| ABOUT US | ARCHIVES | LINKS | RSS FEED | MONDAYS | |

3quarksdaily

An Eclectic Digest of Science, Art and Literature

« What our Avatars Say About Us | Main | Breaking the Spell of Money »

August 04, 2011

King Tut and half of European men share DNA

From PhysOrg:

Tuthankamen According to a group of geneticists in Switzerland from iGENEA, the DNA genealogy center, as many as half of all European men and 70 percent of British men share the same DNA as the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, or King Tut. For a film created for the Discovery Channel, scientists worked to reconstruct the DNA of the young male King, his father Akhenaten and his grandfather Amenhotep III. They discovered that King Tut had a DNA profile that belongs to a group called haplogroup R1b1a2. This group can be found in over 50 percent of European men and shows the researchers that there is a common ancestor. This genetic profile group is also found in 70 percent of Spanish males and 60 percent of French males however, it is only present in less than one percent of men in modern-day Egyptian men.

The R1b1a2 DNA haplogroup is believed to have originated in the Black Sea region some 9500 years ago and spread to Europe with the spread of agriculture in 7000BC. Researchers are unsure as to how and when the group first came to Egypt. They believe the reasoning the R1b1a2 haplogroup is rarely found in modern-day Egypt is due partially to European immigration throughout the last 2000 years.

More here.

Posted by Azra Raza at 05:39 AM | Permalink

Comments

This article is meaningless. All humans "share the same DNA". And all humans "have a common ancestor". And not just humans, but all organisms. I have a common ancestor with sea slugs.

Maybe there's a story here (even though this "science" was done by a film crew for the Discovery Channel), but this article does not tell it. The only informative bit is this sentence: "This genetic profile group is also found in 70 percent of Spanish males and 60 percent of French males however, it is only present in less than one percent of men in modern-day Egyptian men."

Okay, so the implication is that this dynasty was more closely related to modern Spaniards than modern Egyptians. Maybe. Or maybe this "genetic profile group" is something that indicates very little about overall relatedness.

Posted by: Picador | Aug 4, 2011 10:35:25 AM

Hrm. I wonder if this study more accurately reflects the haplotypes of Swiss male laboratory technicians.

Posted by: Sarah | Aug 4, 2011 10:51:42 AM

So much for black Athena.

Posted by: urubu | Aug 4, 2011 4:07:37 PM

Interesting. If Tut's haplotype is correct, his paternal roots lie in the Indo-European tribes (and not in the Semitic tribes). For what it's worth, there could also be a Vedic Indian connection to Tut. The R y-chromosome haplotype is genetically associated with the Indo-European tribes, including the Vedic Indo-Aryans.

The Egyptian Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty (including Tut) co-existed with the Mittani empire in West Asia (today's Syria/Anatolia). The earliest Vedic (Sanskrit) references ever appear in the names and writings of the Mittani elites, and the Mittani aristocracy appear to be Indo-Aryan.

Tadukhipa, daughter of the Mittani King Tusharatha, married Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), the father of Tut, and some historians have identified her with the famed Queen Nefertiti. Alternatively, she may be Queen Kiya, another wife of Akhenaten, believed to be Tut's mother.

Posted by: Sam | Aug 4, 2011 5:14:58 PM

Post a comment






Subscribe to this blog's feed  

PayAnywhere with iphone credit card swiper

Android Tablet

Bluetooth Headset

2013 New Style Dresses

Compare Car Rental Prices

DHgate.com Wholesale

3QD on Facebook

3QD on Kindle

3QD by Daily Email

Receive all blogposts at the same time every day.

Enter your Email:


Preview 3QD Email

3QD on Twitter

Miscellany

Lijit Search

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Add to Google

Recent Comments

Matt on The Science Mystique

Eleutheria on Why is Europe so Messed Up? An Illuminating History

Elatia Harris on I am dust and ashes and full of sin

PeteChapman on I am dust and ashes and full of sin

Raza Husain on the culture animal

Chris on Positive Failure - a review of "The Power" by Rhonda Byrne

DAS on Why is Europe so Messed Up? An Illuminating History

DAS on Is the Brain No Different From a Light Switch? The Uncomfortable Ideas of the Philosopher Daniel Dennett

DAS on the culture animal

Raza Husain on Unknown Mathematician Proves Elusive Property of Prime Numbers

Dredd on NORTH KOREA’S NERVE WAR

Dredd on Unknown Mathematician Proves Elusive Property of Prime Numbers

Raza Husain on Is the Brain No Different From a Light Switch? The Uncomfortable Ideas of the Philosopher Daniel Dennett

Dana on germ houses

musafir on Tuesday Poem

soubriquet on Tuesday Poem

Eli on Unknown Mathematician Proves Elusive Property of Prime Numbers

Jim on Tuesday Poem

Josef Stern on Unknown Mathematician Proves Elusive Property of Prime Numbers

Shelley on Is the Brain No Different From a Light Switch? The Uncomfortable Ideas of the Philosopher Daniel Dennett

Bill on The Beautiful German Language

Eleutheria on The Bystander Effect in Medical Care. Why Do I Have So Many Doctors Not Taking Care of Me?

Eleutheria on Tuesday Poem

Raza Husain on the culture animal

musafir on The Bystander Effect in Medical Care. Why Do I Have So Many Doctors Not Taking Care of Me?

Acclaim For 3QD


"I couldn't tear myself away from 3 Quarks Daily, to the point of neglecting my work. Congratulations on this superb site."—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University.

"I have placed 3 Quarks Daily at the head of my list of web bookmarks."—Richard Dawkins, Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.

"Just wanted you to know I’m one of many who reads and enjoys 3 Quarks....almost daily."—David Byrne, musician, former lead-singer of the Talking Heads, artist, intellectual.

Read more here.

The 3QD Prizes

Subscribe to this blog's feed