Decoding the mystery of the race of the ancient Egyptians

It is thought that the DNA of ancient Egyptian mummies cannot be sequenced. But an international team of researchers, using unique methods, has overcome the barriers to make it happen.

Egyptologists, writers, scholars, and others, have debated the ethnicity of the ancient Egyptians since at least the 1970s. Today, some believe they were Pan-African. Sahara, this is argued from the existence of several African empires and kingdoms that grew to their peak in the past.

It is thought that the problem is that the mummy’s DNA cannot be sequenced. But an international team of researchers, using unique methods, overcame inherent barriers to do just that. They discovered that the ancient Egyptians were most closely related to the peoples of the Near East, especially from the Levant – the Eastern Mediterranean that today includes the countries of Turkey, Iraq, Israel, Jordan , Syria and Lebanon. The mummies used in the study date from the New Kingdom and later periods, when Egypt was under Roman rule.

“The genetics of the Abusir el-Meleq community did not undergo any major changes over the 1,300-year period we studied,” team leader Wolfgang Haak at the Max Planck Institute in Germany said in a press release. , which suggests that the population remained relatively genetically stable and unaffected by foreign conquest and rule.”

The research was led by paleontologist Johannes Krause, also of the Max Planck Institute. Historically, there has been a problem in finding intact DNA from ancient Egyptian mummies. “Egypt’s hot climate, high humidity in many tombs, and certain chemicals used in embalming techniques, contribute to DNA degradation and are thought to be responsible for DNA damage in mummies,” the study notes. Egypt will not last.”

It is also thought that, even if genetic material is recovered, it may not be reliable. Despite this, Krause and colleagues were able to introduce powerful DNA sequencing and verification techniques and complete the first genomic testing on an ancient Egyptian mummy.

Abusir el-Meleq, an archaeological site along the Nile River 70 miles (115 km) south of Cairo, has mummies displaying aspects that show dedication to the cult of Osiris, the god of skin. green of the other world.

First, the mitochondrial genomes from 90 mummies were sampled and analyzed. From these, Krause and colleagues found that they could get the entire genome from just three of the mummies. For this study, scientists took samples of teeth, bones, and soft tissue. Teeth and bones provide the most DNA because they have been protected by soft tissue through the mummification process.

They started work by disinfecting the room. They then placed the samples under UV radiation for an hour to sterilize them. From there, DNA sequencing can be performed.

The scientists also gathered data on Egyptian history and archaeological data of northern Africa, to give their discovery some context. They want to know what changes have happened over time. To find out, they compared the mummy’s genome with those of 100 modern Egyptians and 125 Ethiopians.

The oldest mummy identified is from the New Kingdom, 1,388 BC, when Egypt was at the height of its power and glory. The youngest is from 426 CE, when the country was ruled from Rome. The ability to collect genomic data from the ancient Egyptians is a significant achievement, opening up new research directions.

The scientific report also points out that “all of our genetic data were obtained from a single site in Middle Egypt and may not be representative of ancient Egypt as a whole.” “In southern Egypt, the genetic makeup of the people there may have been different, more similar to the interior of the African continent.”

Future researchers want to determine exactly when sub-Saharan African genes entered the ancient Egyptian genome and why. They will also want to know where the ancient Egyptians came from. To do so, they will have to identify older DNA, as Krause puts it, “going back further in time, to prehistory.”

Using high-throughput DNA sequencing and advanced authentication techniques, researchers demonstrated that they could reliably retrieve DNA from mummies, despite the harsh climate and embalming techniques. corpses can damage DNA.

Further testing will likely contribute much to our understanding of the ancient Egyptians and perhaps people from other places as well, helping to fill in the gaps in humanity’s collective memory.

Reference: National Geographic; Big Think; The Archaeologist

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