New Study Presents Evidence of Extensive Inbreeding among Ancient Egyptian Royalty

A new study has revealed little variation in body height among Egyptian Pharaohs compared to the general population, signaling the presence of extensive inbreeding among the ancient Egyptian royalty.

Discovery News reports on a study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, conducted by Frank Rühli, director of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich, and colleagues, which involved the study of 259 Egyptian mummies, both royals and regular citizens. Since there are ethical rules regarding the destruction of tissue, which is necessary for genetic testing, the research team used body height, a highly hereditable characteristic, to look for evidence of incest.

“It is actually one of the largest collections of body height of ancient Egyptians and spans all major periods of their history,” Rühli told Discovery News.

The research team found that there was less variation in height between the Pharaohs compared to the regular male citizens. “This is one indicator of inbreeding,” Rühli said