In a long time, the researchers hie the entire genome of the ancient Egyptian person, and revealed an unprecedented insight into the origin of a man who lived during the time when the first pyramids were built.
The man, whose remains were found buried in a closed clay container in Nawirat, which is the village of southern Cairo, at some time between 4500 and 4800 years, making the DNA the oldest ancient Egyptian sample so far extracted. The researchers concluded that 80 % of its genetic articles came from the old people in North Africa, while it returned 20 % to the people in West Asia and the Mesopotamia region.
Their results were published on Wednesday in the magazine natureHe provided new evidence indicating the existence of ancient cultural links between Egypt and old societies within the fertile crescent, a region that includes modern Iraq (known one day between Mesopotamia), Iran and Jordan. While scientists suspect these links, the only evidence for them was archaeological, instead, not genetics.
Scientists also studied the skeleton of a man to determine more about his identity and found extensive evidence of hard work over a long life.
“The collection of all the evidence of DNA, bones and teeth of this person allowed us to build a comprehensive image,” said the head of the study, the head of the study, Dr. Adlin Musiz, a fellow research colleague in England in Liverpool John Morris. “We hope that the future DNA samples will expand from ancient Egypt when this movement began from West Asia specifically.”
Pottery and other artifacts have suggested that the Egyptians may have circulated goods and knowledge across the neighboring areas, but genetic evidence over the different ancient civilizations that mixed with the decline because conditions such as heat and humidity quickly destroyed the DNA, according to the authors of the study. However, the remains of this man were unusually preserved in their burial container, and scientists were able to extract DNA from one of the skeleton teeth.
While the results only pick up the genetic background of one person, experts said that additional work can help answer a permanent question about the origin of the first Egyptians who lived at the beginning of the longest known civilization.
A pottery container containing a man’s remains was discovered in 1902.
Decode the DNA puzzle
The world of Swedish heredity Svante Pubu, who won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2022 For the first primitive genome sequence, made Pioneering attempts 40 years ago to extract and study DNA from ancient Egyptian remains, but he was unable to sequence the genome. Place the DNA preservation over the course of an obstacle.
Since then, the generations of three ancient Egyptian people It was only partial By researchers who use the “target sequence” to focus on specific signs of interest in the samples of the samples. The remains used in this work return to another time in Egyptian history, from 787 BC to 23 AD.
In the end, it has been improvements in technology over the past decade that paved the way for the authors of the new study of the entire ancient Egyptian genome sequence.
“The technique that we used in this study is generally referred to as” gun sequence “, which means that we are the sequence of all the molecules of the isolated DNA, which gives us coverage across the entire genome.” “Our approach means that any future researcher can access the entire genome that we have published to find additional information. This also means that there is no need to return to this individual to take additional samples of bone or teeth.”
The researchers said that the man, who died during a transitional period between the early formula periods in Egypt and the ancient kingdom, was not embracing before the burial because it was not a standard practice yet – and it is possible that he would maintain the DNA.
“This may have been a lucky circumstance-we may have found the needle in the straw pile,” said Gerland-Link. “But I think we will see additional genomics that have been published from ancient Egypt over the coming years, perhaps from individuals buried in ceramic utensils.”
While the general climate of Egypt is hot, the region has relatively stable temperatures, which is a major factor for long -term genetic conservation. He said this climate, the clay container used for burial and the grave of rocks that were placed in everything played a role in preventing the man’s DNA from deteriorating.
The clay bowl was found inside a grave cut into the rock in Nawairat, south of Cairo. Garst it Museum of Archeology, University of Liverpool
Follow a unique origin
To analyze them, researchers took small samples of root tips for a man’s teeth. Girdland-Flink said they analyzed cement, which is teeth tissue closing in the jaw, because it is an excellent tool for keeping the DNA.
Of the seven DNA extracts taken from the tooth, two have been preserved enough for their sequence. After that, the scholars compared the ancient Egyptian genome to those that include more than 3,000 modern people and 805 old individuals, according to the authors of the study.
The chemical signals called the toe to the man’s teeth were recorded information about the environment in which he grew up, and the diet that he consumed as a child was registered with the growth of his teeth. The results were consistent with the childhood she spent in the hot dry climate in the Nile Valley, consuming wheat, barley, animal protein and linked to Egypt.
But 20 % of the origin of a man matches the oldest generations of Mesopotamia, indicating that the movement of people to Egypt at some point may be somewhat large, and Trill Gerand.
The Anthropology and Study, Joel Erch, also took the forensic medicine measurements of men and stones, which are compatible with West Asia. Irish Professor at the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool John Morris.
The study provides an overview of a decisive time and place there were no samples before, according to iosif Lazaridis, a researcher in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Lazaridis did not participate in the new study, but conducted research on Old DNA samples from Mesopotamia Honor, the eastern Mediterranean region, which includes modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and parts of Türkiye.
The remains are now kept in the Liverpool Museum. Garst it Museum of Archeology, University of Liverpool
The researchers have long wondered whether the Egyptians have been from the beginnings of the family of the family from North Africa or Levanin.
Lazarridis said: “What this sample tells us is that on such an early history, there were people in Egypt who were mostly in North Africa in the origins, but with some of the contribution of the origins from Mesopotamia.” “This is completely logical geographically.”
Lazarridis said he hoped to be the beginning of more research around Egypt, admitting that although embalming helped maintain soft tissues in mummies, chemical treatments used in the embalming process were not perfect for preserving old DNA.
He said: “I think it is now possible to extract DNA from people from the beginnings of Egyptian civilization and the genetic history of Egypt can now start writing.”
Mysterious burial
By studying a man’s skeleton, the team was able to determine that it was slightly more than 5 feet and between 44 and 64 years, most likely closer to the end of this range – “which is an incredibly old matter for that time period, and it may be like the eighties today.”
Genetic analysis indicates that he had brown eyes, hair and dark skin. He told his bones another story: how difficult he was working in life, which appears to be at odds with the festive way he was buried inside Ceramic bowl.
Irlish said that the indicators of arthritis and osteoporosis were clear in his bones, while features in the back of his skull and poverty showed that he was looking forward and tending forward throughout his life. Muscle signs show that he was holding his arms in front of him for long periods of time and carrying heavy materials. The seating bones in its pelvis were incredibly inflated, which occur when someone sits on a solid surface for decades. There were also signs of large arthritis within its right foot.
Irish looked at the ancient Egyptian pictures of different professions, including pottery, construction, welding, agriculture and weaving, to find out how the man spent his time.
“Although these clues are circumstantial refer to pottery, including the use of a pottery wheel, which reached Egypt almost the same time,” Irish said. “However, his high -degree burial is not expected for a ceramic, which will not usually receive such treatment. Perhaps he was extraordinary or exceptionally successful to apply for his social position.”
Before the sharing of pottery and culture systems, domesticated plants and animals are spread through the fertile crescent and Egypt in the sixth millennium BC, where societies have moved from being the fisherman’s university to live in permanent settlements. Now, the study team is wondering whether human migrations are also part of this transformation. An additional old genomics from Egypt, Africa and fertile crescent can provide answers about who lived where and when.
“This is just one piece of the puzzle that is human genetic difference: Every person who has ever lived-their genes-represents a unique piece in this puzzle,” said Girdland-Link in an e-mail. “Although we will never be able to sequence everyone’s genome, we will hope that we can collect enough diverse samples from all over the world to accurately rebuild the major events in human history that formed from us today.”
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