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An ancient Egyptian woman die out in so much pain , her muscles outright locked up — freeze her final scream in seat for 3,500 year , an depth psychology of the mummy , dubbed the " Screaming Woman , " bring out .
The investigator also rule that the cleaning lady had been embalm in expensive import gist and had all of her organs inside her soundbox , hint a unparalleled way of preservation .
When found in the coffin, the “Screaming Woman” was unwrapped, lying on her back with her legs extended and her hands folded above the groin.
The investigator unveil their finding in a young study publish Friday ( Aug. 2 ) in the journalFrontiers in Medicine .
" Mummification inancient Egyptis still full of secrets , " study Colorado - authorSahar Saleem , a mummy radiotherapist at Kasr Al Ainy Hospital of Cairo University , assure Live Science in an electronic mail . entire organ are normally a sign of poor or neglectedmummification , but the Screaming Woman was remarkably well keep up .
" This was a surprise to me , as the Hellenic method acting of mummification in the New Kingdom [ circa 1550 to 1070 B.C. ] included the remotion of all organs except the gist , " Saleem allege .
The gaping mouth suggests that the woman might have been in pain when she died.(Image credit: Sahar Saleem)
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archeologist unearth the " Screaming Woman " mummy , name after her gawk mouthpiece , in Deir el - Bahari , near Luxor , Egypt , in 1935 while excavate the grave ofSenenmut , a prominent architect and government official who was rumor to be the occult lover ofQueen Hatshepsut . The Screaming Woman was bury in a nearby burying chamber and is likely a penny-pinching family member of Senenmut , Saleem noted .
The mummy was grace with a black wig and two scarab mob . Her instinctive fuzz had been dyed with henna and juniper . Electron microscopy revealed that the wig was made from date palm ; an cristal - ray diffraction test showed it contained a mix of quartz , magnetite and albite crystals , likely to stiffen the lock and give her haircloth a fatal people of color , Saleem said . Wigs were ordinarily used for funerary purposes and in day - to - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. life .
Sahar Saleem performs a CT scan on the mummy.(Image credit: Sahar Saleem)
The secret to her saving likely lies in her unsparing embalming , Saleem and study co - authorSamia El - Merghani , of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities , found . Using infrared spectroscopy , they discovered shadow of juniper resin andfrankincense , which are luxurious intersection belike spell into Egypt from the Eastern Mediterranean and East Africa or Southern Arabia . The rosin and frankincense forestall the body from decay due to bacteria and insects .
This is not the only mummy discovered with a screaming manifestation — Prince Pentawere(1173 to 1155 B.C. ) andPrincess Meritamun(1525 to 1504 B.C. ) were also unearth with open back talk , Saleem notice .
" initiative of the mouth takes place when these muscles relax during sleeping or when they decompose after death , " Saleem say . " so as to keep the deceased ’s mouth close , embalmer frequently roll the mandible around the skull . "
The CT scan of the pubic bone showed that the Screaming Woman was about 48 years old when she died.(Image credit: Sahar Saleem)
But this case was different : The gawk rima oris was due to a painful death . " The mummy ’s screaming facial locution in this report could be read as a cadaverous spasm , implying that the woman died screaming from excruciation , " Saleem tell . Cadaveric spasmoccurs when the muscles are contracted just moments before death , causing them to constrain . This condition can pass off in instances such as deaths by assault , felo-de-se or drowning .
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The Screaming Woman has lost a few teeth at the time of death.(Image credit: Sahar Saleem)
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Unlike the effort of destruction of the two other mommy — Pentawere go of suicide and Meritamun of a heart attack — a computed tomography ( CT ) scan of the Screaming Woman did not reveal her grounds of death .
However , the 2D and 3D paradigm from the CT scan did shed light on the charwoman ’s acme , age and medical conditions , showing that she had stood about 5 feet ( 1.5 meter ) tall . The reefer between her two pelvic bones , whichchangesas humans age , designate that she was around 48 years old when she died . The bone on her spine also suggested she may have had balmy arthritis . The woman was overleap several teeth , which were probably lose right before death — indicated by unhealed teeth sockets .
The mummy was adorned with gold and silver scarab rings.(Image credit: Sahar Saleem)
Saleem and her team hope that move on in scientific technique will enable them to bring out more information about the mummy .
" Her well - preserved body was like a meter condensation that enabled us to cognize how she lived , the diseases she suffer from , and catch her decease that could be in botheration , " Saleem state . " This eccentric of bailiwick humanize the mummy and let us look to her as a human being . "
The Screaming Woman is hold in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo , while her coffin and rings are on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City .
The electron microscopy image of the Screaming Woman’s wig showed that it was made of palm fiber.(Image credit: Sahar Saleem)
The Screaming Woman likely died in pain but her cause of death is still unknown.(Image credit: Sahar Saleem)
