4,000-Year-Old Mummies Are Half Brothers, DNA Analysis Shows

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Two Egyptian mummies that rested next to each other for nearly 4,000 years are not full brothers, but rather half brothers, finds a new study that used advanced DNA sequencing.

The finding settles a 111-year-old mystery that began when excavators exhumed the two mummies in Deir Rifeh, a village 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Cairo, in 1907. Both mummies — thought to be of noble lineage, based on their luxurious grave goods and the elite placement of their tomb — had the female name "Khnum-Aa" written on their coffins.

Khnum-Aa was referred to as the mother of both men, but studies in subsequent years couldn't confirm it. Now, by analyzing DNA extracted from the mummies' teeth, researchers have verified that these two ancient Egyptians had the same mother but different fathers. [In Photos: 3,800-Year-Old Coffin Holds Ancient Egyptian Woman]