Ancient Egyptian Genome Fully Sequenced for the First Time!

07/02/2025 Science

For the first time, scientists have managed to decode the complete genetic code of an ancient Egyptian! This person lived a long, long time ago - roughly 4,500 to 4,800 years ago.

A team of clever researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and Liverpool John Moores University pulled this off, and they've shared their findings in a journal called Nature. Basically, this ancient guy's family tree points back to people from both North Africa and West Asia. It gives us a better understanding of how diverse the early Egyptians were.

People have been trying to get DNA from ancient Egyptians for decades, around forty years, actually. But DNA breaks down over time, which made it super hard. Before now, scientists could only get pieces of the genetic puzzle from three ancient Egyptians. Thankfully, because of new technology, they were able to put together a full genetic picture using DNA from a tooth.

As one of the study's co-authors, Adeline Morez Jacobs, mentioned, putting together all the clues they got from this guy's DNA, bones, and teeth helped them create a pretty detailed picture. Hopefully, more DNA samples from ancient Egypt can help them figure out when exactly this movement from West Asia started.

This particular individual lived during the 3rd or 4th Dynasties, which was a big time for building and innovation. He was buried in a clay box inside a tomb in a village called Nuwayrat, which is a bit south of Cairo.

Since he was buried before they started using mummification a lot, his DNA was in better shape than others from later on. Mummification can mess up DNA. His skeleton was dug up way back in 1902 and has been chilling at the World Museum Liverpool ever since.

The researchers looked at his skeleton to guess things like his gender, age, height, and what he did for a living. Apparently, he might have been a potter or something similar, because his bones showed he spent a lot of time sitting with his legs stretched out.

Archaeological finds have already suggested that ancient Egyptians traded and had connections with people in the Fertile Crescent (that's part of West Asia). They've found similar objects, writings, and designs in both places. Now, we have genetic proof to back that up.

The researchers discovered that about 80% of this guy's genetic roots came from people in North Africa. The other 20% connects to ancient people who lived in Mesopotamia, which is now the Middle East. However, they remind us that this is just one person, and he might not represent all ancient Egyptians.

Linus Girdland Flink, another co-author, pointed out that this guy has had quite the journey. He lived during a crucial time of change in ancient Egypt, and his skeleton survived bombings during World War II. Now, they've been able to tell a part of his story, which I think is pretty amazing!