Researchers argue over fetus found in Egyptian mummy
A Polish archaeological research team says it has discovered the first case of a "pickled" fetus inside an ancient Egyptian woman.
A research paper published in January by scientists from the Warsaw Mummy Project revealed that the body belonged to a pregnant woman who died between the ages of 20 and 30. The mummy arrived in Warsaw in 1826 inside a sarcophagus. At the time, the mummy was thought to be male, as the coffin inscription identified him as a male priest named Hor-Djehuty, adding more mystery to the story. The female mummy may have been stolen or transferred to the priest's sarcophagus.
Researchers believe that the woman belonged to the high-ranking community of Thebes, given the good quality of the mummification of the body. It is also believed that the woman was 26 to 30 weeks pregnant and that the fetus had "marinated" inside the womb.
Marzena Ożarek-Szilke, one of the researchers from the Polish team, told Science in Poland magazine: "During the mummification process, the deceased was covered in natron, a natural sodium mixture, in order to dry out the body. The fetus, however, remained in the womb and began to "marinate" in an acidic environment. The process was similar to that by which prehistoric bodies have been preserved to the present day in swamps.
However, in a phone interview with Al-Monitor, Sahar Selim, a radiologist at Cairo University, said, "It is not possible to detect bones through mummy examinations. Therefore, the discovery of the fetus is not certain. … What Polish finds describe as an embryo is nothing more than rolls of embalming material.
She continued: "No anatomical configuration or bones were detected. It does not make sense for the bones of the fetus to dissolve and its body to remain intact. Also, in the process of mummification, the uterus is removed along with the intestines, otherwise the body will rot and the mummification would be a failure.
Selim said the pelvic mass could not be the head of the fetus, as the Polish study claims, because the bones of a fetus' skull are not fused, "meaning the skull would have disintegrated and collapsed. " after death.
The process of mummification in ancient Egypt removed the inside of the body to prevent it from disintegrating, she said. "The uterus is a rich bacterial environment, which would cause the mummy to decompose. That is why there has been no discovery of fetuses inside ancient Egyptian mummies," Selim said.
In April 2021, the media was abuzz with news of the Warsaw Mummy Project claim. The Polish research team defends their theory in a published paper, arguing that this phenomenon is similar to naturally mummified bodies like an eggshell that contains a lot of calcium, or human bones.
The study compared the process to placing an egg in a bowl filled with acid, which would cause the shell to dissolve, leaving the albumen and yolk behind. This, according to the article, explains the lack of bone in the fetus, since the environment in the human body is alkaline and becomes acidic after death, which causes the bones to dissolve.
The journal adds that even up to the seventh month of pregnancy, the bones of the fetus are poorly mineralized, making them easier to dissolve than the bones of older children and adults.
Samia al-Mirghani, professor of anthropology and former director of the Center for Research and Conservation of Antiquities, told Al-Monitor: "The reason why there was the discovery of a pregnant mummy is that the fetus and the pregnant woman died while she was in labor…and the fetus was mummified inside her," which was detected by a CT scan of the mummy.
She added that in Egypt, CT scans are not done on all mummies, "but if these X-rays or CT scans are extended, we might discover many similar mummies."
Mirghani confirmed that the Ministry of Antiquities is still investigating whether the mummy left Egypt legally or smuggled.
Zahi Hawass, a former Egyptian minister of antiquities, told Al-Monitor that the discovery is not the first case of a pregnant mummy, as in 2010 another pregnant mummy was discovered.
The body belonged to a dwarf dating back 4,600 years and was discovered in the tombs of the workers who built the pyramids, he told Al-Monitor.
"We discovered this mummy in the graves of the workers, and at the time it was a first. What the Polish scientists discovered is not something new for us," Hawas added.
-- Sent from my Linux system.
Many thanks for writing about our discovery. I just would like to mention that Dr Hawass discovered a skeleton of a pregnant woman, not a mummy. This was already clarified by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities shortly after his claim. More details regarding our discovery can be found on our blog: http://blog.warsawmummyproject.com/why-the-foetus-of-the-pregnant-mummy-is-preserved
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