Polish researchers studying a mummy from ancient Egypt expected to encounter a male priest, but computer and X-ray tests revealed that the mummy belonged to a pregnant woman with a seven-month-old fetus. The researchers said that this is the first known mummy of a pregnant woman in the world that is well protected.
This mummy was brought to Warsaw in 1826 and the inscriptions on its coffin indicate that it belonged to a male priest. Previous studies have not denied that the mummy was male.
"At first we were very surprised to see that she did not have a penis and instead had long breasts and hair, and then we found out that she was pregnant," anthropologist and archaeologist Marzena Ozarek-Szilke told reporters. "We were very surprised when we saw the small arms and legs of the fetus." Researchers have estimated the woman's age to be between 20 and 30, and based on the size of the fetus' skull, they estimate that she was 26 to 28 weeks pregnant.
Their findings from the Warsaw Mummy Project, a study on the mummies of the National Museum of the Polish capital, were recently published in the journal Archaeological Science. "This is the first known case of a pregnant mummy and opens new doors in the field of pregnancy studies and related customs," the article said.
"We do not know why the fetus was not removed from the abdomen when the woman was embalmed," said Wojciech Ejsmond, a member of the group. This is the reason why this mummy is unique. "No similar case has been found so far, which means that our mummy is the only known case in the world with a fetus."
According to the hieroglyphic script on the coffin, the mummy was originally thought to be a priest who lived between the first century BC and the first century AD. Researchers even believe that the mummy could be much older, and are still looking for possible causes of death.
The mummy has not been opened yet, but according to one of the scans, we know that the woman had curly hair up to her shoulders.
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