A new study sequencing the first complete ancient Egyptian genome reveals the 4,500-year-old man had significant ancestry from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).

Ancient DNA has revealed links between the cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Researchers sequenced whole genomes from the teeth of a well-preserved skeleton found in a sealed funeral pot in an Egyptian tomb site dating to between 4,

DNA obtained from the remains of a man who lived in ancient Egypt around the time the first pyramids were built is providing evidence of the ties between two great cultures of the period, with a fifth of his genetic ancestry traced to Mesopotamia.