Abstract
During the last decade, the population genetic history of ancient Egypt has been illuminated by an increasing number of genetic studies on ancient Egyptian human remains from different time periods utilizing high-throughput sequencing methods. Nonetheless, mitochondrial genomes representative of the Egyptian population prior to the New Kingdom (1550 - 1069 BC) are still scarce. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed samples taken from 99 ancient Egyptian mummified or skeletonized individuals housed in the collections of the Museo Egizio of Turin and the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. These individuals have been recovered from different archaeological sites in Egypt and encompass a timeframe ranging from about 4000 BC to AD 800. All samples were analyzed using next-generation sequencing methods, including mitochondrial DNA enrichments. Following the application of criteria for authenticity and quality control, we were able to reconstruct 34 mitochondrial genomes of ancient Egyptian individuals, predominantly from southern Egypt, that have been dated from the Predynastic to the Byzantine Period (3600 BC - AD 650). Our data supports the presence of western Eurasian and northeastern African mitochondrial haplogroups in Egypt throughout antiquity. Furthermore, the mitochondrial genomes extend the pool of available datasets, adding novel information for the older periods of Egypt’s past as well as for a broader geographical context. Thereby, this study constitutes another important step for the reconstruction of Egypt’s genetic history, which in the future could be further investigated by genome-wide studies.