🇪🇬 An Old Kingdom Egyptian with mostly North African roots

A newly sequenced genome from Nuwayrat (Upper Egypt), dated ~2855–2570 BCE, models as ~78% North African Neolithic (Middle Neolithic Morocco–related) and ~22% eastern Fertile Crescent (Neolithic Mesopotamia).

This points to a primarily local North African ancestry with a measurable Near Eastern input already present by the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods. Later Egyptians show more Levant-related ancestry, but this Old Kingdom man anchors a strong North African core.

Takeaway: Early Dynastic Egypt was mostly local North African in ancestry with some Fertile Crescent gene flow, consistent with long-standing cultural links.

Source: Morez Jacobs et al., 2025. Whole-genome ancestry of an Old Kingdom Egyptian.