‘Screaming Mummy’ embalmed ‘crying in terror’ revealed as Egyptian Princess who died from heart attack 3000 years ago
A MUMMY found embalmed screaming in terror has been revealed as an Egyptian Princess who died from a heart attack 3,000 years ago.
Researchers used CT scans to reveal the princess died of a massive heart and was preserved in the posture at the moment of her death.
The position of the remains - found in a hidden location in Luxor, Egypt - suggests the woman was not discovered until hours after her death.
The time elapsed may have been long enough to develop death spasms, with embalmers preserving the body as it was found.
The body was discovered in 1881 in the Royal Cachette of Deir El-Bahari - a site used by priests of the 21st and 22nd dynasties to hide the remains of royals.
MUMMY MYSTERY
Up until now her death and her identity has remained a mystery.
A study carried out by renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and Sahar Saleem, professor of radiology at Cairo University, revealed that severe atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries led to the princess' sudden death from a heart attack.
Hawass told that the ancient Egyptian embalming process had preserved the posture of the princess at the moment of death.
Writings in the ancient hieratic Egyptian language on the linen wraps of the mummy read: “The royal daughter, the royal sister of Meret Amon.”
The results of CT scan also indicated that she died in her sixth decade and received a good mummification treatment.
Hawass said that the results indicated that the mummy suffered from a severe degree of atherosclerosis, which affected many arteries of the body.
Atherosclerosis is a degenerative disease that progressively affects the arterial wall, leading to a narrowing of the cavity and blockage of the vessel.
The CT scan showed that she suffered from atherosclerosis of the right and left coronary arteries, neck arteries, abdominal aorta and iliac arteries, as well as the arteries of the lower extremities.
“We assume that the dead body of ‘the screaming woman’ might not have been discovered until hours later, enough to develop rigor mortis,” Hawass explained.
“We assume that the embalmers likely mummified the contracted body of the ‘screaming woman’ before it decomposed or relaxed.
"The embalmers were thus unable to secure the mouth closed or put the contracted body in the state of lying down, as was usual with the other mummies, thus preserving her facial expression and posture at the time of death,” he said.
The Royal Cachette also contained the 'mummy of the screaming man' which was recently uncovered as that of Pentawere, son of King Ramses III.
The scientific team of the Egyptian Mummy Project used CT scans and DNA to determine the young royal's identity.
Pentawere was forced to commit suicide by hanging as a punishment for his involvement in the killing of his father, in what is now known as the Harem Conspiracy.
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The murderous son was punished by not being embalmed and instead his body was wrapped in a sheep skin, which indicates that he was considered "unclean" and that his fate was to be punished in the afterlife.
Other mummies were wrapped in white linen and carefully mummified.
Earlier this year, an Egyptian teenage girl was found buried with her 'bridal jewellery'.
The treasures buried with the mummy in the 3,600 year old coffin are thought to be a dowry of expensive items that would have been gifted with a bride at a wedding.
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