This discovery has uncovered a mystery about11years ago. The mystery began in 1907, when the two mummies were excavated in the village of Delf, 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Cairo. These two mummies are considered to be descended from aristocrats. According to their luxurious tomb objects and the elite status of the tombs, the female name "Khnum Aa" is written on the coffin.
Khnum Aa was called their mother, but the research in the following years could not confirm this. Now, by analyzing the DNA extracted from the mummy's teeth, the researchers confirmed that the two ancient Egyptians had the same mother, but different fathers. [Photo: Ancient Egyptian woman in coffin 3800 years ago]
"This is an extremely rare case, perhaps unique. In this case, we can use hieroglyphics to test the ancient matriarchal relationship and the bodies of relevant individuals, "Campbell Price, co-author of the study, told the reporter of Life Science, who is the curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.
Are they brothers? "The two mummies, named Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht, lived in the 12 dynasty from 65438 BC to 773 BC. Although Knut Anhe was at least 20 years older than the date written on their bandages, Namnut died around the age of 40, six months before his brother. " The analysis shows that the fathers of these people have no names in the inscriptions and are called local rulers. With few other clues, the researchers tried various techniques to determine whether these mummies were really brothers.
Margaret Murray and her colleagues untied the mummy of Nacht Anke who was sent from Egypt to Manchester in 1908. For example, Margaret Murray and her colleagues studied the mummy 1908 when it was brought to Manchester University. After studying the anatomical structure of the mummy's skull and corpse, they came to the conclusion that the two mummies were not related by blood. In the 1970s, researchers examined the skin pigmentation of mummies and reached the same conclusion. "The previous analysis was uncertain and not contradictory," Price said. Until now, technology has developed to the point where this kind of research can be carried out.
Only DNA analysis can solve the mystery. The researchers extracted DNA from two molars of each mummy. However, the DNA quality of Khnum-Nakht was so poor that researchers had to extract the third molar from him. (Khnum Nakht may have died unexpectedly because his mummy was not eviscerated-that is, his organs were not removed-and the mummy was in a worse condition than Nakht Ankh, the researchers said. )
Then, the researchers analyzed mitochondrial DNA (genetic material inherited from mother) and Y chromosome DNA (genetic material inherited from father).
"These two mummies have the same mitochondrial characteristics, [so] we can confirm that they are matriarchal," Konstantina Drosu, the chief researcher of the study and research assistant of Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, told Life Science. For Y chromosome, because there is only one copy of Y chromosome in each cell, the result is incomplete, and there are multiple copies of mitochondrial DNA in each cell. Father.
This study was published in the February/kloc-0 issue of the Journal of Archaeology Science: Report.
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