The origin of the ancient Egyptians has always been the path of wide controversy. Since the seventies, the belief that they are sub-Saharan Africans has emerged.
In 2010, a scientific team was able to extract DNA and examine bone samples of Egyptian mummies. The study could not reliably differentiate between ancient DNA and modern contamination. In 2017, scientists were able to separate the recent contamination from the ancient sample in question. This was the first relatively pure sample of ancient DNA, and for the first time in studies of the history of Egyptianmummies.