Ancient DNA Shows Genetic Link Between Egypt And Mesopotamia
Ancient DNA has revealed a genetic link between the cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Researchers sequenced whole genomes from the teeth of a remarkably well-preserved skeleton found in a sealed funeral pot in an Egyptian tomb site dating to between 4,495 and 4,880 years ago.
Four-fifths of the genome showed links to North Africa and the region around Egypt. But a fifth of the genome showed links to the area in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as the Fertile Crescent, where Mesopotamian civilization flourished.
"The finding is highly significant" because it "is the first direct evidence of what has been hinted at" in prior work," said Daniel Antoine, curator of Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum.
Earlier archeological evidence has shown trade links between Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as similarities in pottery-making techniques and pictorial writing systems. While resemblances in dental structures suggested possible ancestral links, the new study clarifies the genetic ties.
The Nile River is "likely to have acted as an ancient superhighway, facilitating the movement of not only cultures and ideas, but people," said Antoine, who was not involved in the study.
The skeleton was found in an Egyptian tomb complex at the archaeological site of Nuwayrat, inside a chamber carved out from a rocky hillside. An analysis of wear and tear on the skeleton - and the presence of arthritis in specific joints - indicates the man was likely in his 60s and may have worked as a potter, said co-author and bioarchaeologist Joel Irish of Liverpool John Moores University.
The man lived just before or near the start of ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom, when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified as one state, leading to a period of relative political stability and cultural innovation - including the construction of the Giza pyramids.
"This is the time that centralized power allowed the formation of ancient Egypt as we know it," said co-author Linus Girdland-Flink, a paleogeneticist at the University of Aberdeen.
At approximately the same time, Sumerian city-states took root in Mesopotamia and cuneiform emerged as a writing system.
Researchers said analysis of other ancient DNA samples is needed to obtain a clearer picture of the extent and timing of movements between the two cultural centers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Egyptian Conservators Restore King Tutankhamun's Treasures For New Museum
As a teenager, Eid Mertah would pore over books about King Tutankhamun, tracing hieroglyphs and dreaming of holding the boy pharaoh's golden mask in his hands. Years later, the Egyptian conservator found himself gently brushing centuries-old dust off one of Tut's gilded ceremonial shrines -- a piece he had only seen in textbooks. "I studied archaeology because of Tut," Mertah, 36, told AFP. "It was my dream to work on his treasures -- and that dream came true." Mertah is one of more than 150 conservators and 100 archaeologists who have laboured quietly for over a decade to restore thousands of artefacts ahead of the long-awaited opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) -- a $1 billion project on the edge of the Giza Plateau. Originally slated for July 3, the launch has once again been postponed -- now expected in the final months of the year -- due to regional security concerns. The museum's opening has faced delays over the years for various reasons, ranging from political upheaval to the Covid-19 pandemic. But when it finally opens, the GEM will be the world's largest archaeological museum devoted to a single civilisation. It will house more than 100,000 artefacts, with over half on public display, and will include a unique feature: a live conservation lab. From behind glass walls, visitors will be able to watch in real time as experts work over the next three years to restore a 4,500-year-old boat buried near the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu and intended to ferry his soul across the sky with the sun god Ra. But the star of the museum remains King Tut's collection of more than 5,000 objects -- many to be displayed together for the first time. Among them are his golden funeral mask, gilded coffins, golden amulets, beaded collars, ceremonial chariots and two mummified foetuses believed to be his stillborn daughters. 'Puzzle of gold' Many of these treasures have not undergone restoration since British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered them in 1922. The conservation methods used by Carter's team were intended to protect the objects, but over a century later, they have posed challenges for their modern-day successors. Coating gold surfaces in wax, for instance, "preserved the objects at the time", said conservator Hind Bayoumi, "but it then hid the very details we want the world to see". For months, Bayoumi, 39, and her colleagues painstakingly removed the wax applied by British chemist Alfred Lucas, which had over decades trapped dirt and dulled the shine of the gold. Restoration has been a joint effort between Egypt and Japan, which contributed $800 million in loans and provided technical support. Egyptian conservators -- many trained by Japanese experts -- have led cutting-edge work across 19 laboratories covering wood, metal, papyrus, textiles and more. Tut's gilded coffin -- brought from his tomb in Luxor -- proved one of the most intricate jobs. At the GEM's wood lab, conservator Fatma Magdy, 34, used magnifying lenses and archival photos to reassemble its delicate gold sheets. "It was like solving a giant puzzle," she said. "The shape of the break, the flow of the hieroglyphs -- every detail mattered." - Touching history - Before restoration, the Tutankhamun collection was retrieved from several museums and storage sites, including the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, the Luxor Museum and the tomb itself. Some items were given light restoration before their relocation to ensure they could be safely moved. Teams first conducted photographic documentation, X-ray analysis and material testing to understand each item's condition before touching it. "We had to understand the condition of each piece -- the gold layers, the adhesives, wood structure -- everything," said Mertah, who worked on King Tut's ceremonial shrines at the Egyptian Museum. Fragile pieces were stabilised with Japanese tissue paper -- thin but strong -- and adhesives like Paraloid B-72 and Klucel G, both reversible and minimally invasive. The team's guiding philosophy throughout has been one of restraint. "The goal is always to do the least amount necessary -- and to respect the object's history," said Mohamed Moustafa, 36, another senior restorer. Beyond the restoration work, the process has been an emotional journey for many of those involved. "I think we're more excited to see the museum than tourists are," Moustafa said. "When visitors walk through the museum, they'll see the beauty of these artefacts. But for us, every piece is a reminder of the endless working hours, the debates, the trainings." "Every piece tells a story."
India Today
4 days ago
- India Today
Ancient Earth kept boiling for five million years. We now know what happened
Researchers believe they've found the missing piece of the puzzle — and it's rooted in the soil. (Photo: Nasa) CO₂ levels remained sky-high, and so did global temperatures The lessons from 250 million years ago feel eerily relevant Once again, the planet may be approaching a tipping point A new study has shed light on one of Earth's most mysterious climate disasters â€' revealing that the planet remained trapped in extreme heat for millions of years after a mass extinction, largely because the plants didn't grow back fast enough. The event in question is the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction, also known as the 'Great Dying,' which occurred around 252 million years ago and wiped out nearly 90% of life on Earth. Scientists have long linked this catastrophe to massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia that released huge amounts of greenhouse gases, causing runaway global warming. But here's the puzzling part: the extreme heat didn't subside when the eruptions ended. It lingered for five million years. Now, researchers believe they've found the missing piece of the puzzle â€' and it's rooted in the soil. Using fossil records and climate modeling, scientists reconstructed how plant life changed across the globe during and after the extinction. What they discovered was striking: a massive collapse of land vegetation, especially in tropical areas, led to very low carbon absorption by plants. Without enough greenery to pull carbon dioxide out of the air and store it in the ground, CO levels remained sky-high, and so did global temperatures. The study, published in Nature, shows how important plants are in balancing the Earth's climate. The collapse of ecosystems didn't just affect life on land â€' it created a dangerous feedback loop: fewer plants meant more CO in the air, which meant more heat, which made it even harder for plants to recover. 'This ancient climate crisis carries a clear warning,' say scientists. 'When ecosystems collapse, the climate doesn't just bounce back.' As the modern world faces rapid deforestation and rising carbon emissions, the lessons from 250 million years ago feel eerily relevant. Once again, the planet may be approaching a tipping point â€' and what happened in the past could happen again if natural systems that trap carbon are allowed to fail. A new study has shed light on one of Earth's most mysterious climate disasters â€' revealing that the planet remained trapped in extreme heat for millions of years after a mass extinction, largely because the plants didn't grow back fast enough. The event in question is the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction, also known as the 'Great Dying,' which occurred around 252 million years ago and wiped out nearly 90% of life on Earth. Scientists have long linked this catastrophe to massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia that released huge amounts of greenhouse gases, causing runaway global warming. But here's the puzzling part: the extreme heat didn't subside when the eruptions ended. It lingered for five million years. Now, researchers believe they've found the missing piece of the puzzle â€' and it's rooted in the soil. Using fossil records and climate modeling, scientists reconstructed how plant life changed across the globe during and after the extinction. What they discovered was striking: a massive collapse of land vegetation, especially in tropical areas, led to very low carbon absorption by plants. Without enough greenery to pull carbon dioxide out of the air and store it in the ground, CO levels remained sky-high, and so did global temperatures. The study, published in Nature, shows how important plants are in balancing the Earth's climate. The collapse of ecosystems didn't just affect life on land â€' it created a dangerous feedback loop: fewer plants meant more CO in the air, which meant more heat, which made it even harder for plants to recover. 'This ancient climate crisis carries a clear warning,' say scientists. 'When ecosystems collapse, the climate doesn't just bounce back.' As the modern world faces rapid deforestation and rising carbon emissions, the lessons from 250 million years ago feel eerily relevant. Once again, the planet may be approaching a tipping point â€' and what happened in the past could happen again if natural systems that trap carbon are allowed to fail. Join our WhatsApp Channel
NDTV
4 days ago
- NDTV
Ancient DNA Shows Genetic Link Between Egypt And Mesopotamia
Washington: Ancient DNA has revealed a genetic link between the cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Researchers sequenced whole genomes from the teeth of a remarkably well-preserved skeleton found in a sealed funeral pot in an Egyptian tomb site dating to between 4,495 and 4,880 years ago. Four-fifths of the genome showed links to North Africa and the region around Egypt. But a fifth of the genome showed links to the area in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as the Fertile Crescent, where Mesopotamian civilization flourished. "The finding is highly significant" because it "is the first direct evidence of what has been hinted at" in prior work," said Daniel Antoine, curator of Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum. Earlier archeological evidence has shown trade links between Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as similarities in pottery-making techniques and pictorial writing systems. While resemblances in dental structures suggested possible ancestral links, the new study clarifies the genetic ties. The Nile River is "likely to have acted as an ancient superhighway, facilitating the movement of not only cultures and ideas, but people," said Antoine, who was not involved in the study. The skeleton was found in an Egyptian tomb complex at the archaeological site of Nuwayrat, inside a chamber carved out from a rocky hillside. An analysis of wear and tear on the skeleton - and the presence of arthritis in specific joints - indicates the man was likely in his 60s and may have worked as a potter, said co-author and bioarchaeologist Joel Irish of Liverpool John Moores University. The man lived just before or near the start of ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom, when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified as one state, leading to a period of relative political stability and cultural innovation - including the construction of the Giza pyramids. "This is the time that centralized power allowed the formation of ancient Egypt as we know it," said co-author Linus Girdland-Flink, a paleogeneticist at the University of Aberdeen. At approximately the same time, Sumerian city-states took root in Mesopotamia and cuneiform emerged as a writing system. Researchers said analysis of other ancient DNA samples is needed to obtain a clearer picture of the extent and timing of movements between the two cultural centers.
