The mummy has been "screaming" for 3,000 years: the mystery of her death revealed
More than three thousand years after her burial in Ancient Egypt, the mummy of a noblewoman still appears to be screaming in terror, her mouth frozen wide open. Researchers using modern medical imaging have confirmed that this is not the result of poor embalming, but a rare muscle reaction that occurred at the exact moment of death.
More than three thousand years after her burial in Ancient Egypt, the mummy of a noblewoman still appears to be screaming in terror, her mouth frozen wide open beneath the linen wrappings. Researchers who re-examined the remains using medical imaging tools have now revealed that this is not a mistake by the embalmers, but a rare muscle reaction that occurred at the exact moment of death.
The mummy, nicknamed the "Screaming Woman," was discovered in 1935 in Thebes, buried near the tomb of Senmut, the royal architect of Queen Hatshepsut during the 18th Dynasty. For decades, it was believed that her distorted facial expression was caused by sloppy mummification, but an in-depth examination of the burial quality has completely debunked this theory. Researchers discovered that her body, the wrappings, and the magnificent wig on her head were coated with juniper resin and expensive incense imported specifically from the Land of Punt—prestigious and rare materials used exclusively for the burial of the upper class.
Her wig was not made of ordinary human hair, but of date palm fibers dyed with a special reddish henna and coated with mineral and quartz powder. These data prove that the body was treated with respect and significant investment, although one mystery remains: her internal organs were never removed for preservation in designated jars, and no incision was found indicating an intention to do so.
As part of a new study led by Prof. Sahar Saleem of Cairo University and Samia El-Merghani of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the mummy was scanned using CT scans, X-rays, and high-resolution electron microscopy. The scans revealed that she was a woman about 1.50 meters tall, who died around the age of 48 and suffered from tooth and joint wear.
Since her hands were placed at her sides rather than crossed on her chest—a position intended exclusively for members of the royal family—it was determined that she belonged to the local elite but was not born into the royal dynasty.
The tests led to the conclusion that the frozen facial expression was caused by a rare phenomenon known as "cadaveric spasm." Unlike normal rigor mortis, where the body gradually stiffens over hours, a cadaveric spasm instantly locks specific muscles at the exact moment of death, usually as a result of extreme physical pain or intense fright.
The researchers emphasized in their article in the journal "Frontiers in Medicine" that the woman likely died while screaming in intense agony. The exact cause of death remains a mystery, with hypotheses including a fatal heart attack, a sudden stroke, an aneurysm rupture, or a venomous snake bite.
The period in which the "Screaming Woman" lived and was buried—the 18th Dynasty and the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, around 1450–1500 BCE—coincides, according to biblical tradition and Jewish chronology, with the peak of the Egyptian slavery period and the years preceding the Exodus, or the beginning of the Exodus and the wanderings of the Children of Israel in the desert, in accordance with the calculation of the year 2448 from creation.
While the Egyptian elite in Thebes enjoyed immense wealth, luxurious wigs, and expensive mummification materials imported from the Land of Punt, the people of Israel, according to the biblical description in the Book of Exodus, groaned under forced labor, the building of the store cities of Pithom and Raamses, and the decrees of Pharaoh.
