EGYPT, 1935. ARCHAEOLOGISTS EXCAVATING A tomb in the necropolis of Thebes make an unsettling discovery: the mummified remains of an elderly woman, her mouth locked open in a frightful rictus as if screaming in horror.
In a further mystery, recent scans of the "Screaming Woman" revealed that she still possessed her internal organs, most of which would ordinarily have been removed during the embalming process.
If the woman had been mummified poorly, it was initially reasoned, this might explain her horrific expression, with the embalmers having simply neglected to close her mouth prior to her burial some 3,500 years ago.
However, an investigation by researchers from Cairo University and Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has made a case for the awful alternative-the poor woman did indeed die screaming in sheer agony.
"Here we show that she was embalmed with costly, imported embalming material," said paper author and radiologist professor Sahar Saleem, of Cairo University's Kasr AI Ainy Hospital, in a statement.
She continued: "This, and the mummy's well-preserved appearance, contradicts the traditional belief that a failure to remove her inner organs implied poor mummification."
In the study, Saleem took CT scans to allow her to virtually dissect the Screaming Woman and study her condition and state of preservation in fresh detail.
She also studied the materials used in the embalming process using such advanced techniques as scanning electron microscopy in which a surface is probed using a beam of electrons to create a high-resolution image and X-ray diffraction analysis, a non-destructive method that can reveal the chemical composition of a target object. The researchers' analysis of the previously unwrapped mummy revealed that it bore no embalming incision, consistent with how its internal organs (including the brain, lungs and liver) had been left in place.
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Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout'
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
Amber Ruffin
A LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SHOW ON CNN? YES, and it's a game show, too.
