What did Pharaohs look like? Lab recreates mummies’ faces using DNA
According to a new DNA-based predictive system, the three mummies from Abusir el-Meleq were around age 25, had light brown skin and dark eyes and hair.
The lid of the mummy’s coffin sports characteristic ancient Egyptian stylized facial features and informative hieroglyphics (photo credit: ELIE POSNER)
What did ancient Egyptians look like? A lab recreated the faces of three mummies thanks to samples of their DNA.
According
to the study, which predicted the three men’s appearance at around age
25, they had light brown skin and dark eyes and hair.
Parabon
NanoLabs, a northern Virginia-based DNA technology company, used
research by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
and the University of Tubingen in Germany, whose scholars managed to
extract genetic materials from 151 Egyptian mummies dating between 2,400
and 1,600 years ago.
The study – published in the journal Nature in 2017 – was
considered an important breakthrough because the hot middle eastern
climate tends to destroy any DNA remains.
The mummies came from a site known as Abusir el-Meleq, which stood by the Nile River in the Middle of Egypt.
Predicted faces of three Egyptian mummies based on their DNA. (credit: Parabon NanoLabs)
Established
in 2008, Parabon has become famous for its contribution to several cold
cases thanks to its ability to compare DNA samples collected from
suspects by police forces with genetic profiles contained in ancestry
databases.
Their work has often been praised as decisive in ensuring
criminals to justice – at times after decades – but has also aroused
heated controversy over privacy issues.
Among
the tools the company has developed is a technology that enables the
reconstruction of a person’s physical appearance based on their genetic
material – a technique called DNA phenotyping.
According
to the company, using the genome sequencing data obtained by Tubingen
researchers, the lab was able to predict each mummy’s ancestry,
pigmentation, and face morphology, in spite of incomplete genetic data.
“It’s great to see how genome sequencing and advanced bioinformatics can
be applied to ancient DNA samples,” said Dr. Ellen Greytak, Parabon’s
director of bioinformatics. “Just like in Parabon’s law enforcement
casework, these techniques are revolutionizing ancient DNA analysis
because they operate on fragmented DNA and have been shown to be
sensitive down to only 10 picograms of DNA.”
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