The era of the Pharaonic families begins for many in ancient Egypt from about 3100 years BC, and includes the first and second dynasties with which the recorded history of the era of these families begins, but long before that the peoples of the Neolithic period (about 9300-4000 BC) flourished. These peoples have not been studied compared to their successors from the ancient Egyptians.
Today, amazing discoveries of ancient monuments and tombs continue, which tell us about the ways of life of the ancients, and some of the secrets of development that humanity knew through the ages.
The Spanish site “Super Curioso” states that among these civilizations the most intriguing among scholars and the general public is the ancient Egyptian civilization, which was characterized by an organized society in amazing ways, constructed gigantic buildings that attract eyes, and developed unique life systems. Questions still arise about the ethnic origins of the Egyptians.
Where did the Egyptians came from?
The site says that many studies and discoveries have been conducted in this regard, but scientists are still not sure of the answer to this question, and that is why speculations have increased, which ranged from conspiracy theory to mythical stories and genetic tests.
Scientists have relied heavily on studying hieroglyphic writings, exhuming graves and examining mummies. To provide a convincing answer about the origins of the Egyptians, and until now humanity is still far from knowing the full truth in this matter.
As in other cultures in the world, the ancient Egyptians also interpreted their origins according to the myths in their beliefs, and they believe that “Ra” (the sun god) was the one who created the inhabitants of ancient Egypt.
But far from myths about this, academic research has been conducted that responds to historical and scientific standards. During the last century, it was believed that the origins of this civilization go back to a country called Punt Also known as God’s Land, Punt was a faraway realm rich in incense, ebony, and gold with which the Egyptians traded for over a thousand years, and this belief was based on ancient hieroglyphic writings, but the location of this country has not been precisely defined, and it may be located between the African coast and the Indian Ocean.
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| One of Hatshepsut’s Punt ships setting sail, with red-painted Egyptians at the oars and Red Sea creatures swimming in the waters beneath |
This belief indicates that these are the ancient inhabitants of Africa, who settled on the banks of the Nile River, and after they developed their communities, conquerors from the north came and took control of them; This gave way to the emergence of an advanced civilization that turned into a complete dynasty of the rulers of ancient Egypt.
What do scientists think today?
Alongside popular theories and myths, scholars continue to research and make concrete progress in achieving the truth, or at least offering more concrete and solid explanations. It is now believed that the origins of the Egyptians date back to before the advent of writing, a period in human history called “prehistoric times”, which lies between the Stone and Bronze ages.
It is believed that around the year 6 thousand BC, a group of people came to settle on the banks of the Nile Valley, and they were originally sheep herders who came from Libya and Numidia in North Africa, and after them came other groups of nomads from Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula, and perhaps the union of all these races It is the factor that led to the rise of the ancient Egyptian civilization.
Genetic analysis
To search for the genetic origins of the Egyptians, the site says that most of the theories and explanations referred to above have been extracted from drawings in caves, writings on papyrus and fossils in archaeological sites, but there is another important source for solving the mysteries of the ancient Egyptians, which is the “mummy”, which is the bodies of the dead that were made It was preserved for a long time through the embalming process.
A group of scientists from different disciplines participated in the project, with the support of the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute in Germany; In an attempt to analyze the remains of mummies and extract their DNA. This posed a great challenge due to the materials and techniques used to mummify the dead, and the high temperatures and humidity in which the mummies were kept, which made the sampling process difficult. However, these scientists were able to extract “mitochondrial” DNA from 90 mummies, and were able to determine the complete genome sequence of 3 mummies.
The main objective of this study was to find out if the Egyptians are associated with other races that may seem isolated from them, such as the Caucasian race prevailing in Europe, North Africa and Asia; For this purpose, they compared the DNA present in the Egyptian mummies with the DNA of the present population of Egypt, in order to determine the differences in the development of this race and to determine the mixtures and cross-fertilization that occurred between the races due to migration The result is amazing.
Where scientists were surprised after it was found that despite the passage of 5 thousand years of evolution, a long period that separated the ancient and present Egyptians, no major changes occurred in the DNA; This means that the inhabitants of Egypt have preserved their characteristics since that period, although there is a slight difference in the genes that indicate ancestors. Scientists found that ancient mummies had the genes of the Middle East clearly visible, while the present-day Egyptians were more closely related to sub-Saharan Africa.
Sources: supercurioso