Ancient Egypt’s ‘Screaming’ Mummy Woman May Have Died in Agony

By Will Dunham

(Reuters) – It’s a startling image from ancient Egypt – a mummy discovered during an archaeological expedition in 1935 at Deir el-Bahari, near Luxor, of a woman with her mouth open in what appears to be an anguished scream.

Scientists now have an explanation for the “Screaming Woman” mummy after using CT scans to perform a “virtual dissection.” It turns out she may have died in agony and experienced a rare form of muscle stiffening, called cadaveric spasm, which occurs at the moment of death.

The examination indicated that the woman was about 48 years old when she died, had suffered from mild arthritis in her spine and had lost some teeth, said Sahar Saleem, a radiology professor at Cairo University who led the study published Friday in the journal Frontiers. inMedicine. .

His body was well-preserved, having been embalmed around 3,500 years ago, during ancient Egypt’s brilliant New Kingdom period, using expensive imported ingredients such as juniper oil and frankincense resin, Saleem added.

The ancient Egyptians considered the preservation of the body after death crucial to ensuring a dignified existence in the afterlife. It was customary during the mummification process to remove the internal organs, in addition to the heart, but this did not happen with this woman.

“In ancient Egypt, embalmers took care of the corpse so that it would look beautiful in the afterlife. This is why they made it a point to close the mouths of the dead by tying the jaw to the head to prevent the normal jaw drop post-mortem,” Saleem said.

But the quality of the embalming ingredients “ruled out that the mummification process had been careless and that the embalmers simply forgot to close her mouth. In fact, they mummified her well and gave her expensive burial attire – two expensive rings made of gold and silver and a long hair wig made from date palm fibers,” Saleem added.

“This paved the way for other explanations about the open mouth – that the woman died screaming in agony or pain and that the muscles of her face contracted to preserve this appearance at the time of death due to cadaveric spasm,” Saleem said. “The true story or circumstances of this woman’s death are unknown, therefore the cause of her glaring facial appearance cannot be established with certainty.”

Cadaveric spasm, a poorly understood condition, occurs after severe physical or emotional distress, with contracted muscles becoming rigid immediately after death, Saleem said.

“Unlike post-mortem rigor mortis, cadaveric spasm only affects a group of muscles, not the entire body,” Saleem added.

Asked whether the woman could have been embalmed while alive, Saleem added: “I don’t believe that is possible.”

Saleem was unable to determine how the woman died, saying, “We often cannot determine the cause of death in a mummy unless there is evidence of fatal trauma on the CT scan.” Saleem cited evidence of fatal head wounds, neck cuts and heart disease in three royal mummies.

The “Screaming Woman” was found at the site of the ancient city of Thebes during the excavation of the tomb of a high-ranking official named Senmut, the architect, superintendent of royal works and alleged lover of Queen Hatshepsut, who reigned from 1479-1458 BC.

The mummy was inside a wooden coffin in a burial chamber beneath Senmut’s family tomb. Her identity was not determined, but her jewelry – the gold and silver rings with images of scarabs, a symbol of the resurrection, made from the precious stone jasper – showed her socioeconomic status.

“She was likely a close family member who was buried and shared the family’s eternal resting place,” Saleem said.

The study revealed details of her wig. Her spiral braids were treated with the minerals quartz, magnetite and albite to harden them and provide the black color indicative of youth. Her natural hair was dyed with henna and juniper oil.

Several ancient mummies, in Egypt and the Americas, have been found with facial expressions that resemble a scream – eerily similar to Norwegian painter Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”

“I use this painting in my public talks about screaming mummies,” Saleem said.

(Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)