The face of an ancient Egyptian mummy, locked in a gaping rictus, may result from a death so painful that her face remained frozen in a scream. Known as the Screaming Woman mummy, her striking expression has previously been attributed to a poorly performed mummification. However, new research suggests a different story.
Radiologist Sahar Saleem of Cairo University and anthropologist Samia El-Merghani of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities conducted an in-depth examination of the mummy, revealing that her burial was lavish. This contradicts the traditional belief that her preserved facial expression was due to poor mummification.
“She was embalmed with costly, imported embalming material,” Saleem explained. “This, and the mummy’s well-preserved appearance, contradicts the traditional belief that a failure to remove her inner organs implied poor mummification.”
The Screaming Woman was buried over three millennia ago in the tomb of Semnut, an 18th dynasty royal architect to Queen Hatshepsut. Despite being unnamed, her burial was elaborate, featuring a wooden coffin, silver and gold rings, and a braided wig.
Saleem and El-Merghani used CT scans and other high-detail analysis techniques to study the remains, determining that the woman was small in stature, about 1.54 meters tall, and died at around 48 years old. Surprisingly, her brain, diaphragm, heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, and intestines were intact, a rare occurrence as organ removal was common during mummification.
The researchers also noted that her body was treated with imported juniper and frankincense and that her natural hair was dyed with juniper and henna, while her wig was treated with quartz, magnetite, and albite crystals.
These findings suggest that considerable care was taken with her burial, making it unlikely that her mouth fell open due to negligence. Instead, the researchers propose that the woman’s mouth might have been frozen in a scream due to cadaveric spasm, a rare and controversial phenomenon where muscles lock in place at the time of death, often in cases of extreme discomfort.
The true cause of the woman’s death remains a mystery, but this study offers a glimpse into ancient burial customs and the lives of those who lived millennia ago.
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