Secret behind “Screaming Woman”

This mummy is the second woman that we managed to identify the reason for her death.

Known as the screaming woman, it was found in 1881 at Deir el-Bahari, in addition, her name, Meritamen, was written down on pieces of flax.

It is worthy to mention that there are two women with the same name: Meritamen who was Seqenenre Tao, and the second was Ramesses II’s daughter.

Finding the identity of this mysterious mummy is necessary. So, me and Dr. Sahar Saleem, the professor of radiology at Qasr El Eyni, solved the mystery of the screaming woman. We found out that this woman died of a heart attack three thousand years.

We also realized that this woman suffered from coronary artery disease that was the main reason for her death; moreover, the process of mummification has kept the position of the body as it is.

The story began in 1881 when BD320 was unearthed. The priests of the 21, and 22 dynasties used this spot for securing the mummies of the kings and queens from tomb thieves. One of the secured mummies was the Screaming Woman with her face that was full of horror and pain.

Through our study, we saw that her face inclined toward the right, and her legs were bent and twisted near the ankle, however, the mummies of the bodies of the princesses were used to be straight and their mouths used to be closed.

So, what is the truth behind this screaming mummy, why was it mummified in such a position, and did she faced the same fate of the screaming man’s death?

We solved this mystery by using the CAT Scan technique, and we discovered that Princess Meritamen, Seqenenre Tao’s daughter, and died in her sixties.

Furthermore, mummfiers took care carefully with her body as they removed all entrails and replaced them with expensive and valuable materials such as resin, perfunctory conundrum, in addition to covering the body with flax.

Finally, we acknowledged that this lady suffered from arteriosclerosis. Erosclerosis affects 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. Arteriosclerosis can be determined in a CT scan as areas of high calcification within the arterial walls, which can be identified according to the location of the artery.

CT scan of the mummy 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.

It seems that the “ Screaming Woman” died suddenly while on her current body posture with flexed crossed legs. Also, the pain she felt resulted in this position of her opened mouth. This was the first heart attack case for a woman three thousand years ago.

Contributed by: Rana Atef