Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Health → Genetics

DNA study shows 4,000 year-old mummies are half brothers

The Two Brothers turned out to be, in fact, brothers. But it wasn't an easy feat.

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
January 17, 2018
in Archaeology, Genetics

A genetic analysis has revealed that two mummies named “The Two Brothers” are, in fact, brothers. The two mummies were buried some 3,800 years ago and stirred quite a debate.

The tomb of the ‘mummy brothers’. Site map showing the burial location with a diagram of the tomb and the burial of the two coffined mummies in situ. On the right are the inner coffins of Nakht-Ankh (above) and Khnum-Nakht (below). Credits: Drosou et al (2018) / Journal of Archaeological Science.

In 1907, Sir Flinders Petrie, a well-known Egyptologist, uncovered a rather unusual burial chamber. The burial chamber hosted not one, but two individuals. In a small chamber placed within the courtyard of a bigger tomb, Petrie found four coffins: two for the human bodies, and another two inner anthropoid coffins for each. He also uncovered a canopic box with four canopic vessels as well as three statuettes of the tomb owners, some wooden models of servants, models of boats and some pottery vessels.

The entire complex was moved to Manchester in 1908, where it has resided ever since at the Manchester Museum. But anthropologists had a puzzling question they couldn’t answer: were the two actually brothers?

Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the coffins indicated that the two people were Khnum-nakht and Nakht-ankh, the sons of a local governor. Not long after they were brought in, both men were unwrapped by the UK’s first professional female Egyptologist, Dr. Margaret Murray. Murray concluded that the skeletal morphologies of the two were quite different — different enough to say that they’re not related. She concluded that one of them must have been adopted.

The two mummies, side by side. DNA was extracted from the teeth, which were checked to see if they were firmly attached to the skeleton. The mummies suffered no damage in the process. Image credits: Museum of Manchester.

So for the longest time, the Two Brothers were actually thought to be not brothers — not biological brothers, in any case. With no way to solve this problem, the issue was simply dropped until the advent of DNA sampling. In 2015, ‘ancient DNA’ was extracted from their teeth to solve the mystery and now, the results are finally in.

Analysis revealed that both of them belonged to mitochondrial haplotype M1a1, which indicates that they had the same mother. However, the Y chromosome sequences (which were less complete) indicated significant differences between the two, which likely means that they had different fathers. The results were confirmed by several independent laboratories and researchers by only analyzing teeth firmly embedded in their sockets to ensure that they belonged to the correct individual.

The presence of identical mtDNA indicates that Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht had a maternal relationship, consistent of a shared mother or perhaps a more distant kinship relationship such as cousins or uncle-nephew. So there was some truth to their different physiologies, but the two were still related — probably half-brothers. Dr. Konstantina Drosou, of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester who conducted the DNA sequencing, said:

“It was a long and exhausting journey to the results but we are finally here. I am very grateful we were able to add a small but very important piece to the big history puzzle and I am sure the brothers would be very proud of us. These moments are what make us believe in ancient DNA. ”

The study, which is being published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, is one of the first to successfully use the typing of both mitochondrial and Y chromosomal DNA in Egyptian mummies. Unfortunately, placing the finding into a broader context is impossible, as this is the only example of two men buried together in an intact Pharaonic tomb. It might be an indication of polyandry (polygamy in which a woman has more than one husband) happening in Ancient Egypt, but at this point, it’s simply impossible to tell.

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Where are all the mummies? 2 out of 3 animal mummies don’t have an animal inside
  2. First DNA analysis of mummies shows ancient and modern Egyptians don’t really have much in common anymore
  3. 8,000-year-old skeletons in Portugal could be world’s oldest mummies
  4. There are over 20,000,000,000,000,000 ants – and they weigh more than wild birds and mammals combined
  5. Study that looked at 409 pairs of Gay Brothers confirms Chromosome X link to Homosexuality
Tags: archaeologyEgyptmummy

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW