 Among the sampled populations, the A-Group people were nearest to the Kerma culture bearers and Kush populations in Upper Nubia and to Ethiopians, followed by the Meroitic, X-Group and Christian period inhabitants of Lower Nubia and the Kellis population in the Dakhla Oasis, as well as C-Group and Pharaonic era skeletons excavated in Lower Nubia and ancient Egyptians (Naqada, Badari, Hierakonpolis, Abydos and Kharga in Upper Egypt; Hawara in Lower Egypt).The linguistic affinity of the A-Group culture is unknown, but, according to Claude Rilly, it is unlikely to have spoken a language of the Northern East Sudanic branch of Nilo-Saharan.Beyond this Rilly states that "the range of possibilities remains wide" and includes