About us
During the last 12,000 years there has been an unprecedented number of population migrations into and out of the island of Cyprus and in combination with the several occupiers that concurred the island throughout the years, we have as a result an extremely interesting 'mosaic' of genetic ancestry in this tiny nation island of the Eastern Mediterranean. Just a brief overview of the history and prehistory of Cyprus can give an idea of the uniqueness of Cyprus as an excellent location for the study of migrations from the east world to the west and vice versa.
The first such migration is that of the early Near Eastern Neolithic farmers who settled the island as early as 9th millennium BC and brought agriculture with them. The Aceramic Neolithic era in Cyprus lasted until 5200 BC.
These migrations were followed by further migrations from the Levant/Anatolia during the 5th millenium BC giving rise to the Creamic Neolithic era.
Later migrations of the 3rd millennium BC again from the Levant, Anatolia, as well as the Caucasus, gave rise to the astonishing Cypriot Chalcolithic and later Bronze age eras of huge development and prosperity due to the exploitation of the rich copper reserves of the island.
During the Late Bronze age, populations from the Aegean (Mycaenena Greeks) started arriving and probably settling in the island, a phenomennon that continued well into the Iron age. Also during the Iron age, we have the remarkable sea-fearing merchants, the Phoenicians, settling the island. During the same period, classical authors report the foundation of numerous Cypriot towns with immigrant Greek heroes who arrived at the island after the Trojan war, therefore at that time we had a peaceful amalgamation of 3 different cultures in a small island, the indigenous Cypriots (descendants of the early Neolithic and later Chalcolithic settlers), the Greeks and the Phoenicians.
From the dawn of the era of the great empires Cyprus has been a favourite of all the empires of the region, falling in ‘the hands’ of
the Assyrian Empire (709-669 BC),
the kingdoms of Egypt (570-526 BC),
the Persian Empire (526-333 BC),
the Greek empire of Alexander the Great (333-325 BC)
the Greek Ptolemy Empire of Alexandria (325-58 BC)
the Roman Empire (58 BC-330 AD).
During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, several Jewish tribes started arriving in Cyprus as a result of the several exiles of Jewish populations after successive conquests of their land by Arab tribes and later by the Romans.
The Roman Empire was succeeded by the Byzantine Empire (330-1191 AD), a period that lasted for 8 centuries and was periodically interrupted by consecutive Arab conquests.
The Byzantine era ended by Richard the Lionhard and his crusade army (1191-1192 AD), which was shortly after succeeded by the Knights Templar and immediately after Cyprus passed in the hands of the Frankish Kingdom (the Lusignians), who dominated the island for 3 centuries (1192-1489 AD).
Cyprus was then ruled by the Republic of Venice for less than a century (1489-1571 AD) and eventually fell in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the island for 3 centuries (1571-1878 AD), finally passing ruling power to the British Empire (1878-1960 AD).
What is the result of this turbulent history on the genetic makeup of Cypriots today? What genetic legacy did these populations leave on modern day Cypriots? Help us find the answer! Test your DNA and join the Cyprus DNA project!
===========================================++++==INSTRUCTIONS FOR JOINING==============================================
IMPORTANT! Please indicate your ethnic identity (i.e. Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot, Armenian, Maronite, Latin) when you join the Cyprus project. You can do this on your personal FTDNA profile. This is important in order for us to derive an accurate account of the ancestry of each of these ethnic groups. A mixed up picture would not benefit anyone! Some examples are given below.
Example 1: Your mother and father are Greek Cypriots but your father has an Armenian ancestry (despite being, culturally, clearly Greek Cypriot at the moment). When uploading your Y-DNA results (paternal line) you have to provide this information regarding the original ancestry. If you were uploading mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) results the ancestry of the father would not matter as that test is testing only the maternal line.
Example 2: Your mother and father are Turkish Cypriots but your mother has a Maronite ancestry (despite being, culturally, clearly Turkish Cypriot at the moment). When uploading your mt-DNA results (maternal line) you have to provide this information regarding the original ancestry. If you were uploading Y-DNA results the ancestry of the mother would not matter as that test is testing only the paternal line.
EQUALLY IMPORTANT! Please indicate the place of origin (i.e. village) of your most distant ancestor when you join the Cyprus project (we do not want your place of birth!). If you test for Y-DNA usually that would be the place of birth of your great grandfather from you father's side. If this information is not known then the second best choice would be the birthplace of your grandfather. If you test for mt-DNA usually that would be the place of birth of your great grandmother from you mother's side. If this information is not known then the second best choice would be the birthplace of your grandmother. Some examples are given below.
Example 1: You are testing your Y-DNA. You and your father were born in Nicosia, your grandfather was born in Larnaca and your great grandfather was born in the village of Vatili. What you need to enter as place of origin is Vatili. The rest are irrelevant. If you have knowledge of further back (i.e. great great grandfather) that would be even better!
Example 2: You are testing your mt-DNA. You, your mother and your grandmother were born in Famagusta, but your great grandmother was born in the village of Acheritou. What you need to enter as place of origin is Acheritou. The rest are irrelevant. If you have knowledge of further back (i.e. great great grandmother) that would be even better!
The first such migration is that of the early Near Eastern Neolithic farmers who settled the island as early as 9th millennium BC and brought agriculture with them. The Aceramic Neolithic era in Cyprus lasted until 5200 BC.
These migrations were followed by further migrations from the Levant/Anatolia during the 5th millenium BC giving rise to the Creamic Neolithic era.
Later migrations of the 3rd millennium BC again from the Levant, Anatolia, as well as the Caucasus, gave rise to the astonishing Cypriot Chalcolithic and later Bronze age eras of huge development and prosperity due to the exploitation of the rich copper reserves of the island.
During the Late Bronze age, populations from the Aegean (Mycaenena Greeks) started arriving and probably settling in the island, a phenomennon that continued well into the Iron age. Also during the Iron age, we have the remarkable sea-fearing merchants, the Phoenicians, settling the island. During the same period, classical authors report the foundation of numerous Cypriot towns with immigrant Greek heroes who arrived at the island after the Trojan war, therefore at that time we had a peaceful amalgamation of 3 different cultures in a small island, the indigenous Cypriots (descendants of the early Neolithic and later Chalcolithic settlers), the Greeks and the Phoenicians.
From the dawn of the era of the great empires Cyprus has been a favourite of all the empires of the region, falling in ‘the hands’ of
the Assyrian Empire (709-669 BC),
the kingdoms of Egypt (570-526 BC),
the Persian Empire (526-333 BC),
the Greek empire of Alexander the Great (333-325 BC)
the Greek Ptolemy Empire of Alexandria (325-58 BC)
the Roman Empire (58 BC-330 AD).
During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, several Jewish tribes started arriving in Cyprus as a result of the several exiles of Jewish populations after successive conquests of their land by Arab tribes and later by the Romans.
The Roman Empire was succeeded by the Byzantine Empire (330-1191 AD), a period that lasted for 8 centuries and was periodically interrupted by consecutive Arab conquests.
The Byzantine era ended by Richard the Lionhard and his crusade army (1191-1192 AD), which was shortly after succeeded by the Knights Templar and immediately after Cyprus passed in the hands of the Frankish Kingdom (the Lusignians), who dominated the island for 3 centuries (1192-1489 AD).
Cyprus was then ruled by the Republic of Venice for less than a century (1489-1571 AD) and eventually fell in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the island for 3 centuries (1571-1878 AD), finally passing ruling power to the British Empire (1878-1960 AD).
What is the result of this turbulent history on the genetic makeup of Cypriots today? What genetic legacy did these populations leave on modern day Cypriots? Help us find the answer! Test your DNA and join the Cyprus DNA project!
===========================================++++==INSTRUCTIONS FOR JOINING==============================================
IMPORTANT! Please indicate your ethnic identity (i.e. Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot, Armenian, Maronite, Latin) when you join the Cyprus project. You can do this on your personal FTDNA profile. This is important in order for us to derive an accurate account of the ancestry of each of these ethnic groups. A mixed up picture would not benefit anyone! Some examples are given below.
Example 1: Your mother and father are Greek Cypriots but your father has an Armenian ancestry (despite being, culturally, clearly Greek Cypriot at the moment). When uploading your Y-DNA results (paternal line) you have to provide this information regarding the original ancestry. If you were uploading mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) results the ancestry of the father would not matter as that test is testing only the maternal line.
Example 2: Your mother and father are Turkish Cypriots but your mother has a Maronite ancestry (despite being, culturally, clearly Turkish Cypriot at the moment). When uploading your mt-DNA results (maternal line) you have to provide this information regarding the original ancestry. If you were uploading Y-DNA results the ancestry of the mother would not matter as that test is testing only the paternal line.
EQUALLY IMPORTANT! Please indicate the place of origin (i.e. village) of your most distant ancestor when you join the Cyprus project (we do not want your place of birth!). If you test for Y-DNA usually that would be the place of birth of your great grandfather from you father's side. If this information is not known then the second best choice would be the birthplace of your grandfather. If you test for mt-DNA usually that would be the place of birth of your great grandmother from you mother's side. If this information is not known then the second best choice would be the birthplace of your grandmother. Some examples are given below.
Example 1: You are testing your Y-DNA. You and your father were born in Nicosia, your grandfather was born in Larnaca and your great grandfather was born in the village of Vatili. What you need to enter as place of origin is Vatili. The rest are irrelevant. If you have knowledge of further back (i.e. great great grandfather) that would be even better!
Example 2: You are testing your mt-DNA. You, your mother and your grandmother were born in Famagusta, but your great grandmother was born in the village of Acheritou. What you need to enter as place of origin is Acheritou. The rest are irrelevant. If you have knowledge of further back (i.e. great great grandmother) that would be even better!