PopGenCT Ancient Egypt

In this project, we aim to investigate the population genetic history of Egypt using ancient DNA (aDNA) analyses. For this, Egyptian mummies and skeletal remains housed in the collections of the Museo Egizio of Turin and the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin will be analyzed. These specimens encompass a time span of about 5000 years (4000 BC - AD 800) and have been recovered from various archaeological sites in Egypt. Thus, the data obtained by this project will, for the first time, cover all periods of ancient Egyptian history as well as a broad geographical context. To all specimens high-throughput sequencing methods, including DNA hybridization capture techniques, will be applied, to reconstruct mitochondrial genomes and, for specimens exhibiting a good DNA preservation, also whole-genome datasets. Thereby, this project will investigate the genetic history of Egypt not only on a uniparental level, based on the maternal lineage, but also on a genome-wide scale.    

Furthermore, in collaboration with the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, some of the mummies will be examined by means of computed tomography (CT) in the framework of a methodological test. In particular, the test aims to assess the applicability of two sex determination methods, the Ischio-Pubic Index (IPI) and the Diagnose Sexuelle Probabiliste (DSP), to CT scans, which will provide further insights into the possibilities and limitations of CT-based examinations of mummified human remains.

Ancient DNA (aDNA) research

Egypt has been home to one of the earliest great human civilizations. Throughout its history spanning several millennia, this civilization had numerous interactions with populations in Africa, Europe, and western Asia, including international trade, military campaigns, foreign invasions, and foreign rule. Apart from cultural influences, these interactions likely also shaped the genetic composition of Egypt’s population and thus make Egypt an interesting setting for population genetic studies.

However, only during the last decade, due to technological improvements, such as the development of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) methods, genetic studies have succeeded in the retrieval and assessment of authentic aDNA obtained from ancient Egyptian mummies and skeletal material. As a result, genetic data for the contemporary population of ancient Egypt remains scarce. In addition, available genome datasets date almost exclusively to periods after the New Kingdom (1550 - 1064 BC), resulting in a lack of information for the older periods of ancient Egyptian history. Furthermore, these datasets have been obtained almost exclusively from a single archaeological site in northern Egypt and may thus not be representative for all of ancient Egypt.

To address these issues, this project will focus on a large-scale genetic study on the collections of the Museo Egizio of Turin and the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, comprising approximately 150 to 200 ancient Egyptian mummies and skeletal remains. A selection of these specimens, encompassing a time span of approximately 5000 years (4000 BC - AD 800) as well as different archaeological finding sites, will be analyzed using HTS methods, including the application of hybridization capture techniques for targeted DNA enrichment. Initial analyses will focus on the enrichment and assessment of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) for the reconstruction of mitochondrial genomes. Afterwards, nuclear DNA enrichments will be applied to specimens exhibiting a good DNA preservation to also reconstruct whole-genome datasets.

Thus, this project will investigate Egypt's population genetic history not only uniparentally, based on the maternal lineage, but also on a genome-wide level. Furthermore, the genomes obtained by this project will expand the pool of currently available datasets and will provide novel information for the older periods of Egypt’s past as well as for a broader geographical context.

Anthropological analysis using CT scans

Computed tomography (CT) constitutes an examination method, which permits the assessment of archaeological remains, for which the bones are not readily accessible (e.g., fully wrapped mummies).

Using methods from physical anthropology it is thus possible to reconstruct an individual’s biological (age at death, sex, stature) and paleopathological profile, without inflicting damage to the investigated specimen. However, it has been shown that the accuracy of anthropological age at death estimation methods, which were developed for dry bones, can decrease upon their application to virtual bone models created from CT scans.

Therefore, the second part of this project aims to investigate the occurrence of similar issues in methods used for sex determination. For this, some of the mummies from the museums’ collections will be examined by means of computed tomography in the framework of a methodological test. This test will be performed in collaboration with our partners at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and will assess the applicability of two sexing methods, the Ischio-Pubic Index (IPI) and the Diagnose Sexuelle Probabiliste (DSP), to CT scans of ancient Egyptian mummies.

Thereby, this study will provide further insights into the possibilities and limitations of CT-based studies on mummified human remains.

Related research projects

The population genetic study as well as the methodological test performed within this project constitute an addition to the interdisciplinary scientific investigation of the collections of the Museo Egizio of Turin and the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in the framework of the “Mummy Atherosclerosis” project and the “ME Torino Mummy Project”. Thus, the present study can not only benefit from the material (sample material for the genetic analysis, CT scans) and information (e.g., radiocarbon dates) obtained by the other projects, but will in turn also provide additional insights to the investigation of the museums’ collections.