The “Screaming Woman” is a mummy discovered in 1935 at Deir Elbahari near Luxor. Dating back to around 1500 BC, during ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom period, she died with her mouth wide open, appearing as if she were screaming in anguish.

A new study led by Sahar Saleem, a radiology professor at Cairo University, noted that only a few ancient Egyptian mummies have been found with their mouths open. Typically, embalmers would wrap the jawbone and skull to keep the deceased’s mouth shut, crucial for ensuring a worthy existence in the afterlife. However, despite the open mouth of this mummy, the well-preserved state of the body and the quality of the embalming ingredients suggest that the mummification process was not careless. In fact, the body was mummified quite well and received luxurious funerary apparel.

Although the exact cause of death remains unclear, scientists used CT scans to perform a “virtual dissection” and revealed that she may have died in agony. The scans suggest she experienced a rare form of muscular stiffening called cadaveric spasm, which occurs at the moment of death after severe physical or emotional suffering. This condition causes the muscles to become rigid immediately after death, according to Saleem.

The full study led by professor Sahar Salem can be found in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.