Originally Perceived As Pastor, Researchers Surprised To Find Pregnant Woman's Mummy

Illustration of an Egyptian mummy. (Wikimedia Commons/www.metmuseum.org)

JAKARTA - Polish scientists who joined the Warsaw Mummy Project were surprised by the findings of a pregnant woman's mummy, originally thought to be the mummy of a priest.

The team, formed in 2015, conducted ongoing research to thoroughly examine human and animal mummies from Ancient Egypt at the National Museum of Warsaw, Poland.

The team was surprised by the condition of one of the mummies that was originally considered a priest's mummy, but found a small leg in the mummy's abdomen during a scan.

According to Marzena Ożarek-Szilke, an anthropologist and archaeologist from the University of Warsaw's Faculty of Archaeology, she and her colleagues have summarized their research and are preparing to submit their findings for publication.

She told Poland's state news agency PAP, "With my husband Stanisław, an Egyptian archaeologist, we saw the pictures one last time and saw a familiar image for the parents of three children in the belly of the dead woman, a small leg".

Researchers. (Source: Warsaw Mummy Project via CNN)

Wojtek Ejsmond, one of the three founders of the Warsaw Mummy Project, told CNN the mummy was first brought to Poland in 1826 by Jan Wężyk-Rudzki.

At the time it was believed to be a woman, but views changed in the 1920s when an inscription on the sarcophagus was translated to reveal the name of an Egyptian priest, Hor-Djehuty. Although it belongs to the University of Warsaw, the mummy has been on loan to the museum since 1917, where it is on display.

During his research, the team of scientists revealed some interesting clues. Using computer tomography, which means mummy bandages do not have to be removed, they find that the body has a fragile skeletal structure.

A more detailed analysis convinced the researchers, that the body was female because there were no signs of a penis. The body's 3D visualization clearly shows long, curly hair, and mummified breasts, according to the team.

Ejsmond said the woman's mummy is estimated to have died between the ages of 20 and 30 and her fetus was between 26 and 30 weeks pregnant.

"We don't know the cause of death, it will be the subject of further investigation," he said.

One of the biggest questions scientists have is why do fetuses, whose gender has not been determined to remain, while internal organs are routinely removed before mummification?

The mummified scan results are in the middle of hami. (Source: Warsaw Mummy Project via CNN)

"The whole discovery drew our attention to the question of why it wasn't removed. We don't know why it was left there. Maybe for religious reasons. Maybe they think the unborn child has no soul or will be safer in the next world. Or maybe because it is very difficult to get the child out at that stage from the womb without causing serious damage," he said.

When Wężyk-Rudzki originally brought the mummy to Poland in the 19th century, he stated that the mummy had been found in the Kingdom's ancient tomb at Thebes. But archaeologists are unsure about this or the mummy's background.

'We're not sure if that's true. It is very common for people to give false origins to archaeologists, to increase their value and significance because it looks better. So we have to be very careful with statements like that. There's no reason for that. confirmation," he said.

This could also explain why the mummy was wrapped in a grave with the priest's name.

"It's one of the most complicated things." We know that in ancient Egypt the coffin was reused. Sometimes graves are robbed and stolen so they can be reused. During the 18th and 19th centuries, mummified tombs were robbed and antique dealers stole valuables and replaced corpses," he concluded.