US EditionAncient DNA shows genetic link between Egypt and Mesopotamia
- A team of scientists from institutions in the United Kingdom successfully decoded the full genome of a man who lived in Nuwayrat, Upper Egypt, between 2855 and 2570 BCE.
- This breakthrough followed decades of failed attempts due to challenging DNA preservation, but a stable burial environment helped preserve the remains for sequencing.
- The analysis determined the individual was a man aged approximately 44 to 64 years, interred inside a ceramic vessel within a tomb carved from rock, suggesting a higher social standing despite evidence indicating he may have worked as a potter.
- His genome showed 80% North African ancestry and 20% from the Fertile Crescent near Mesopotamia, providing genetic evidence of population movement and cultural connections between these regions.
- The findings offer rare insight into ancient Egyptian genetic roots but represent only a single individual, so further sampling is needed to understand broader population diversity and migration timing.
76 Articles
76 Articles
Scientists Decode Full DNA of Ancient Egyptian Man Revealing Surprising Ancestry
Final facial depiction of the Nuwayrat individual. Credit: Adeline Morez Jacobs / CC BY 4.0 Scientists have managed to decode the full DNA of an ancient Egyptian man for the first time, revealing that he carried ancestry from both North Africa and the region historically known as Mesopotamia. The breakthrough study sheds new light on how ancient populations may have moved and mixed across the early Middle East and North Africa. The man lived ove…
Ancient DNA reveals genetic link between early Egypt and Mesopotamia
This discovery supports long-suspected ties between Egypt and Mesopotamia, once inferred only from trade goods and shared pottery styles. The Nile, researchers say, likely acted as an “ancient superhighway” for both people and ideas.
Shafaq News – Translations The British website, Daily Mail Online, reported that despite ancient Egypt being the cradle of civilizations, a new scientific study has shown that its inhabitants may have been of foreign origin, specifically from Iraq in Mesopotamia. The British report, which was translated by Shafaq News Agency, explained that "a scientific team from Liverpool John Moores University conducted a DNA sequence of a man who lived in an…
The first complete genome of an Egyptian from the old empire was mapped, but the man was also special in other respects.
Ancient Egyptian man's genome reveals his society's cross-cultural ties
DNA obtained from the remains of a man who lived in ancient Egypt about the time the first pyramids were built is providing evidence of the ties between two great cultures of the period, with a fifth of his genetic ancestry traced to Mesopotamia.
The genetic material of an Egyptian who lived more than 4,500 years ago was now sequenced. It shows that he also had Mesopotamian ancestors. More exciting is the analysis of his bones: he worked hard, but was nevertheless extensively buried.
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