In May 2017, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, led by Johannes Krause, made a groundbreaking discovery by successfully sequencing DNA from ancient Egyptian mummies.
The study revealed that ancient Egyptians were closely related to populations from the Near East, particularly from the Levant, Anatolia, and Europe. Contrary to popular belief, no significant genetic shifts were detected in the Egyptian population during 1,300 years of foreign rule, including the Greek, Roman, and Alexandrian conquests.
Published in Nature Communications, this study represents the first genome-wide nuclear data ever recovered from Egyptian mummies, dating between 1,400 BCE and 400 CE.
The team utilized advanced DNA extraction techniques and high-throughput sequencing to overcome the challenges posed by Egypt’s hot climate, high humidity, and the chemicals used in mummification, which had previously led scientists to believe that DNA preservation was unlikely.
Samples from 151 mummies at Abusir el-Meleq, a Middle Egypt site along the Nile, yielded mitochondrial genomes from 90 individuals and genome-wide data from three individuals.
The study revealed that ancient Egyptians were closely related to populations from the Near East, particularly from the Levant, Anatolia, and Europe. Contrary to popular belief, no significant genetic shifts were detected in the Egyptian population during 1,300 years of foreign rule, including the Greek, Roman, and Alexandrian conquests.
Modern Egyptians, however, share about 8% more of their genome with sub-Saharan African populations, likely due to increased trade, migration, and the trans-Saharan slave trade in the last 1,500 years.
Sources: ScienceDaily ,Universität Tübingen, SciTech Daily.
