In biblical era middle east, would white people have been at all prevalent? Were african individuals present? I am having difficulty finding any scholarly sources as to the racial makeup of the region 2000 years ago. This question emerged from a discussion of whether it was actually possible the biblical Jesus could have been white in complexion.
Levantines (Jews, Aramaic speaking peoples) and Greeks.
Levantines are white. The ME was not originally brown.
Modern ethno-rebellious minorities in the MENA are essentially population genetic refugiums of the Levant.
http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003316
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0002105