An Egyptian-Christian woman named Treveina Basily made the discovery of a lifetime when she found out that her DNA directly descends from an Ancient Egyptian mummy dating back to the Saite dynasty, the ninth period of ancient Egyptian history.
Researcher Mohamed Abdel Hady published the findings in a report titled “An Egyptian whose genes date back to the era of the mummies of the Saite era.”
Basily’s DNA analysis results revealed that she is of 100 percent Ancient Egyptian lineage, with no mixing whatsoever, Adel Hady said.
The result is very rare and frankly surprising, he added.
Basily said that “The whole story is about curiosity. I have been hearing my friends talk about their lineage and family tree all my life. I was also curious to know where my roots are from,”
She is married in her thirties, a Faculty of Law’s English section graduate, born in Tanta, and is currently residing in Australia.
Basily told Al-Masry Al-Youm the amazing story of her genetic lineage hails directly from Ancient Egypt.
“The idea has been haunting me for years, but recently I decided to search for an answer to the question that haunts me from time to time, so I made my decision, and started searching for a specialized company,| she said.
She sent a sample for genetic analysis to the company, and forgot about it, she said, until the results were sent back to her after three months.
The analysis results needed a specialist to interpret it as it was difficult to understand for a layman like herself, she added.
Thus she began to search for an interpretation online, leading her to Facebook groups for those interested in finding out their roots, and she began to ask questions about how to understand the result of analysis.
“I contacted engineer Mohamed Abdel Hady for an interpretation…and there was a surprise, that the DNA proved that my kinship dates back to one of the Pharaonic eras, specifically to the Saite era,” Basily said.
“The issue is not that I am purely Egyptian or not. Many Egyptians do the analysis and the result shows that they are 100 percent Egyptian…The difference is that my analysis shows a genetic similarity with the DNA of a mummy,“ she explained.
What was the Saite era like?
Also known as the era of the Egyptian Renaissance, the Saite dynasty saw kings of the city of Sais or San al-Hajar in the Delta successfully liberating the country from Assyrian control once and for all at the hands of Psamtik I, who mixed the blood of the Egyptian, Libyan and Nubian ruling families.
According to a number of historians, Egypt underwent a political, cultural, religious, and economic upheaval during this era.
The court and administration were reorganized, and demotic writing was widely used throughout the country, which meant that culture spread among broader classes in Egyptian society.
Egypt’s religious beliefs was reformed, and the country witnessed a wide construction and building movement based on inspiration from the Ancient and Middle states.
The era also witnessed the openness of Egypt to the Greeks and the expansion of its commerce with them.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
