ArticlePloS one2019
Mitogenomic diversity in Sacred Ibis Mummies sheds light on early Egyptian practices.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Genomic identification and complete mitochondrial recovery of a Late Holocene porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) mummy from Yukon permafrost.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Pre-Columbian transregional captive rearing of Amazonian parrots in the Atacama Desert.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- The spreading of the invasive sacred ibis in Italy.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Isotopic systematics point to wild origin of mummified birds in Ancient Egypt.Scientific reports · 2020Article
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12 authors.
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Abstract
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.
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