Provided by Will Dunham
(Reuters) -DNA, derived from a man who lived in ancient Egypt, remains at the time the first pyramids were built, the links between two major cultures of the period were presented, and one fifth of his genetic ancestors were traced to mesopotamia.
Although the conclusions, based on one genome, offer a unique insight into the genetic history of ancient Egyptians – a difficult task, given that the Egyptian hot climate is not favorable for the preservation of DNA.
Researchers extracted DNA from two teeth roots, a part of the man’s skeleton, which were inverted for millennia in a large sealed ceramic vessel located in a rock cut grave. Then they managed to follow his entire genome, the first person who lived in ancient Egypt.
The man lived about 4500-4 800 years ago, said researchers, at the beginning of the welfare and stability period, known as the Old Kingdom, known for the construction of giant pyramids as monumental tombs of Pharaoh.
The ceramic ship was excavated in 1902. At that place, called Nuwayrat near Beni Hassan village, about 170 miles (270 km) south of Cairo. Investigators said that when the man died was around 60, and his skeleton aspects remained the possibility of working as a pot.
The DNA showed that the man came most of the local populations, and about 80% of his ancestors were traced to Egypt or adjacent parts of North Africa. However, about 20% of his ancestors were traced to the ancient Middle East region, known as the fertile crescent, covering Mesopotamia.
“It shows the fundamental genetic relationship between ancient Egypt and the morning fertile crescent,” said ADeline Morez Jacobs, a geneticist from Liverpool in England in England and Francis of the Francis Institute in London, published Wednesday in Nature.
Conclusions are based on archaeological evidence of ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamia-Region, including modern Iraq and Iran and Syria, archaeological evidence.
Third millennium BC. BC. Through Egypt and Mesopotamia, the achievements of writing, architecture, art, religion and technology were at the forefront of human civilization.
Egypt has demonstrated cultural relations with Mesopotamia based on some common artistic motives, architecture and imports such as Lapis Lazuli, The Blue Equatorial Stone, ”the researchers said.
The ceramic circle from Mesopotamia first appeared in Egypt at a time when a man lived, during the period when the earliest pyramids began to rise near the modern Cairo, starting with the Pharaoh Djozer’s step in the pyramid in Saqqaa and later Pharaoh Pyramide Giza.
About 90% of the male skeleton was preserved. It stood about 5 feet-3 (1.59 meters) height, with slender. It also had conditions that meet older ages, such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, as well as a large incurable abscess against dental infection.
“The recovery of ancient DNR from Egyptian remains was extremely difficult due to the hot Egyptian climate, which accelerates DNA degradation when high temperatures have broken down genetic material over time compared to a cooler, a more stable environment,” said Ponts Ponts of Franciscan Krytz Critical Geneticists and Research.
“In this case, the person’s burial in a ceramic pot vessel on a rock-cut grave probably contributed to the unusual DNA preservation in the region,” Skoglund added.
The fact that his burial occurred before the mummification became standard Egyptian practice could help prevent DNA degradation, as its remains were ruthlessly detailed conservation methods.
According to Paleogeneticist and co -author Linus Girdland Flink from the University of Aberdean, Scotland, researchers tried to recover the genomes of ancient Egypt. One of the previous efforts gave a part of the genome of three persons who lived about 1500 years after Nuwayrat man.
Depending on the data of this record, the researchers surprised their success in the male genome.
“Yes, it was a long blow,” Skoglund said.
The man may have worked as a potted pot or trade with similar movements because his bones had muscle marking for a long time to sit with outstretched limbs.
“All indicators correspond to the movements and positions of the potter, as indicated in the images of ancient Egypt,” said Joel Irish, a bioarchist and co-author of the study. “He would have been a high status that would have been buried on a rock -cut grave. It contradicts his difficult physical life and speculation that he was a potter that would usually be in the workers’ class. Perhaps he was a great potter.”
(Will Dunham’s message in Washington, edited by Rosalba O’Brien)