Early humans migrated out of Africa more than 60,000 years ago through Egypt rather than crossing the shallow sea that separated Ethiopia from the Arabian Peninsula as some archaeologists have suggested, a study of the DNA of modern people has found.
Scientists have long argued about which of the two migratory routes the first humans took when they emerged from Africa to colonize the Middle East, Asia and other parts of the globe. Now a study of present-day genomes of north-east Africans suggests the northern route through Egypt and the Sinai was more likely.
The study analyzed the genomes of 100 Egyptians and 125 Ethiopians and compared their DNA to people currently living in Eurasia and to other parts of Africa. It concluded that the ancient migratory route through the Sinai Peninsula has left its mark on the DNA of people living in Egypt today, scientists said.
Modern Egyptians show a greater genetic similarity than modern Ethiopians to present-day Eurasians which supports the idea that Egypt, and not Ethiopia, was the last stop on the African continent before early humans came out of Africa to colonize other parts of the world, they said.
Read more at independent.co.uk
