Archaeologists believe they may have solved the mystery surrounding an ancient Egyptian mummy found with its face frozen in agony for a millennia.
Dubbed the Screaming Woman, the mummified body and its pained expression has remained a subject of intrigue for almost a century.
It had been suggested that the facial expression of the woman’s mummified body, thought to date back some 3,000 years, was due to her body being poorly embalmed.
But archaeologists are now of the belief that she may have died in pain and distress, with a rare “cadaveric spasm” immortalising her expression at the point of death. Spasms of this kind are associated with brutal deaths and intense emotions.
Sahar Saleem, a professor of radiology at Kasr Al Ainy Hospital of Cairo University in Egypt, said the mummy is a “true time capsule” that preserved her final moments.
“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,” Prof Saleem said.
The remains were discovered in an ancient site in Luxor, underneath the ornate tomb of a Senmut, a prominent ancient Egyptian architect and government official.
Archaeologists, led by the Metropolitan Museum of New York, found the Screaming Woman inside a wooden coffin with legs extended and arms folded above her groin.
On her left hand were two gold and silver scarab rings, and she was buried with a black wig made from date palm fibres treated with quartz, magnetite and albite crystals.
Analysis found that her natural hair had been dyed with henna and juniper but its believed ancient Egyptians preferred black hair for its association with youth.
Researchers estimate the Screaming Woman would have stood at around 5ft tall and died aged 48.
Prof Saleem said unlike classic mummification methods, the mummy’s brain, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys and intestine had not been removed.
Scans showed The Screaming Women had lost and broken many of her teeth before dying and had suffered from mild spinal arthritis, in findings published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.
Scientists also discovered she had been embalmed with juniper and frankincense, expensive items that would have had to be imported into Egypt, challenging the theory that her agony-stricken expression was due to poor embalming.
Prof Saleem said the findings “show that she was embalmed with costly, imported embalming material.” He added: This, and the mummy’s well-preserved appearance, contradicts the traditional belief that a failure to remove her inner organs implied poor mummification.”
But the cause of the The Screaming Woman’s death remains a mystery.