A mummy from ancient Egypt, discovered with a black wig and a ‘screaming’ face, is believed by scientists to have died in agony around 3,000 years ago.
Known as the ‘Screaming Woman’, her facial expression of pain has baffled experts for nearly 90 years.
Using advanced technology to analyze the remains, archaeologists now suggest that she died in distress and that her muscles stiffened and locked soon after her death, preserving her anguished expression.
Nevertheless, the exact cause of her possibly violent death remains an enigma.
Sahar Saleem, a radiology professor at Kasr Al Ainy Hospital of Cairo University in Egypt, referred to the Screaming Woman as a ‘true time capsule’ that captures the final moments of her life.
She posits that the body underwent a rare phenomenon known as cadaveric spasm soon after death.
This condition causes muscles to lock in the position they were in at the time of death.
Cadaveric spasms are typically linked to violent deaths under severe physical strain and extreme emotions.
Prof Saleem stated: “The mummy’s screaming facial expression in this study could be read as a cadaveric spasm, implying that the woman died screaming from agony or pain.”
The Screaming Woman was discovered at an ancient site in Luxor underneath the tomb of a renowned architect named Senmut, close to where his mother, Hat-Nufer, was interred.
The expedition was spearheaded by the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
Her body was found inside a wooden coffin, with her legs extended and arms folded over her groin. She wore two gold and silver scarab rings on the third finger of her left hand and had a black wig made from date palm fibers treated with quartz, magnetite, and albite crystals.
Analysis indicated that her natural hair had been dyed with henna and juniper, though researchers believe the Egyptians favored black hair as it symbolized youth.
Researchers estimate that the Screaming Woman was around 5 feet tall and died at the age of 48.
Scans revealed that she had lost and broken many of her teeth before death and suffered from mild arthritis in her spine.
Prof Saleem noted that her brain, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, and intestines remained intact, contrary to typical mummification practices where organs are usually removed.
Examination of her skin indicated she had been embalmed with juniper and frankincense, costly materials that had to be imported into Egypt from neighboring regions, according to the researchers.
Prof. Saleem stated that the findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, challenge the idea that the Screaming Woman’s pained expression was due to poor embalming.
She commented: “Here we show that she was embalmed with costly, imported embalming material.
“This, and the mummy’s well-preserved appearance, contradicts the traditional belief that a failure to remove her inner organs implied poor mummification.”