Warsaw Mummy Project
The discovery dates back to 2016, but only recently did the researchers of the Warsaw Mummy Project ascertain that the girl, who apparently died between the ages of twenty and thirty, had been pregnant for about thirty weeks when she was mummified, and would still carry the fetus inside her womb in an excellent state of conservation.
According to a press release by Dr. Wojciech Ejsmond, archaeologist and researcher part of the Warsaw Mummy Project, the condition of "sweet expectation" of the mummy is truly unique, as it is the only recorded case of the mummification process (and on the subject we recommend the book "The Mummies" available for purchase at this link) without first p review the removal of the fetus.
Anthropologist and archaeologist Marzena Ożarek-Szilke, who along with Ejsmond and other scholars described the discovery in the Journal of Archaeological Science, says that she and her husband stumbled upon the mummified fetus by pure chance. While they were putting together the material collected for the disclosure of the study, taking a last look at the images they noticed something very familiar to those who have already become parents, the outline of a tiny foot in the abdominal area of the mummy!
Warsaw Mummy Project
Researchers hypothesize that pregnancy itself may have been the cause of death of this young woman, most likely belonging to the high society Theban at the time. The complications of pregnancy, at the time, could certainly have caused the death of many young women, but in this case it was only hypothesized, making it possible to develop very different scenarios. Also in the light of the still unclear fact that the mummy rested in the sarcophagus destined for an elderly and powerful priest.
What mystery surrounds this ancient tragedy then? Because a young mother who dies with a child in her womb is always a tragedy, even if veiled by the sands of time.