Egypt… a place where civilization flourished on the banks of the fruitful Nile. When you hear the word Egypt, you think of the pyramids standing tall against a backdrop of long stretches of sand. Ancient Egyptians mummified their dead. Mummies hold a large place in the public consciousness of the country of Egypt.
Now scientists have recreated the face of the mummy named Mysterious Lady in Warsaw, Poland. The Mysterious Lady is the world’s first discovered pregnant mummy. There was a fetus with their mummy. This mummy is kept in Warsaw, Poland. Now the mummy’s face was recreated using special 2D and 3D imaging techniques.
∙ Mummy in Warsaw
Last year, scientists from the Warsaw Mummy Project in Poland announced the strange secret that the mummy of the mysterious woman was pregnant, shocking the world’s Egyptian culture enthusiasts. This mummy is estimated to be between 25 and 35 years old. At the time of its discovery, the researchers believed that it was the mummy of a male priest who lived in Egypt. However, the personal information about this mummy remained unknown.
One question that has puzzled scientists is how the unborn baby inside the mummy survived intact for two millennia. Scientists have answered the reason for this. A mummified body becomes acidic (presence of acid) over time. This acidic presence also occurs in the womb. An increase in the amount of chemicals like ammonia and formic acid leads to acidity. Scientists say that it is the acidic presence that covered the unborn child that protected it for two thousand years.
Mummification processes in Egypt also used a special type of natron soil mixed with salt. This earthen envelope prevented atmospheric air and oxygen from entering the body and provided further protection to the unborn child.
But this unborn child had very few bones. This was also the reason why the baby was not seen during the scan procedures. Scientists also have an answer as to why this happened. Scientists say that in general, there is not much bone formation in pre-born babies by six months. Over 2,000 years of exposure to acidic conditions can cause decay of existing bones. But the body tissues will remain.
The young woman’s internal organs were removed during mummification. Yet there is a question why the unborn child was not transferred. Scientists reply that it is due to the beliefs about the afterlife that prevailed among the Egyptians at that time.
∙ Cutting faces
Scientists have used modern technology to give faces to many mummies found in Egypt to know what they looked like when they were alive. The mummies of many famous ancient Egyptians, such as Tiye Rani, Meritamun, Hatsheput, Nefertiti, etc., were discovered after undergoing scientific tests.
Last January, scientists recreated the face of a 2,600-year-old Egyptian mummy using state-of-the-art computer technology with the help of CT scans and other information. At that time, the scientists were researching a very beautiful mummy named Schepanisis with big eyes with brown pupils and slightly protruding teeth. This mummy is kept in the library of Sao Gallo Abbey in the city of St. Gallen, Switzerland. The researchers spent months to reconstruct their faces. The research was conducted by a joint team of scientists from FAPAB Research Center in Sicily and Flinders University in Australia. Renowned 3D designer Brazilian Cicero Morais recreated the mummy’s face.
English Summary: Forensics reveal stunning face of ancient Egypt’s ‘Mysterious Lady’ mummy