Forensic scientists from the FBI have successfully extracted DNA from a 4,000-year-old Egyptian mummy's head. They identified it as belonging to a provincial governor called Djehutynakht.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The tomb of Djehutynakht and his wife was first excavated in 1915 by a team of archaeologists from Harvard University and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. It was found in the ancient Egyptian necropolis of Deir el-Bersha, close to the city of Mallawi, about 250km south of Cairo.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Djehutynakht's tomb was discovered at the bottom of a 30ft pit. It had been plundered in antiquity, and the corpses damaged. Most of the valuable jewels were stolen, but a number of objects were left behind, making it one of the largest burial assemblages of the Middle Kingdom ever discovered.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The tomb contained four painted coffins, an inner and outer one for both the governor and his wife. They were made of massive planks of imported cedar.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The outer coffin of Djehutynakht, known as the "Bersha coffin" is famous for its intricate and beautiful panel painting. The paintings and inscribed funerary texts were intended to facilitate Djehutynakht's passage to the afterlife.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The tomb was filled with the funerary equipment of Djehutynakht and his wife, including walking sticks, pottery, canopic jars and miniature wooden models that are thought to reflect everyday life.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Statuettes were found within the tomb. This wooden figure of a striding man is thought to be Governor Djehutynakht.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A female figure was also found, thought to be Lady Djehutynakht. These funerary figurines, shawabtys, were meant to act as a substitute for the dead in the afterlife, when the gods asked them to perform menial tasks.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The tomb included some 58 model boats, as well as models of carpenters, weavers, brick-makers, bakers and brewers.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The best known of the models found within the tomb are the exquisitely carved "Bersha procession" of a male priest leading female offering bearers.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
For years archaeologists had puzzled over whether the mummy's head belonged to husband or wife. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, in possession of the entire contents of the tomb, sent it out for analysis. In 2009, doctors from the Massachusetts General Hospital extracted a tooth from the mummified head.
Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
But at that time DNA testing had not advanced far enough to extract genetic material from the small sample. Only in 2016 was the molar passed on to the FBI, who later managed to extract some DNA and decipher the gender.
