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he first DNA analysis of 2,500-year-old remains from one of the great early civilizations of the Middle East, the Phoenicians, has shown the man had European heritage, researchers said Wednesday.

周三，研究人員宣布對于2500年的尸體的首次DNA分析顯示，該腓尼基男子具有歐洲血統。腓尼基文明曾是中東最燦爛的文明之一。

The mitochondrial DNA -- or genetic information from his mother’s side -- came from a man known as "Young Man of Byrsa" or "Ariche," whose remains were uncovered in the Tunisian city of Carthage.

該名被稱作“畢爾薩青年”或者Ariche的男子被發現于土耳其城市迦太基。從他身上提取的線粒體DNA是從他母親那里遺傳來的。

The findings in the journal PLOS ONE suggest his maternal lineage likely came from the north Mediterranean coast, on the Iberian Peninsula, perhaps near what is modern day Spain or Portugal.

這項于期刊《PLOS ONE》上發表的研究表明，這名男子的母系血統可能來自地中海北岸的伊比利亞半島，靠近今日西班牙或者葡萄牙的所在地。

Phoenicians are known as the creators of the first alphabet, and inhabited the coastal cities, Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Arwad, in what is now Lebanon and southern Syria.

腓尼基人以字母表的創始人而聞名，并定居于海岸城市泰爾、西頓、布魯比斯和艾爾瓦德。這些城市坐落在如今的黎巴嫩和利比亞南部內。

However, since their writings were made on papyrus, little remains except what has been written about them by Greek and Egyptian scholars.

然而，由于他們的文章都書寫在莎草紙上，很少有文章能夠被保存下來。只有一些由希臘和埃及的學者記錄下來的相關文本。

According to lead study author Lisa Matisoo-Smith, a professor in the department of anatomy at New Zealand’s University of Otago, the remains reveal the earliest known evidence in North Africa of a rare European genetic population, or haplogroup, known as U5b2c1.

Lisa Matisoo-Smith是新西蘭奧塔哥大學的解剖學系教授，是該研究的首席作者。她表示，這具尸體是少數歐洲人在北非的最古老證據，或者是被稱為U5b2c1的單倍群。

"U5b2c1 is considered to be one of the most ancient haplogroups in Europe and is associated with hunter-gatherer populations there," she said.

她說：“U5b2c1被認為是歐洲最古老的單倍群，和此地的狩獵人群有關。”

"It is remarkably rare in modern populations today, found in Europe at levels of less than one percent."

“這對現代人類來說十分珍貴，在歐洲找到這類樣本的機率小于1%。”

The matriarchal DNA of the man, whose remains were found by gardeners working outside the National Museum of Carthage in 1994, "most closely matches that of the sequence of a particular modern day individual from Portugal," she added.

她補充道：“這名男子的母系基因和現代葡萄牙人的序列能夠在最大程度上進行配對。”他的尸體在1994年被園丁發現于迦太基國家博物館外。

The discovery sheds some new light on the history of the Phoenicians, who are thought to have originated in Lebanon and spread across the Mediterranean.

這次發現揭示了一些腓尼基人的歷史。該人群被認為起源于黎巴嫩，之后遷徙到地中海地區。

Carthage was a prominent Phoenician port and trade center established by colonists from Lebanon.

迦太基是著名的腓尼基港口和貿易中心，為來自黎巴嫩的殖民者所建立。

However, researchers were unable to find any links between the ancient man’s mitochondrial DNA and that of 47 modern Lebanese people who were analyzed for the study.

然而，研究人員并沒能發現這名古代男子的線粒體DNA和47位現代黎巴嫩志愿者的DNA之間有任何聯系。

"Hopefully our findings and other continuing research will cast further light on he origins and impact of Phoenician peoples and their culture," said Matisoo-Smith.

Matisoo-Smith表示：“希望我們的發現和其他后續的研究能夠揭示我們的起源，以及腓尼基人的文化和留下的影響。”