The mystery of the "screaming mummy," discovered in 1935 in Deir Elbahari, Egypt, may finally be resolved. The mummy's contorted face has long suggested a painful death.
A recent study led by Egyptian archaeologist Sahar Saleem and published in Frontiers in Medicine, utilized advanced CT scan technology to examine the mummy. The scans revealed the woman was approximately 48 years old and about 5 feet tall. She also suffered from arthritis. Researchers believe her facial expression may be the result of a cadaveric spasm, a muscle stiffening that occurs immediately after death due to extreme pain or emotional distress. This suggests she may have died screaming in agony, making it impossible to close her mouth during mummification.
Despite being buried in a simple wooden coffin, the woman was embalmed with expensive materials, including incense and juniper. Unusually, her organs were left intact, deviating from common New Kingdom mummification practices. This challenges the assumption that leaving organs inside resulted in poor preservation. While her identity and exact cause of death remain unknown, this research provides insights into the possible agonizing final moments of an ancient Egyptian woman.