Katie Hunt
Thu, August 1, 2024
Scientists reveal new details about ‘screaming’ Egyptian mummy’s life and death
Sahar Saleem
With her mouth wide open, 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 fascinated by the “screaming woman” who died some 3,500 years ago, a different team of scientists recently used CT scans to reveal details about the mummy’s morphology, health conditions and preservation and employed infrared imaging and other advanced techniques to “virtually dissect” the remains and understand what might have caused her striking facial expression.
Their findings, published Friday in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, revealed 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 have been traded from afar, said study author Sahar Saleem, a 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 included the removal of all such organs except the heart.
The researchers found that the anonymous woman stood 1.54 meters, or a little more than 5 feet, tall and suffered from mild arthritis of the spine, with scans revealing bone spurs on some vertebrae that make up the backbone. Several teeth, likely lost before death, were also missing from the woman’s jaw.
However, the study was not able to determine an exact cause of death.
“Here we show that she was embalmed with costly, imported embalming material,” Saleem said in a news release.
“This, and the mummy’s well-preserved appearance, contradicts the traditional belief that a failure to remove her inner organs implied poor mummification.”
The coffin of the "screaming" mummy is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. - Rogers Fund, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Only a few ancient Egyptian mummies have been found with their mouths open, the study noted, with embalmers typically wrapping the jawbone and the skull to keep the deceased’s mouth shut.
What caused the woman’s chilling expression isn’t clear from the study findings, although the researchers put forward a grisly hypothesis.
What mummification techniques reveal
Saleem said the well-preserved nature of the mummy, the rarity and expense of the embalming material, along with other funerary techniques such as the use of a wig made from a date palm and rings placed on the body, seemed to rule out a careless mummification process in which embalmers neglected to close her mouth.
The mummy’s “screaming facial expression” could be read as a cadaveric spasm, a rare form of muscular stiffening associated with violent deaths, implying that the woman died screaming from agony or pain, according to the study.
It’s possible, the study authors suggested, that she was mummified within 18 to 36 hours of death before her body relaxed or decomposed, thus preserving her open mouth position at death.
However, a mummy’s facial expression does not necessarily indicate how a person was feeling at death, the study noted.
Several other factors, including the decomposition process, the rate of desiccation, or drying out, and the compressive force of the wrappings, could all affect a mummy’s facial expression.
“Burial procedures or post-mortem alterations might have contributed to the phenomena of mummies with screaming appearances,” the authors noted in the study.
“The cause or true history or circumstances of the death of this woman are unknown, hence the cause of her screaming facial appearance cannot be established with certainty,” Saleem said via email.
CT scans, including of the teeth (left) and brain, have revealed new details about the mummy’s morphology, health conditions and preservation. - Sahar Saleem
Open-mouthed mummies
The “screaming woman” had been buried beneath the tomb of Senmut, an architect of the temple of Egyptian queen Hatschepsut (1479–1458 BC) who held important positions during her reign. It’s thought the woman was related to Senmut, according to the study.
The discovery of her remains occurred during an expedition led by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and her coffin is on display there today. Her mummified body is stored at the Cairo 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 known as Pentawere, had his throat slit for his role in assassinating his father, Ramesses III (1185-1153 BC). His body was barely embalmed, indicating a lack of care in the mummification process, Saleem said in the news release.
The second mummy was a woman known as Princess Meritamun, who died of a heart attack, and Saleem’s analysis suggested her wide mouth was due to a postmortem contraction or movement of her jaw.
Randall Thompson, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine, who has 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 mummy’s open mouth “made sense.”
“Their investigation helps us to 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 much about health and disease from the study of ancient mummies,” he added.
“For example, we have learned that heart disease is not new, as many people used to believe. It is literally older than Moses.”
Mummy with shrieking expression may have "died screaming from agony"
Haley Ott
Updated Fri, August 2, 2024
Mummy with shrieking expression may have "died screaming from agony"
The mummy of an ancient Egyptian woman with her mouth wide open in what looks like an anguished shriek may have died "screaming from agony," researchers say.
The unnamed woman mummy, discovered in a 1935 archeological expedition in Deir el-Bahari near Luxor, was kept in The Cairo Egyptian Museum and referred to as "Screaming Woman Mummy of the store of Kasr al Ainy."
In an article in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, scientists said they used CT scans and other testing to examine whether the mummy had any pathological abnormalities and assess potential causes of death.
They found that the woman, who was around 48 years old at the time she died, had lost some teeth and lived with mild arthritis of the spine. Her body was embalmed about 3,500 years ago with high quality ingredients.
Ancient Egyptians mummified bodies because they believed preserving them after death secured a worthy existence in the afterlife. Usually, internal organs would be removed during the mummification process, but that did not take place with the "Screaming Woman."
"In ancient Egypt, the embalmers took care of the dead body so it would look beautiful for the afterlife. That's why they were keen to close the mouth of the dead by tying the jaw to the head to prevent the normal postmortem jaw drop," lead researcher in the study, Cairo University radiology professor Sahar Saleem, told the Reuters news agency.
But this had not happened in the case of the "Screaming Woman."
"This opened the way to other explanations of the widely opened mouth — that the woman died screaming from agony or pain and that the muscles of the face contracted to preserve this appearance at the time of death due to cadaveric spasm," Saleem told Reuters, adding that, due to all of the unknowns around her history, the cause of her expression can't be established with certainty.
Saleem told Reuters that cadaveric spasm is a poorly understood condition, where contracted muscles become rigid immediately after death.
Ancient 'Screaming' Mummy May Have Been ‘Suffering Before Death,’ Researchers Say: See the Photos
Updated Fri, August 2, 2024
Mummy with shrieking expression may have "died screaming from agony"
The mummy of an ancient Egyptian woman with her mouth wide open in what looks like an anguished shriek may have died "screaming from agony," researchers say.
The unnamed woman mummy, discovered in a 1935 archeological expedition in Deir el-Bahari near Luxor, was kept in The Cairo Egyptian Museum and referred to as "Screaming Woman Mummy of the store of Kasr al Ainy."
In an article in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, scientists said they used CT scans and other testing to examine whether the mummy had any pathological abnormalities and assess potential causes of death.
They found that the woman, who was around 48 years old at the time she died, had lost some teeth and lived with mild arthritis of the spine. Her body was embalmed about 3,500 years ago with high quality ingredients.
Ancient Egyptians mummified bodies because they believed preserving them after death secured a worthy existence in the afterlife. Usually, internal organs would be removed during the mummification process, but that did not take place with the "Screaming Woman."
"In ancient Egypt, the embalmers took care of the dead body so it would look beautiful for the afterlife. That's why they were keen to close the mouth of the dead by tying the jaw to the head to prevent the normal postmortem jaw drop," lead researcher in the study, Cairo University radiology professor Sahar Saleem, told the Reuters news agency.
But this had not happened in the case of the "Screaming Woman."
"This opened the way to other explanations of the widely opened mouth — that the woman died screaming from agony or pain and that the muscles of the face contracted to preserve this appearance at the time of death due to cadaveric spasm," Saleem told Reuters, adding that, due to all of the unknowns around her history, the cause of her expression can't be established with certainty.
Saleem told Reuters that cadaveric spasm is a poorly understood condition, where contracted muscles become rigid immediately after death.
Ancient 'Screaming' Mummy May Have Been ‘Suffering Before Death,’ Researchers Say: See the Photos
Abigail Adams
Fri, August 2, 2024
Researchers originally believed the mummified woman’s open mouth could have been the result of a “poor mummification” process
2024 Sahar N. Saleem and El-MerghaniThe 'Screaming Woman' mummy, believed to be from Egypt's 18th Dynasty
A new study suggests a famous screaming mummy from ancient Egypt may have died in agony.
The facial expression exuded by the Screaming Mummy of Cairo, also known as the “Screaming Woman,” could mean the woman was “suffering before death,” according to a new article published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.
The mummified woman was discovered at Deir el-Bahari near Luxor in 1935, according to Reuters.
Originally, researchers believed the woman’s open mouth could have been a result of a “poor mummification” process.
But according to the new study, which utilized CT scans to gather new information, “tests revealed expensive imported embalming materials” were used on the woman’s body, debunking that original theory.
Related: 4,300-Year-Old Mummy Covered in Gold Is Among the Dazzling Discoveries Made at Egyptian Site
Sahar Saleem, a radiology professor at Cairo University, told Reuters this new research opened the door to other explanations regarding the mummy’s open mouth.
Now, researchers believe the woman’s face may have become “fixed by cadaveric spasm,” which occurs when muscles become “stiff and rigid immediately after death,” according to a 2023 article published by the National Library of Medicine.
“That the woman died screaming from agony or pain,” Saleem said, “and that the muscles of the face contracted to preserve this appearance at the time of death due to cadaveric spasm.”
2024 Sahar N. Saleem and El-MerghaniThe "Screaming Woman" mummy found in Egypt in 1935
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But since experts are unfamiliar with the “history or circumstances” surrounding the woman’s death, Saleem said they cannot officially determine what caused her unique facial expression.
However, Saleem told Reuters that she does not think the woman to have been embalmed while still alive: “I don't believe that this is possible.”
Related: Man with 800-Year-Old Mummy in Bag — Whom He Called Juanita, His 'Spiritual Girlfriend' — Detained in Peru
The “Screaming Woman” is believed to have been around 48 years old when she died, according to the study.
Her remains were “discovered beneath Theban Tomb 71,” where relatives of Senmut, a high-ranking official from the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, are buried.
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