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Egypt Independent
6 hours ago
- Science
- Egypt Independent
The first genome sequenced from ancient Egypt reveals surprising ancestry, scientists say
CNN — In a long-sought first, researchers have sequenced the entire genome of an ancient Egyptian person, revealing unprecedented insight about the ancestry of a man who lived during the time when the first pyramids were built. The man, whose remains were found buried in a sealed clay pot in Nuwayrat, a village south of Cairo, lived sometime between 4,500 and 4,800 years ago, which makes his DNA the oldest ancient Egyptian sample yet extracted. The researchers concluded that 80 percent of his genetic material came from ancient people in North Africa while 20 percent traced back to people in West Asia and the Mesopotamia region. Their findings, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, offer new clues to suggest there were ancient cultural connections between ancient Egypt and societies within the Fertile Crescent, an area that includes modern-day Iraq (once known as Mesopotamia), Iran and Jordan. While scientists have suspected these connections, before now the only evidence for them was archaeological, rather than genetic. The scientists also studied the man's skeleton to determine more about his identity and found extensive evidence of hard labor over the course of a long life. 'Piecing together all the clues from this individual's DNA, bones and teeth have allowed us to build a comprehensive picture,' said lead study author Dr. Adeline Morez Jacobs, visiting research fellow at England's Liverpool John Moores University, in a statement. 'We hope that future DNA samples from ancient Egypt can expand on when precisely this movement from West Asia started.' Pottery and other artifacts have suggested that Egyptians may have traded goods and knowledge across neighboring regions, but genetic evidence of just how closely different ancient civilizations mingled has been harder to pin down because conditions such as heat and humidity quickly degrade DNA, according to the study authors. This man's remains, however, were unusually well-preserved in their burial container, and the scientists were able to extract DNA from one of the skeleton's teeth. While the findings only capture the genetic background of one person, experts said additional work could help answer an enduring question about the ancestry of the first Egyptians who lived at the beginning of the longest-lasting known civilization. A pottery vessel containing the man's remains was discovered in 1902. Garstang Museum of Archaeology, University of Liverpool Decoding a DNA puzzle Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo, who won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2022 for sequencing the first Neanderthal genome, made pioneering attempts 40 years ago to extract and study DNA from ancient Egyptian remains, but he was unable to sequence a genome. Poor DNA preservation consistently posed an obstacle. Since then, the genomes of three ancient Egyptian people have been only partially sequenced by researchers using 'target-enriched sequencing' to focus on specific markers of interest in the specimens' DNA. The remains used in that work date back to a more recent time in Egyptian history, from 787 BC to AD 23. It was ultimately improvements in technology over the past decade that paved the way for the authors of the new study to finally sequence an entire ancient Egyptian genome. 'The technique we used for this study is generally referred to as 'shotgun sequencing,' which means we sequence all DNA molecules isolated from the teeth, giving us coverage across the whole genome,' wrote study coauthor Dr. Linus Girdland-Flink, a lecturer in biomolecular archaeology at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, in an email. 'Our approach means that any future researcher can access the whole genome we published to find additional information. This also means there is no need to return to this individual for additional sampling of bone or tooth material.' The man, who died during a time of transition between Egypt's Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods, was not mummified before burial because it was not yet standard practice — and that likely preserved his DNA, the researchers said. 'It may have been a lucky circumstance — perhaps we found the needle in the haystack,' Girdland-Flink said. 'But I think we will see additional genomes published from ancient Egypt over the coming years, possibly from individuals buried in ceramic pots.' While Egypt's overall climate is hot, the region has relatively stable temperatures, a key factor for long-term genetic preservation, Girdland-Flink said. That climate, the clay pot used for burial and the rock tomb it was placed in all played a role in preventing the man's DNA from deteriorating, he said. The clay pot was found inside a tomb cut into the rock at Nuwayrat, south of Cairo. Garstang Museum of Archaeology, University of Liverpool Tracing unique ancestry For their analysis, the researchers took small samples of the root tips of one of the man's teeth. They analyzed the cementum, a dental tissue that locks the teeth into the jaw, because it is an excellent tool for DNA preservation, Girdland-Flink said. Of the seven DNA extracts taken from the tooth, two were preserved enough to be sequenced. Then, the scientists compared the ancient Egyptian genome with those of more than 3,000 modern people and 805 ancient individuals, according to the study authors. Chemical signals called isotopes in the man's tooth recorded information about the environment where he grew up and the diet he consumed as a child as his teeth grew. The results were consistent with a childhood spent in the hot, dry climate of the Nile Valley, consuming wheat, barley, animal protein and plants associated with Egypt. But 20 percent of the man's ancestry best matches older genomes from Mesopotamia, suggesting that the movement of people into Egypt at some point may have been fairly substantial, Girdland-Flink. Dental anthropologist and study coauthor Joel Irish also took forensic measurements of the man's teeth and cranium, which matched best with a Western Asian individual. Irish is a professor in the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University. The study provides a glimpse into a crucial time and place for which there haven't been samples before, according to Iosif Lazaridis, a research associate in the department of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University. Lazaridis was not involved with the new study but has done research on ancient DNA samples from Mesopotamia and the Levant, the eastern Mediterranean area that includes modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and parts of Turkey. The remains are now kept at World Museum Liverpool. Garstang Museum of Archaeology, University of Liverpool Researchers have long questioned whether the Egyptians from the beginnings of the Dynastic civilization were indigenous North Africans or Levantine, Lazaridis said. 'What this sample does tell us is that at such an early date there were people in Egypt that were mostly North African in ancestry, but with some contribution of ancestry from Mesopotamia,' Lazaridis said. 'This makes perfect sense geographically.' Lazaridis said he hopes it's the beginning of more research on Egypt, acknowledging that while mummification helped preserve soft tissue in mummies, the chemical treatments used in the mummification process were not ideal for ancient DNA preservation. 'I think it is now shown that it is feasible to extract DNA from people from the beginnings of Egyptian civilization and the genetic history of Egypt can now begin to be written,' he said. A mysterious burial By studying the man's skeleton, the team was able to determine that he was just over 5 feet tall and between 44 and 64 years old, likely closer to the end of that range — 'which is incredibly old for that time period, probably like 80s would be today,' Irish said. Genetic analysis suggests he had brown eyes and hair and dark skin. And his bones told another tale: just how hard he labored in life, which seems at odds with the ceremonial way he was buried within the ceramic vessel. Indications of arthritis and osteoporosis were evident in his bones, while features within the back of his skull and vertebra showed he was looking down and leaning forward for much of his lifetime, Irish said. Muscle markings show he was holding his arms out in front of him for extended periods of time and carrying heavy materials. The sit bones of his pelvis were also incredibly inflated, which occurs when someone sits on a hard surface over decades. There were also signs of substantial arthritis within his right foot. Irish looked over ancient Egyptian imagery of different occupations, including pottery making, masonry, soldering, farming and weaving, to figure out how the man might have spent his time. 'Though circumstantial these clues point towards pottery, including use of a pottery wheel, which arrived in Egypt around the same time,' Irish said. 'That said, his higher-class burial is not expected for a potter, who would not normally receive such treatment. Perhaps he was exceptionally skilled or successful to advance his social status.' Before the pottery wheel and writing systems were shared between cultures, domesticated plants and animals spread across the Fertile Crescent and Egypt in the sixth millennium BC, as societies transitioned from being hunter-gatherers to living in permanent settlements. Now, the study team wonders whether human migrations were also part of that shift. Additional ancient genomes from Egypt, Africa and the Fertile Crescent could supply answers about who lived where and when. 'This is just one piece of the puzzle that is human genetic variation: each person who ever lived — and their genome — represents a unique piece in that puzzle,' Girdland-Flink said in an email. 'While we will never be able to sequence everyone's genome, my hope is that we can gather enough diverse samples from around the world to accurately reconstruct the key events in human history that have shaped who we are today.' 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Metro
3 days ago
- Science
- Metro
How one skeleton upended how historians view Ancient Egypt
A skeleton found in a 4,500-year-old ceramic pot has rewritten the history of Ancient Egypt. A DNA test on the man's bones has upended how historians could view the rise of Ancient Egyptian civilisation. The skeleton, found 165 miles south of Cairo at Nuwayrat, belongs to a 60-year-old potter who lived between 2855–2570 BC. However, researchers have revealed that a fifth of his DNA came from ancestors living 9,000 miles away in Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq. It is the first direct evidence that the two legendary cultures influenced each other through migration as far back as 10,000 years ago. Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC, when people began to farm and domesticate animals. This led to the formation of an agricultural society. Egyptologists had theorised that this revolution contributed to similar development in Egypt, with this DNA now proving their case. This is because it shows migration from West Asia towards Egypt, meaning information could have been passed on when migrants arrived at the Nile. This new information could explain how Egypt went from simple farming communities to becoming one of the most powerful civilisations on Earth. Adeline Morez Jacobs, who analysed the remains as part of her PhD at Liverpool John Moores University, told BBC News: 'You have two regions developing the first writing systems, so archaeologists believe that they were in contact and exchanging ideas. Now we have the evidence that they were. 'We hope that future DNA samples from Ancient Egypt can expand on when precisely this movement from West Asia started and its extent.' While researchers did caution that this study only considered the case of one man, who could have been an anomaly due to his high-status burial, they say their findings support other evidence that Mesopotamian culture had reached Egypt, likely through migration. Egypt specialists have unearthed a lot more information about this Egyptian potter than just his migrant heritage. Despite his job, his body was placed in a large pot inside a rock-cut tomb, usually reserved for the Egyptian upper class. This burial, which took place before mummification was the norm, likely helped preserve his DNA, which was taken from bone in his inner ear. He is predicted to have had brown eyes, brown hair and dark to black skin and was 5ft 2in (1.57m). The Nuwayrat man also lived to an advanced old age, with his worn teeth and osteoarthritis indicating he could have died as late as 64 years. Experts believe certain skeletal features point to his work as a potter, including an enlarged hook-shaped bone at the back of his skull, meaning he looked down a lot. Professor Joel Irish at Liverpool John Moores University said: 'He worked his tail off. He's worked his entire life. 'What I wanted to do was to find out who this guy was, learn as much about him as possible. What his age was, his stature was, what he did for a living and to try and personalise the whole thing rather than treat him as a cold specimen.' More Trending The Nuwayrat man's life also coincided with the beginning of the legendary Old Kingdom in Egypt's history, which witnessed the building of the 'Great Pyramid of Giza' by King Khufu. The ability of scientists to extract and read DNA from ancient bones could trigger a wave of discoveries about Ancient Egypt. Prof Pontus Skoglund at the Francis Crick Institute explained: 'If we get more DNA information and put it side by side with what we know from archaeological, cultural, and written information we have from the time, it will be very exciting.' It also allows experts to look at history from the perspective of ordinary people, through written records from rich and powerful people. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Man stabbed through armour during historic re-enactment gone wrong MORE: Cabin crew calls on passengers to subdue air rage woman demanding upgrade MORE: Moment cargo ship crashes into Suez Canal port as workers flee
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Science
- TimesLIVE
Ancient Egyptian man's genome reveals his society's cross-cultural ties
DNA obtained from the remains of a man who lived in ancient Egypt about the time the first pyramids were built is providing evidence of the ties between two great cultures of the period, with a fifth of his genetic ancestry traced to Mesopotamia. Though based on a single genome, the findings offer unique insight into the genetic history of ancient Egyptians — a difficult task considering that Egypt's hot climate is not conducive to DNA preservation. The researchers extracted DNA from the roots of two teeth, part of the man's skeletal remains that had been interred for millennia inside a large sealed ceramic vessel in a rock-cut tomb. They then managed to sequence his whole genome, a first for any person who lived in ancient Egypt. The man lived about 4,500-4,800 years ago, the researchers said, about the beginning of a period of prosperity and stability called the Old Kingdom, known for the construction of immense pyramids as monumental pharaonic tombs. The ceramic vessel was excavated in 1902 at a site called Nuwayrat near the village of Beni Hassan, about 270km south of Cairo. The researchers said the man was about 60 years old when he died and aspects of his skeletal remains hinted at the possibility that he had worked as a potter. The DNA showed the man descended mostly from local populations, with about 80% of his ancestry traced to Egypt or adjacent parts of North Africa. But about 20% of his ancestry was traced to a region of the ancient Near East called the Fertile Crescent that included Mesopotamia. 'This suggests substantial genetic connections between ancient Egypt and the eastern Fertile Crescent,' said population geneticist Adeline Morez Jacobs of Liverpool John Moores University in England and the Francis Crick Institute in London, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. The findings build on the archaeological evidence of trade and cultural exchanges between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, a region spanning modern-day Iraq and parts of Iran and Syria. During the third millennium BCE, Egypt and Mesopotamia were at the vanguard of human civilisation, with achievements in writing, architecture, art, religion and technology. Egypt showed cultural connections with Mesopotamia, based on some shared artistic motifs, architecture and imports such as lapis lazuli, the blue semi-precious stone, the researchers said. The pottery wheel from Mesopotamia first appeared in Egypt at about the time the man lived, a period when the earliest pyramids began to spring up near modern-day Cairo, starting with the Step Pyramid of the pharaoh Djoser at Saqqara and later the Great Pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu at Giza. About 90% of the man's skeleton was preserved. He stood about 1.59m tall, with a slender build. He also had conditions consistent with older age such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, as well as a large unhealed abscess from tooth infection. 'Ancient DNA recovery from Egyptian remains has been exceptionally challenging due to Egypt's hot climate that accelerates DNA degradation, with high temperatures breaking down genetic material over time compared with cooler, more stable environments,' Francis Crick Institute population geneticist and study co-author Pontus Skoglund said. 'In this case, the individual's burial in a ceramic pot vessel within a rock-cut tomb probably contributed to the unusual DNA preservation for the region,' Skoglund added. That his burial occurred before mummification became standard practice in Egypt may have helped avoid DNA degradation because his remains were spared elaborate preservation techniques. Scientists have struggled to recover ancient Egyptian genomes, according to paleogeneticist and study co-author Linus Girdland Flink of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. One previous effort yielded partial genome sequencing of three individuals who lived about 1,500 years after the Nuwayrat man. Given the track record, the researchers were surprised with their success in sequencing the man's genome. 'Yeah, it was a long shot,' Skoglund said. The man may have worked as a potter or in a trade with similar movements because his bones had muscle markings from sitting for long periods with outstretched limbs. 'All indicators are consistent with movements and positions of a potter, as indicated in ancient Egyptian imagery,' said bioarcheologist and study co-author Joel Irish. 'He would have been of high status to have been buried in a rock-cut tomb. This conflicts with his hard physical life and conjecture that he was a potter, which would ordinarily have been working class. Perhaps he was an excellent potter.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Ancient Egyptians had surprising FOREGIN roots: Scientists sequence the DNA of a man who lived 4,800 years ago – revealing a genetic link to the Mesopotamia culture
It's widely considered one of the cradles of civilisation. But a new study has revealed that people living in ancient Egypt may actually have had foreign roots. Scientists have sequenced the DNA of a man who lived in ancient Egypt between 4,495 and 4,880 years ago. Their analysis reveals a genetic link to the Mesopotamia culture - a civilisation that flourished in ancient Iraq and the surrounding regions. The team, from Liverpool John Moores University, was able extract DNA from the man's teeth, which had been preserved alongside his skeleton in a sealed funeral pot in Nuwayrat. 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. 'This suggests substantial genetic connections between ancient Egypt and the eastern Fertile Crescent,' said Adeline Morez Jacobs, lead author of the study. Although based on a single genome, the findings offer unique insight into the genetic history of ancient Egyptians - a difficult task considering that Egypt's hot climate is not conducive to DNA preservation. The researchers extracted DNA from the roots of two teeth, part of the man's skeletal remains that had been interred for millennia inside a large sealed ceramic vessel within a rock-cut tomb. They then managed to sequence his whole genome, a first for any person who lived in ancient Egypt. The man lived roughly 4,500-4,800 years ago, the researchers said, around the beginning of a period of prosperity and stability called the Old Kingdom, known for the construction of immense pyramids as monumental pharaonic tombs. The ceramic vessel was excavated in 1902 at a site called Nuwayrat near the village of Beni Hassan, approximately 170 miles (270 km) south of Cairo. The researchers said the man was about 60 years old when he died, and that aspects of his skeletal remains hinted at the possibility that he had worked as a potter. The DNA showed that the man descended mostly from local populations, with about 80 per cent of his ancestry traced to Egypt or adjacent parts of North Africa. But about 20 per cent of his ancestry was traced to a region of the ancient Near East called the Fertile Crescent that included Mesopotamia. The findings build on the archaeological evidence of trade and cultural exchanges between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, a region spanning modern-day Iraq and parts of Iran and Syria. During the third millennium BC, Egypt and Mesopotamia were at the vanguard of human civilization, with achievements in writing, architecture, art, religion and technology. Egypt showed cultural connections with Mesopotamia, based on some shared artistic motifs, architecture and imports like lapis lazuli, the blue semiprecious stone, the researchers said. The pottery wheel from Mesopotamia first appeared in Egypt at about the time the man lived, a period when the earliest pyramids began to spring up near modern-day Cairo, starting with the Step Pyramid of the pharaoh Djoser at Saqqara and later the Great Pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu at Giza. About 90 per cent of the man's skeleton was preserved. He stood about 5-foot-3 (1.59 meters) tall, with a slender build. He also had conditions consistent with older age such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, as well as a large unhealed abscess from tooth infection. 'Ancient DNA recovery from Egyptian remains has been exceptionally challenging due to Egypt's hot climate that accelerates DNA degradation, with high temperatures breaking down genetic material over time compared to cooler, more stable environments,' study co-author Pontus Skoglund said. 'In this case, the individual's burial in a ceramic pot vessel within a rock-cut tomb likely contributed to the unusual DNA preservation for the region.' The fact that his burial occurred before mummification became standard practice in Egypt may have helped avoid DNA degradation because his remains were spared elaborate preservation techniques. Scientists have struggled to recover ancient Egyptian genomes, according to paleogeneticist and study co-author Linus Girdland Flink of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. One previous effort yielded partial genome sequencing of three individuals who lived some 1,500 years after the Nuwayrat man. Given the track record, the researchers were surprised with their success in sequencing the man's genome. 'Yeah, it was a long shot,' Skoglund said. The man may have worked as a potter or in a trade with similar movements because his bones had muscle markings from sitting for long periods with outstretched limbs. 'All indicators are consistent with movements and positions of a potter, as indicated in ancient Egyptian imagery,' said bioarcheologist and study co-author Joel Irish. 'He would have been of high status to have been buried in a rock-cut tomb. 'This conflicts with his hard physical life and conjecture that he was a potter, which would ordinarily have been working class. Perhaps he was an excellent potter.' Mesopotamia is known as the 'cradle of civilization', but what made it so great? A historical area of the Middle-East that spans most of what is now known as Iraq but also stretched to include parts of Syria and Turkey. The term 'Mesopotamia' comes from Greek, meaning 'between two rivers'. The two rivers that the name refers to are the Tigris river and the Euphrates. Unlike many other empires (such as the Greeks and the Romans) Mesopotamia consisted of several different cultures and groups. Mesopotamia should be more properly understood as a region that produced multiple empires and civilizations rather than any single civilization. Mesopotamia is known as the 'cradle of civilization' primarily because of two developments: the invention of the 'city' as we know it today and the invention of writing. Thought to be responsible for many early developments, it is also credited with the invention of the wheel. They also gave the world the first mass domestication of animals, cultivated great swathes of land and invented tools and weaponry. As well as these practical developments, the region saw the birth of wine, beer and demarcation of time into hours, minutes, and seconds. It is thought that the fertile land between the two rivers allowed hunter-gathers a a comfortable existence which led to the agricultural revolution. A common thread throughout the area was the equal treatment of women.
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Science
- Boston Globe
What 4,000-year-old DNA revealed about how ancient societies interacted
'This finding was quite interesting because we actually know from archaeology that the Egyptian and the eastern-Persian cultures influenced each other for millennia,' Adeline Morez Jacobs, lead author of the new study, said in a media briefing. They shared domesticated animal farming practices and writing systems, for instance. But we now know that 'below the network of ideas was a complex network of people moving and intermixing with the local population,' said Jacobs, a researcher at Liverpool John Moores University and the Francis Crick Institute. Advertisement While artifacts have provided a general understanding of Egyptian life, genetic analysis has been scarce. One big issue has been heat degrading many DNA samples. Due to poor DNA preservation, only three ancient Egyptian individuals have had their genomes partially sequenced. Those samples were also more recent, dating more than 1,000 years after this one. Now, with improved technology, scientists were able to analyze the full genome of a man buried in Nuwayrat village, about 165 miles south of Cairo, who was excavated more than 100 years ago and then housed at the World Museum Liverpool. Researchers were able to glean details about life for someone outside of royalty - although a laborer, the man had the more elaborate burial of someone in a higher social class, which probably helped preserve the DNA. Advertisement 'It's only over the past 10 to 15 years … we've really learned how to take really minute samples from ancient skeletons [to] maximize our chance of retrieving DNA,' Linus Girdland-Flink, a coauthor and archaeogeneticist at the University of Aberdeen, said in the briefing. The remains were found in a pottery vessel placed inside a rock-cut tomb (before widespread artificial mummification), which probably kept the DNA unusually well-preserved at a stable temperature. The team analyzed his dental tissue, which locks the teeth into the jaw, a location that is particularly good at preserving DNA. Radiocarbon dating indicated he probably lived between 2855 and 2570 BC - during an interesting shift in Egyptian history. Upper and Lower Egypt were united a few centuries earlier, followed by a major leap in centralized rule and architecture. The beginning of this golden age of innovation, known as the Old Kingdom, marked notable pyramid construction, including the first step-pyramid complex of King Djoser and the Great Pyramid of Giza. 'This genome allows us, for the first time, to get insights into the genetic ancestry of an ancient Egyptian individual from the Old Kingdom period,' Jacobs said. The researchers took seven DNA extracts from the man, two of which were preserved well enough to be fully sequenced. They analyzed and compared those samples to a library of 3,233 present-day and 805 ancient individuals. Advertisement The team found 80 percent of the genome was linked to individuals in North Africa, suggesting mainly an emergence from the local population, Jacobs said. The remaining 20 percent of his ancestry could be traced to people in the eastern Fertile Crescent, particularly Mesopotamia (roughly modern-day Iraq). The findings provide 'genetic evidence that people moved into Egypt and mixed with local populations at this time, which was previously only visible in archaeological [artifacts],' according to a news release from the Francis Crick Institute. The study focused only on one man, and scientists acknowledged more individual genome sequences would need to be analyzed for a complete picture of Egyptian ancestry at that time DNA analysis even further back - before the introduction of agriculture in Egypt - could help pinpoint when the ancestry began spreading beyond the local population, said Harald Ringbauer, a population geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, who was not involved in the study. 'That would help resolve whether the Levantine-like ancestry component spread with the adoption of farming - or has deeper roots in North East Africa,' Ringbauer said in an email. Still, the man who is the focus of the study is intriguing on his own. Analyzing the skeleton, the researchers could tell he lived to a relatively old age for that time - potentially in his mid-60s. That would be the equivalent of someone living into their 80s today, said coauthor Joel Irish. Features on his skull and pelvis indicated arthritis and a high degree of osteoporosis in his bones. From the back of his skull and vertebrae, the researchers determined that he looked down and leaned forward a lot in his lifetime. Muscle markings on his arms and shoulders show that he was holding his arms in front of him for long periods of time, along with evidence of squatting on his ankles - probably placing him as a potter. Advertisement But his burial would be unusual for a potter. This manner - in the rock-cut tomb and a large pottery vessel - is typically reserved for someone in the upper class. 'That's interesting because it's also at odds with the fact that he had an incredibly hard physical life,' Irish, a dental anthropologist at Liverpool John Moores University, said in the briefing. Other researchers said the findings were a significant step forward in ancient-DNA analysis and our understanding of Egyptian history. For instance, royal dynasties were shown to have rather limited gene pools because of their high inbreeding, said Yehia Gad, emeritus professor of molecular genetics at National Research Center in Egypt, who was not involved in the research.
