In 2016, archaeologists finally accepted that a 2,000-year-old mummy was not a male priest when CT scans revealed the embalmed corpse seemed to be carrying a baby! It was declared the ‘only known case of an embalmed pregnant individual’. But subsequent discussion has disputed this. Now, forensic scientists have reconstructed the face of the elite Egyptian woman. But have they got it right? And do we know yet if she was pregnant?
Breaking the ‘Pregnant Mummy’ Story
Last year Ancient Origins covered the story of a team of Polish archaeologists, known as the Warsaw Mummy Project , who in 2015 X-rayed a 2000-year-old Egyptian woman’s mummified body. They determined that she had died between 20-30 years old when she was between 26 and 30 weeks pregnant, based mainly on the presence of material clearly visible in the CT and X-Ray scans of the pelvis.
These scans show what appeared to be a fetus in the pelvis region. ( Journal of Archaeological Science )
Measuring what was believed to be the fetus’ skull, the term of the pregnancy was determined to be 26-30 weeks. The mummified skeleton of the lady also exhibited other characteristics that seemed to suit those of a pregnant woman.
But in January 2022, a radiology professor, Sahar Saleem opened up the debate , by offering a ‘radiological reassessment’. He claimed that as the composition of the actual material visible was not known, it could not be assumed to be a fetus, and noted that “Structures detected by…
