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dc.contributor.authorWasef, S
dc.contributor.authorSubramanian, S
dc.contributor.authorO’Rorke, Richard
dc.contributor.authorHuynen, L
dc.contributor.authorEl-Marghani, S
dc.contributor.authorCurtis, C
dc.contributor.authorPopinga, A
dc.contributor.authorHolland, B
dc.contributor.authorIkram, S
dc.contributor.authorMillar, C
dc.contributor.authorWillerslev, E
dc.contributor.authorLambert, D
dc.date.accessioned2020-01-14T03:57:02Z
dc.date.available2020-01-14T03:57:02Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0223964
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/390228
dc.description.abstractThe 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.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science (PLoS)
dc.relation.ispartofissue11
dc.relation.ispartofjournalPLoS One
dc.relation.ispartofvolume14
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEcology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchArchaeology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchArchaeological science
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode3103
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode4301
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode430101
dc.titleMitogenomic diversity in Sacred Ibis Mummies sheds light on early Egyptian practices
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dcterms.bibliographicCitationWasef, S; Subramanian, S; O’Rorke, R; Huynen, L; El-Marghani, S; Curtis, C; Popinga, A; Holland, B; Ikram, S; Millar, C; Willerslev, E; Lambert, D, Mitogenomic diversity in Sacred Ibis Mummies sheds light on early Egyptian practices, PLoS One, 2019, 14 (11)
dcterms.dateAccepted2019-10-02
dcterms.licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated2020-01-14T03:54:10Z
dc.description.versionVersion of Record (VoR)
gro.rights.copyright© 2019 Wasef et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorLambert, David M.


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