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With her mouth open to the world, locked for eternity in what appears to be a scream, an ancient Egyptian woman captured the imagination of archaeologists who discovered her mummified remains in 1935 in a tomb near Luxor.
Still intrigued by the “screaming woman” who died around 3,500 years ago, a diverse team of scientists recently used CT scans to reveal details about the mummy’s morphology, health conditions and preservation and used infrared imaging and other advanced techniques to “almost dismember” the. yet to understand what could be the reason for her struck face.
Their findings, published Friday in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, showed that the woman was 48 years old when she died, based on analysis of a pelvis joint that changes with age. Certain aspects of the process used to mummify her stood out.
Her body was embalmed with frankincense and juniper resin, lavish, expensive substances that would be traded from far away, said study author Sahar Saleem, professor of radiology at Kasr Al Ainy Hospital at Cairo University, in a statement.
Saleem also found no incisions on the body, which was consistent with the assessment made during the original discovery that the brain, diaphragm, heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys and intestines were still present.
The failure to remove internal organs, the study noted, was unusual because the classic method of mummification from that period involved the removal of all such organs except the heart.
The researchers found that the unnamed woman was 1.54 meters, or just over 5 feet, tall and suffered from mild arthritis of the spine, and a scan showed bone spurs on several vertebrae that make up the spine . Several teeth, probably lost before death, were also missing from the woman’s jaw.
However, the study was unable to determine the exact cause of death.
“We show here that she was embalmed with expensive, imported embalming material,” Saleem said in a news release.
“This, and the well-preserved appearance of the mummy, contradicts the traditional view that failure to remove her internal organs meant bad mummification.”
Only a handful of ancient Egyptian mummies have been found with their mouths open, the study noted, and scarves typically wrap the jawbone and skull to close the deceased’s mouth.
It is not clear from the results of the study what caused the woman’s cold expression, although the researchers put forward a terrifying hypothesis.
What mummification techniques reveal
Saleem said that the well-preserved nature of the mummy, the rarity and cost of the embedded material, as well as other funeral techniques such as the use of a wig made of date palm and rings that were placed on the body, were like a careless omission. a process of mummification in which victims were neglected to close their mouths.
The mom’s “screaming facial expression” could be read as a cadaveric spasm, a rare form of muscle stiffness associated with violent deaths, suggesting the woman died screaming in pain, according to the study.
It is possible, the authors of the study suggested, that she was mummified within 18 to 36 hours after death before her body rested or decomposed, thus preserving her mouth open at the time of death.
However, a mummy’s facial expression does not necessarily reflect how a person was feeling when they died, the study noted.
A number of other factors, including the decomposition process, the rate of drying or drying, and the compressive force of the covers, may affect the expression of the mother’s face.
“Burial procedures or postmortem changes may have contributed to the phenomena of mummies with screaming appearances,” the authors noted in the study.
“The cause or true history or circumstances of this woman’s death are unknown, so the cause of her screaming facial expression cannot be established with certainty,” Saleem said via email.
Mummies open mouth
The “screaming woman” was buried under the tomb of Senmut, architect of the temple of the Egyptian queen Hatschepsut (1479–1458 BC) who held important positions during her reign. The woman is thought to have been related to Senmut, according to the study.
Her remains were discovered during a tour led by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and her coffin is on display there today. Her mummified body is enshrined in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum.
Saleem said she had previously studied two other open-mouthed mummies from Ancient Egypt.
One, a mummy thought to be the remains of a prince called Pentawere, had a slit throat, because of his role in assassinating his father, Ramesses III (1185-1153 BC). His body was barely embalmed, which shows a lack of care in the mummification process, Saleem said in the news release.
The second mummy was a woman named Princess Meritamun who died of a heart attack, and Saleem’s analysis indicated that her mouth was wide due to a postmortem contraction or movement of her jaw.
Randall Thompson, Cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas School of Medicine, who studied ancient mummies using CT scans to learn about the origins of cardiovascular disease, called the study helpful and detailed. He said the authors’ preferred explanation for the mum’s open mouth made sense.
“Their investigation helps us understand what substances were available in ancient times and how our ancestors used them,” said Thompson, who was not involved in the study.
“More broadly, we can learn a lot about health and disease from studying ancient mummies,” he said.
“For example, we have learned that heart disease is not new, as many people believed. He is literally older than Moses.”
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