Ancient Egypt’s oldest genome reveals surprising ancestry mix

DNA from a man buried in a hillside tomb in Egypt nearly five millennia ago is now rewriting part of ancient history.

No one knew his name. His body was placed inside a ceramic pot and laid to rest long before mummification became standard. For thousands of years, the man’s story sat in silence – until now.

Researchers have extracted and sequenced his DNA, making it the oldest known Egyptian genome ever decoded. He lived between 4,500 and 4,800 years ago, during a time of massive cultural and political change – the early days of pyramid construction.

The study, led by scientists from the Francis Crick Institute and Liverpool John Moores University, is the first to successfully sequence a complete genome from ancient Egypt.

The findings open a window into human movement and ancestry during the early dynastic period.

DNA confirms cross-regional mixing

At the time this man lived, Egypt had emerging trade links with parts of West Asia, particularly the Fertile Crescent – a region that includes today’s Iraq, Iran, and Jordan.

Archaeologists have found artifacts and symbols suggesting cultural exchanges. But until now, genetic proof of these human connections was missing.

The team analyzed the man’s DNA, extracted from a tooth, and discovered that while most of his ancestry traces back to ancient North Africa, about 20% comes from the Fertile Crescent – specifically Mesopotamia. That’s modern-day Iraq.

This supports the idea that people from West Asia weren’t just sending goods. They were moving to Egypt and mixing with local communities.

A story preserved in bone and clay

The remains came from a burial site in Nuwayrat, a village 265 kilometers south of Cairo. The skeleton had been excavated in 1902 and eventually housed at World Museum Liverpool.

The man’s tomb had survived war and time – even the bombings of World War II that destroyed most of the museum’s human remains.

He was buried between the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods – on the edge of one era becoming another. His body was placed inside a clay pot and buried before mummification became common. That likely helped preserve his DNA.

Clues from his bones and teeth painted a more personal picture. Chemical signals showed he had grown up in Egypt. The shape and wear of his skeleton suggested the kind of physical work he likely performed.

Study co-author Joel Irish is a professor of anthropology and archaeology at Liverpool John Moores University.

“The markings on the skeleton are clues to the individual’s life and lifestyle – his seat bones are expanded in size, his arms showed evidence of extensive movement back and forth, and there’s substantial arthritis in just the right foot,” noted Irish.

He explained that the clues point towards pottery, including use of a pottery wheel, which arrived in Egypt around the same time.

“That said, his higher-class burial is not expected for a potter, who would not normally receive such treatment. Perhaps he was exceptionally skilled or successful to advance his social status.”

Years of DNA extraction failures

This breakthrough builds on decades of failed attempts to retrieve usable DNA from ancient Egyptian remains. Heat and humidity usually destroy DNA over time, making preservation in Egypt extremely rare.

Study co-senior author Pontus Skoglund is the group leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Crick.

Skoglund noted that 40 years have passed since the early pioneering attempts to retrieve DNA from mummies without successful sequencing of an ancient Egyptian genome.

“Ancient Egypt is a place of extraordinary written history and archaeology, but challenging DNA preservation has meant that no genomic record of ancestry in early Egypt has been available for comparison,” Skoglund said.

“Building on this past research, new and powerful genetic techniques have allowed us to cross these technical boundaries and rule out contaminating DNA, providing the first genetic evidence for potential movements of people in Egypt at this time.”

More than bones and genes

This was more than just a genetic scan. The scientists used every available clue – from isotopes in the man’s teeth to the shape of his bones – to reconstruct a picture of who he was and where he came from.

“Piecing together all the clues from this individual’s DNA, bones and teeth have allowed us to build a comprehensive picture,” said study first author Adeline Morez Jacobs.

“We hope that future DNA samples from ancient Egypt can expand on when precisely this movement from West Asia started.”

The researchers aim to collaborate further with Egyptian scientists to collect more ancient samples. Each one could add another piece to the puzzle of how people moved, lived, and changed Egypt during one of its most iconic eras.

The full study was published in the journal Nature.

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