News Anthropology

An Egyptian mummy’s silent ‘scream’ might have been fixed at death

The cause may have been a cadaveric spasm, a muscular stiffening associated with violent deaths

A mummy with her mouth wide open

An ancient Egyptian mummy known as the Screaming Woman displays a facial expression preserved at the time of her death, possibly due to a rare muscle reaction.

Sahar Saleem

By Bruce Bower

An ancient Egyptian mummy, dubbed the “Screaming Woman” for what appears to be an open-mouthed look of pain or fear, might have had that expression fixed in place by a rare muscle reaction when she died.