Mystery behind ‘screaming’ mummy may finally be solved
The 3,500-year-old woman was found open mouthed in a burial chamber during excavations in Egypt in 1935.
The mystery behind an Egyptian mummy nicknamed the ‘Screaming Woman’ may have been solved.
The 3,500-year-old woman was found open mouthed in a burial chamber during excavations in Egypt in 1935.
Previous theories have thought embalmers simply forgot to close her mouth, but scientists now believe her expression was fixed in place by a rare muscle reaction.
Cadaveric spasms cause sudden muscle stiffen which is often associated with violent deaths, researchers reported in Frontiers in Medicine.
Her cause of death still remains unknown, meaning the spasms cannot be completely confirmed for the reason for her alarming look just yet.
CT scans also found the woman’s organs had not been removed, despite Egyptian embalmers always taking them out.
Imported juniper resin and frankincense had kept the body well-preserved, radiologist Sahar Saleem of Cairo University and anthropologist Samia El-Merghani found.
The woman’s hair was also died with juniper reside and henna.
She wore a braided wig made from palm fibers which were dyed black with a mineral treatment.
This colouring represented youth to ancient Egyptians, Saleem says.
The unnamed woman’s mummy was found inside a burial chamber for relative of Senmut, who was an architect during Queen Hatschepsut’s reign from 1479 B.C. to 1458 B.C.
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