X-ray examination of an ancient Khor Dzekhuti mummy preserved at the Warsaw National Museum since 1826 revealed that the embalmed body belonged to a pregnant woman and not to a man, as previously thought.
This was reported by the BBC.
Scientists had previously thought it was a priest because of the corresponding hieroglyphics on the sarcophagus. Researchers now believe antiquities dealers put the woman's mummy in another sarcophagus in the 19th century, when tombs were being looted everywhere.
The mummy was found in Thebes and dates back to the first century BC. Presumably, the woman died at the age of 20-30 years, 26-28 weeks pregnant.
This mummification sample of a pregnant woman is the only one in the world. "This is our most important and most significant find to date, a complete surprise. It opens up possibilities for the study of pregnancy and the treatment of complications in those distant times," said Wojciech Eismond, a member of the team of scientists from the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Archaeologists cannot yet explain why the fetus was not extracted during the mummification. It is assumed that the embalmers simply could not do it. It is also possible that they tried to camouflage the pregnancy.
The National Museum in Warsaw has a collection of ancient Egyptian mummies, which have been little studied before. However, since 2015, an extensive study of the collection was launched as part of the Warsaw Mummies project.
Photo: OBOZREVATEL