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In a new study published on Friday in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, about 3,500 years after the woman’s burial, two researchers from Egypt used the latest scientific techniques to examine the mummy of the Screaming Woman and learn about her life and death.

It was long believed that the woman’s mummification was poor, which might explain her horrific facial expression, as the embalmers failed to close her mouth before burial. However, the new study conducted by researchers Sahar Saleem, a professor of radiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University, and archaeological researcher Samia El-Mirghani, offers a different perspective. They believe the woman may have died during severe torture.

Saleem explains that the mummy was found in the tomb of the family of Senenmut (a significant statesman and architect during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut) by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s expedition in New York at Deir el-Bahari in Luxor in 1935. The mummified woman wore a long black wig, and her facial expression was that of a wide-open mouth as if screaming, hence the name “the Screaming Woman Mummy.”

CT scans showed that the brain and all the internal organs were still inside the mummy’s body, and there was no embalming incision in the abdomen, unlike the standard mummification style in the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. Analysis of the mummy’s samples revealed the presence of expensive imported embalming materials with insect-repelling properties on the mummy’s surface (such as juniper resin and frankincense). The CT scans and examinations demonstrated the method of making the wig from palm fibres treated with juniper wood and coated with mineral crystals to give the wig a shine and black colour.

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