Mitogenomic diversity in Sacred Ibis Mummies sheds light on early Egyptian practices.
Journal
PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
Titre abrégé: PLoS One
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101285081
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
2019
2019
Historique:
received:
11
04
2019
accepted:
02
10
2019
entrez:
14
11
2019
pubmed:
14
11
2019
medline:
19
3
2020
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The ancient catacombs of Egypt harbor millions of well-preserved mummified Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) dating from ~600BC. Although it is known that a very large number of these 'votive' mummies were sacrificed to the Egyptian God Thoth, how the ancient Egyptians obtained millions of these birds for mummification remains unresolved. Ancient Egyptian textual evidences suggest they may have been raised in dedicated large-scale farms. To investigate the most likely method used by the priests to secure birds for mummification, we report the first study of complete mitochondrial genomes of 14 Sacred Ibis mummies interred ~2500 years ago. We analysed and compared the mitogenomic diversity among Sacred Ibis mummies to that found in modern Sacred Ibis populations from throughout Africa. The ancient birds show a high level of genetic variation comparable to that identified in modern African populations, contrary to the suggestion in ancient hieroglyphics (or ancient writings) of centralized industrial scale farming of sacrificial birds. This suggests a sustained short-term taming of the wild migratory Sacred Ibis for the ritual yearly demand.
Identifiants
pubmed: 31721774
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223964
pii: PONE-D-19-10435
pmc: PMC6853290
doi:
Substances chimiques
DNA, Ancient
0
DNA, Mitochondrial
0
Types de publication
Historical Article
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e0223964Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Références
J Mol Evol. 1980 Dec;16(2):111-20
pubmed: 7463489
Bioinformatics. 2009 Jul 15;25(14):1754-60
pubmed: 19451168
Mol Biol Evol. 1999 Jan;16(1):37-48
pubmed: 10331250
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Sep 24;110(39):15758-63
pubmed: 24019490
Bioinformatics. 2009 Jun 1;25(11):1451-2
pubmed: 19346325
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2005 Sep;128(1):110-4; discussion 115-8
pubmed: 15714514
Bioinformatics. 2016 Jan 15;32(2):292-4
pubmed: 26428292
BMC Evol Biol. 2017 Feb 6;17(1):42
pubmed: 28166715
Cold Spring Harb Protoc. 2010 Jun;2010(6):pdb.prot5448
pubmed: 20516186
Am J Hum Genet. 2013 Nov 7;93(5):852-64
pubmed: 24568772
Mol Biol Evol. 2007 Aug;24(8):1586-91
pubmed: 17483113
Epidemiol Infect. 2003 Apr;130(2):239-49
pubmed: 12729192
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2003 Jun;121(2):109-11
pubmed: 12740953
PLoS Comput Biol. 2014 Apr 10;10(4):e1003537
pubmed: 24722319
Bioinformatics. 2013 Jul 01;29(13):1682-4
pubmed: 23613487
J Clin Microbiol. 2003 Jan;41(1):359-67
pubmed: 12517873
Mol Biol Evol. 2013 Dec;30(12):2725-9
pubmed: 24132122
Bioinformatics. 2009 Aug 15;25(16):2078-9
pubmed: 19505943
Mol Biol Evol. 2014 May;31(5):1292-4
pubmed: 24531081