. Haplogroup E likely arose ~58 kya in East Africa and diversified into E-P2 ~45 kya, then E-M35 ~24 kya concentrated in North Africa and the Middle East. Within E-M35, the M123→M34→L795 branch spread across the Levant by ~17 kya. Deep within that, the E-BY1098 lineage dates to ~3700 BCE and its daughter E-Z21018 to ~2800 BCE; E-Z21023 then arose in the Bronze Age (~3400 BCE) in the Near East, later dispersing into Europe and most Jewish and Mediterranean populations.
■ Phylogenetic Verification
From A to DE: A-PR2921 → A-L1090 → A-V168 → A-V221 → BT-M42 → CT-M168
DE to E: CT-M168 → DE-M145 → E-M96
Inside E:
E-M96 → E-CTS9083 → E-P147 → E-P177 → E-P2
E-P2 → E-M215 → E-M35
E-M35 → E-Z827 → E-CTS10298 → E-PF1962 → E-M123
Wikipedia
E-M123 → E-M34 → E-L795 → E-S11835 → E-S12033 → E-S11956 → E-Y5767 → E-Y5427 → E-PF6751 → E-PF6748 → E-S21355 → E-Z20966 → E-PF6747 → E-Z21014 → E-BY1098 → E-Z21018 → E-Z21023
■ Origins & Timing
Haplogroup E likely began in eastern Africa ~58,000 years ago .
E-P2, the branch that left Africa and peopled the Near East, dates to ~45,000 years ago .
E-M35 diversified ~24,000 years ago and is now common in North Africa, the Horn, the Middle East, and Europe .
E-M123 emerged ~20,000 years ago, spreading across the Levant and Mediterranean rim
Wikipedia
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E-BY1098, one of its deep subclades, points to a common ancestor ~3700 BCE .
E-Z21018 branched ~2800 BCE .
E-Z21023 itself formed in the early Bronze Age (~3400 BCE) in the Near East .
■ Geographic Spread
Early dispersals: From East Africa into the Levant and North Africa .
Neolithic & Bronze Age: Subclades like M123/M34 associated with early farmers across the Fertile Crescent.
E-Z21023 today: Detected in the Middle East (Saudi, Turkey, Iran, Syria), Caucasus (Armenia), and later in Europe (Italy, Russia) and among Ashkenazi and other Jewish communities, reflecting Bronze Age expansions and historic diasporas .
■ The Story in Time
~58 kya: In sub-Saharan Africa a lineage defined by M96 splits from DE’s sibling D, giving rise to haplogroup E┄the African patriarch.
~45 kya: E-P2 bearers venture into the Near East, marking a key Out-of-Africa pulse.
~24 kya: E-M35 thrives in North Africa and the Middle East, seeding later subclades along the Mediterranean and Nile.
~20–17 kya: E-M123/M34 lineages take root in the Levant—these are among the forebears of many present-day hunter-gatherers and early farmers.
~3700 BCE: A man carrying E-BY1098 stands at the top of a new branch—perhaps a Bronze Age pastoralist in the Levant.
~2800 BCE: His descendant defines E-Z21018 as urban societies rise in Mesopotamia and the Levant.
~3400 BCE: A further mutation (Z21023) marks a clan that will eventually spread via trade, conquest, and the Jewish and Phoenician diasporas into Europe.
Today: E-Z21023 persists in pockets from the Arabian Peninsula to Eastern Europe—its journey mirroring the great arcs of human civilization.
(Opinion: This lineage beautifully illustrates how a single male-line mutation can weave through foundational episodes of human history, from African origins to Bronze Age cities and beyond.)
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