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History => Ancient and Medieval History => Topic started by: Duncan Head on January 19, 2018, 09:11:37 AM

Title: Egyptian mummies are half-brothers
Post by: Duncan Head on January 19, 2018, 09:11:37 AM
Genetic analysis of two 12th-dynasty mummies :

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/01/18/ancient-two-brothers-mummy-mystery-solved-thanks-to-high-tech-dna-test.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X17305631

QuoteFlinders Petrie and Mackay concluded that Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht were brothers, partly because the two bodies were buried adjacent to one other, but also because the inscriptions on the coffins mention the female name Khnum-Aa, who is described as 'lady of the house' and referred to as the mother of both Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht. However, the inscriptions were less informative regarding the paternal filiation, the father of both men indicated only by a generic title and not by name  ...

The presence of identical mtDNAs indicates that Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht had a maternal relationship, consistent with a shared mother or a more distant kinship relationship such as cousins or uncle-nephew. However, based on the common maternal name as documented in the inscriptional evidence, it can be deduced that the two individuals were both children of Khnum-Aa. The differences between the Y chromosome SNPs indicate different paternal lineages, and so we conclude that Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht were half-brothers.
Title: Re: Egyptian mummies are half-brothers
Post by: Imperial Dave on January 19, 2018, 09:58:55 AM
very interesting find Duncan and clearly shows the advances in genetic tools for investigating stuff like this
Title: Re: Egyptian mummies are half-brothers
Post by: Patrick Waterson on January 19, 2018, 11:41:37 AM
They may get some further opportunities if Zahi Hawass finds Anhkesenamun's tomb (https://www.livescience.com/59840-king-tut-wife-tomb-possibly-found.html).  Six months of silence suggests that so far he has not.

Ankhesenpaaten (she reputedly hated the name 'Ankhesenamun') might actually be one of the KV21 mummies (the other perhaps being Beketaten).  There is in any event an opportunity to redo the Amarna family tree, including Unknown Man E from the Cairo museum, whether or not this latest tomb search unearths anything.