doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09195-5
Credibility: 989
#Egypt
For the first time, scientists have successfully sequenced the complete DNA of a person who lived in ancient Egypt around 4,800 years ago, around the time the first pyramids were being built
The DNA belongs to an older man, likely from a high social class, who was thought to have brown hair, brown eyes and dark skin.
About 80% of the man’s DNA is linked to North African lineages, while the remaining 20% “”is linked to West Asian lineages.
This suggests that the early Egyptians lived in a mix of cultures, with migrants and traders coming from other parts of Africa and Mesopotamia – an ancient region that today includes parts of Iraq, Turkey and Iran.
Archaeological evidence has already pointed to trade and cultural exchanges between Egypt and other regions of the Fertile Crescent, such as the exchange of domesticated plants and animals, writing systems and technologies such as the potter’s wheel.
However, human DNA is difficult to preserve in Egypt’s hot, dry climate.
This discovery is the oldest DNA ever recovered from ancient Egypt and offers “direct evidence” of genetic links to Mesopotamia.
“Ancient Egypt is a place with an impressive written history and archaeology, but preserving DNA is challenging, so we had no genetic records to compare it to,” explains geneticist Pontus Skoglund, who founded the UK’s first high-tech ancient DNA laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute.
“With new advanced genetic techniques, we were able to overcome these barriers and eliminate contamination, providing the first genetic evidence of human movements in Egypt at that time.”
Who was this man?
The man’s remains were found in a necropolis in the ancient city of Nuwayrat, 165 miles south of Cairo.
He was buried in a large pottery jar in a rock-cut tomb, and died between 2855 and 2570 BC.
He was about 5 feet 4 inches tall, and judging by his badly worn teeth and signs of severe arthritis, he was probably between 44 and 64 years old – an advanced age for the time.
The way he was buried suggests he had a high social status.
But surprisingly, his body shows signs of intense physical labor.
“The hip bones were enlarged, the arms showed repetitive back-and-forth movements, and there was a lot of arthritis in the right foot.
These signs suggest he worked with pottery, possibly using a potter’s wheel,” explains bioarchaeologist Joel Irish of Liverpool John Moores University.
“But a high-class burial is unusual for a potter, who would not have received such treatment.
Perhaps he was extremely skilled or successful, which elevated his social status.?
What do DNA and teeth reveal?
By analyzing isotopes in the man’s second molar, scientists discovered that he grew up in the hot, dry Nile Valley, eating a typical early Egyptian diet that included animal proteins and plants such as wheat and barley.
“This individual had an extraordinary journey.
He lived and died at a pivotal time of change in ancient Egypt.
His skeleton was excavated in 1902 and donated to the World Museum Liverpool, where it survived the bombings of World War II, which destroyed most of the human remains in the collection,” says archaeogeneticist Linus Girdland Flink of the University of Aberdeen.
“Now we can tell part of his story.”
What does this mean?
The story of a single individual doesn’t tell the whole story of ancient Egypt, but it’s a fascinating start.
Researchers hope that this technique will eventually provide a richer and more detailed understanding of the Egyptian civilization and its inhabitants.
With further studies, we will be able to discover even more about how people lived, moved and interacted in that distant time.
Published in 07/06/2025 06h10
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
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