Egyptian necklace with cowrie-shell beads and pendants in the form of fishes, beards, and a lotus flower with Heh (the god of eternity)

Middle Kingdom, ca. 2055 - 1650 BCE

Egyptian pectoral (jewelry) with a heart scarab and the goddesses Isis and Nephthys on the front and hieroglyphs on the back, identifying the owner as Pyay (royal documents scribe)

ca. 1250 BCE

DNA from the Age of the Pyramids🧬

▫️In 2025, a study led by Adeline Morez Jacobs and colleagues, sequenced the first complete genome from an Old Kingdom Egyptian.

The individual, known as NUE001, was an adult man buried at Nuwayrat in Middle Egypt (south of modern Cairo) around 2855–2570 B.C., during the early Pyramid Age.

Genetic analysis showed that around 78% of his ancestry was closely related to ancient North African populations, particularly those of the northern Nile Valley (Lower and Middle Egypt) and wider prehistoric North Africa (regions broadly corresponding to present-day Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and the central Sahara). The remaining ~22% showed clear genetic connections to populations of the Levant and eastern Fertile Crescent & Mesopotamia (present-day Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq).

This does not reflect invasion or later migration. Instead, it confirms that early gene flow from the Near East was already integrated into Ancient Egypt long before the Old Kingdom, alongside deep local population continuity.

Relief of a honeybee in the Tomb of King Seti I

Letter of Friendship written in Akkadian by Queen Nefertari, the famous wife of Pharaoh Ramses II (r. 1279–1213 BCE), to Puduhepa, the wife of the Hittite king Hattusili III (r. 1275–1245 BCE (middle); 1267-1237 BCE (short)), between the years of 1275-1250 BCE. The terracotta tablet was found in Hattusa and currently resides in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. It is an insightful source of information about the political relations of the era and reflects the good relations at the time between these two superpowers of the Ancient Near East, with both queens sending rich gifts to one another.

Travel Souvenirs in a 19th century glass bell. Parts of mummies brought back by Europeans from Egypt. Heads, hands and feet were common souvenirs. The one on the right is a head. Four feet are in the left one.

National Archaeology Museum

Excavations at Saqqara

Philae Temple Complex, Agilkia Island

Tomb of Sennefer, also known as Tomb of the Vineyards, ca. 1427-1401 BC.

Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Theban Necropolis.