The study published in 2017 by Schuenemann extracted DNA from 151 Egyptian mummies chosen from the Late New Kingdom, Ptolemaic, and Roman period in the regions of Lower Egypt and the Delta. Out of the 151 mummies chosen only 3 mummies were used for samples. They concluded ancient Egyptians were most closely related to the non-african peoples of the Near East, particularly from the Levant. In essence they cherry picked 3 Greco-Roman mummies and attempted to pass them off as representative of the general population of ancient Egypt.
"The mummies remains were recovered from Abusir el-Meleq in Middle Egypt (It is not middle but Lower Egypt)" - 2017 DNA Test
One quick search and you will learn Abusir el-Meleq In the early Roman Period, was a Roman cemetery and Foyoum was a Greek colony. "In Abusir el-Meleq there is evidence of several large tombs with up to 20 chambers for well over 50 burials, especially from the Greco-Roman period, which have been repeatedly occupied since the Late Period. The Roman-era cemetery of Abusir el-Meleq of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD are unusual burials and are found nowhere else in Egypt...In the early Roman Period, the site may have been its own district. Abusir el-Meleq's proximity to, and close ties with the Fayum led to substantial growth in its population during the first hundred years of Ptolemaic rule, presumably as a result of Greek immigration. Later, in the Roman Period, many veterans of the Roman military were not Egyptian but people from various cultural backgrounds who settled in the Fayum area after the completion of their service, some intermarrying with local populations. Individuals with Greek, Latin and Hebrew names are known to have lived at the site and several coffins found at the cemetery used Greek portrait images and adapted Greek statue types to suit ‘Egyptian’ burial practices." - Otto Rubensohn in Ägypten - Vergessene Grabungen
The methodology of this 2017 study is intellectually dishonest and dare I say purposely misleading. The Late New Kingdom, Ptolemaic, and Roman periods were a product of thousands of years of successive invasions and immigrations with settlements specifically in the regions where the mummies used in the study were unearthed. The Abusir el-Meleq and Fayoum regions were Greek and Roman settlements and graveyards which had little to no relations to native ancient Egyptians.
This test was in no form or fashion representative of the Old Kingdom or original peopling of the Nile Valley. In essence they took non-African mummies of foreign origin and attempted to pass them off as native Egyptians. In layman's terms it is a sham of a test study.
In response to the controversial study Egyptologist Barry Kemp has noted that DNA studies can only provide firm conclusions about the population of ancient Egypt if the sample results are of a significant number of individuals and represent a broad geographical and chronological range. This study however excluded mummies from Upper Egypt which historically has been the seat of Pharaonic Kingship as well as mummies from the Middle and Old Kingdoms when foreign admixture was at its lowest.
Don't take our word for it. Read the study. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15694
Criticisms of the 2017 DNA study:
Gourdine, Anselin and Keita criticized the methodology of the Scheunemann et al. study. They specifically criticised the claim that the increase in the sub-Saharan component in the modern Egyptian samples resulted from the trans-Saharan slave trade and argued that the sub-Saharan "genetic affinities" may be attributed to "early settlers" and "the relevant sub-Saharan genetic markers" do not correspond with the geography of known trade routes".
In 2022, archaeologist Danielle Candelora claimed that there were several limitations with the 2017 Scheunemann et al. study such as “new (untested) sampling methods, small sample size and problematic comparative data”. Candelora noted that the findings of Scheunemann et al. were based largely on the only three mummies from which genome-wide samples were recovered.
In 2023, Christopher Ehret argued that the conclusions of the 2017 study were based on insufficiently small sample sizes, and that the authors had a biased interpretation of the genetic data. Ehret also criticized the study for asserting that there was “no sub-Saharan” component in the Egyptian population. Ehret cited other genetic evidence which had identified the Horn of Africa as a source of a genetic marker “M35 /215” Y-chromosome lineage for a significant population component which moved north from that region into Egypt and the Levant."
Feel free to download this peer reviewed academic journal comprised of a number of academics which point out the flawed methodology of the 2017 Schumann study.
Ancient Egyptian Genomes from northern Egypt: Further discussion:https://www.knowthyselfinstitute.com/library/b07e4fa7-2a8f-40cb-9e9d-ddc1486704cb
Feel free to download the largest Genetic study to date of Nile Valley Africans.
Project Muse Ancient Egyptian Genomes from northern Egypt: Further discussion https://www.knowthyselfinstitute.com/library/6711f6fb-647c-4cf4-a773-892e345014e6?fbclid=IwAR0G31U4Fp6Gr1svJpximLNFluo0oezTy3qVUF1ZNPrcj396ajQKesz2vyc
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