image source, WMP
Reconstructed image from CT scan data of 2,100-year-old mummy fetus.
Last year, a team of researchers at the Warsaw Mummy Project (WMP) in Poland A 2,100-year-old Egyptian mummy, nicknamed “Mysterious Woman,” has been discovered, which contains the remains of a 7-month-old fetus. This made her the world’s first mummy with an embryo still in the womb.
This year, a team of WMP researchers published a new study in the Journal of Archaeological Science, suggesting that the fetus remains intact. Even if it is not touched by the process of making mummies at all. because it is in the condition of being naturally pickled by weak acid
Dr. Marcina Ozarek-Zilke Lead research team from the University of Warsaw said. “The mummies didn’t remove the baby’s body from the mother’s womb. Causing the remains of the child to be kept in a sealed womb like a good container The pH of the mother’s blood and uterine fluid continued to increase. Inside there is a high concentration of ammonia and formic acid.”
“The mummy-makers taking natron, a mixture of salt and minerals from the dried up lake bottom, Pop it over and insert it into the corpse of a mysterious woman. This dried up her body and also prevented air, especially oxygen, from getting inside. The carcass of the fetus was preserved in vinegar inside a sealed jar.”
However, the researchers found no traces of bone left in the baby, leading Egyptian radiologist and mummy investigator Dr Zahar Saleem to suspect that the baby was born. The thing in the mystery woman’s belly may not be a baby. But it’s just a bag that mummies use to stuff the corpse into the belly. Only after the internal organs have been removed
image source, WMP
Researchers are preparing to scan the mummy of a “mysterious woman” on a computed tomography machine.
Dr. Ozarek-Silkay Answer the questions of Dr. Saleem said: “The fetal bones are already difficult to see with a scanner in the first two trimesters. Because there are not many minerals to strengthen. Especially if the baby carcass is in an acidic environment. The more the bones are eroded and the minerals are lost. But it is harder for corroded soft tissues to absorb the decayed minerals from this bone. and made the remains of the baby more visible during the scan.”
“The process is no different from mummification after a corpse has been immersed in a shallow swamp for a long time. A weakly acidic environment helps to preserve the tissues of the corpses.”
“The missing bone of the mummy fetus But the body parts that are tissues are still there. It’s no different from pickling a whole egg in vinegar. The acid will corrode the bone-like mineralized shell. Only the egg white and yolk remained intact.”
The analysis of the width of the vagina and the posture of the fetus also indicated that The mysterious woman did not die from childbirth. but nevertheless The researchers still don’t know the exact cause of the death of the mother and child. And why the coroner doesn’t remove the baby’s body like other organs, these questions will need further study in the future.