It is not really that shocking, we have known that North Africa, Anatolia, and pretty much all regions along the Mediterranean were what you would consider European. I wouldn't say "white" though, not at least like people in the northern parts of Europe (Scandanavia and British Isles) but more along the line of the Greeks. Modern day people all along the Mediterranean still look pretty much like a slightly darker variant of Greek so again, not that big of a surprise.