An ancient Egyptian genome has finally been unraveled after four decades of study, thanks to a sample collected from a mummy dating back to the time of the first pyramids.
The achievement marks the first complete sequencing of a genome of such antiquity collected from the region. The genetic data revealed information about the movement of people over millennia, as 80% of the individual’s DNA corresponds to ancient North Africans, while 20% is related to ancient West Asians.
The remains reveal a story of a hard life of manual labor, lived by an individual who possibly belonged to an ancient Egyptian pottery community.
A Decades-Long Genetic Quest
Forty years ago, Svante Pääbo, a Nobel Prize-winning Swedish geneticist, conducted the first successful extraction of ancient Egyptian DNA, although his work only resulted in a partial sequence. Now, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) have conducted the first complete sequencing after working with the oldest Egyptian DNA sample ever collected.
“Forty years have passed since the early pioneering attempts to retrieve DNA from mummies without successful sequencing of an ancient Egyptian genome,” said co-author Pontus Skoglund, Group Leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute. “Ancient Egypt is a place of extraordinary written history and archaeology, but challenging DNA preservation has meant that no genomic record of ancestry in early Egypt has been available for comparison.”
“Building on this past research, new and powerful genetic techniques have allowed us to cross these technical boundaries and rule out contaminating DNA, providing the first genetic evidence for potential movements of people in Egypt at this time,” Skoglund added.
Cultural Transmission in Ancient Egypt
“Piecing together all the clues from this individual’s DNA, bones, and teeth have allowed us to build a comprehensive picture,” said lead author Adeline Morez Jacobs. “We hope that future DNA samples from ancient Egypt can expand on when precisely this movement from West Asia started.”
The samples’ mix of West Asian DNA isn’t surprising, given the archaeological evidence for the exchange of writing systems and pottery between Egypt and the Fertile Crescent, which comprises modern-day countries such as Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and other neighboring countries.
While this enhances the archaeological evidence for the movement and interactions of ancient peoples in the region, many more samples will be needed to develop a truly comprehensive understanding.
The Oldest Egyptian DNA Sample Ever Collected
The sample came from the tooth of a person buried about 165 miles south of Cairo, in the village of Nuwayrat. Sometime during the transition period between the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods, the body was interred in a ceramic pot within a hillside tomb.
Laid to rest in a time preceding artificial mummification practices, the lack of preservation techniques used in this case could actually be the reason the DNA remained so well preserved.
“This individual has been on an extraordinary journey,” said co-author Linus Girdland Flink, LJMU Visiting Researcher. “He lived and died during a critical period of change in ancient Egypt, and his skeleton was excavated in 1902 and donated to World Museum Liverpool, where it then survived bombings during the Blitz that destroyed most of the human remains in their collection.”
“We’ve now been able to tell part of the individual’s story, finding that some of his ancestry came from the Fertile Crescent, highlighting mixture between groups at this time,” Flink added.
Clues to the Ancient Egyptian Way of Life
Beyond the genetic evidence, the researchers gained valuable insights into this individual by analyzing the chemistry of their teeth. The analysis suggested that he had likely grown up in Egypt, rather than immigrating to the region at a later time, based on inferences about the individual’s diet and environment that the team was able to make.
Taking his entire skeleton into account revealed much more information concerning the individual, including their sex, age, height, ancestry, and lifestyle. Careful investigation of the bones identified muscle markings consistent with sitting for extended periods with his limbs outstretched, resembling the behavior expected of a potter or similar trade.
“Though circumstantial these clues point towards pottery, including use of a pottery wheel, which arrived in Egypt around the same time,” explained second author Joel Irish, LJMU Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology.
“That said, his higher-class burial is not expected for a potter, who would not normally receive such treatment,” Irish added. “Perhaps he was exceptionally skilled or successful to advance his social status.”
The new research paper, “Whole-Genome Ancestry of an Old Kingdom Egyptian,” appeared on July 2, 2025, in Nature.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.