The first complete DNA study of an Ancient Egyptian has revealed he was probably a celebrated potter who was given an oddly luxurious burial. The skeleton of a middle-aged man, who lived between 4,500 and 4,800 years ago, was found crammed into a ceramic pot in a tomb cut into the hillside at Nuwayrat, around 165 miles south of Cairo.

The individual lived 4,500 years ago, and his genome is offering new insights into ancient Egyptians and the lives they led.

Researchers have sequenced the genome of an ancient Egyptian who was buried in a pot nearly 5,000 years ago, about the time some of the oldest, and most famous, pyramids were built.