Archaeologists discover the mummy of a woman who died in childbirth

Updated on December 31, 2023 at 10:02 AM

by Noamane Ragane

The mummified remains of a teenage girl who died during childbirth have been found in Egypt. Sensitive souls are advised to abstain.

The art of mummification is undoubtedly associated with ancient Egypt, although this is not the only region in the world to have practiced it. While the most elaborateand impressive mummifications were reserved for royalty, embalming was also practiced by the middle and lower classes. The mummified remains of an adolescent girl are proof of this. The particularity? The girl died in childbirth.

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Double birth

A study published in the InternationalJournal of Osteoarchaeology revealed the incredible discovery. Analysis of the mummified remains of a teenage girl aged between 14 and 17 revealed that she had died during childbirth in tragic circumstances, to say the least. Although the mummy had already been exhumed in 1908, it is only now that the cause of death has been identified.

Experts performed a CT scan of the body, an advanced imaging technique that measures the absorption of X-rays by tissues, before reconstructing 2D or 3D images. The archaeologists thus discovered that an infant had become trapped in her birth canal, a tragic situation that led to thedeathofthe young girl and her unborn children. Yes, she wasn't expecting a just baby, but rather twins.

Fetal death due to trauma

What the researchers discovered was beyond comprehension. One of the infants was decapitated and stuck in the canal. For the experts, the conclusion is indisputable: the baby was delivered by the feet. Sometimes, during this type of delivery, the head becomes trapped while the body progresses outwards. This causes the cervical spine to rupture and the baby to die.

What's more, the analysis revealed that the embalmers of the time had probably missed the presence of another baby. The researchers found it in the teenager's chest. This migration from the uterine cavity must have taken place over time and can be explained by the disappearance of her diaphragm.

The authors of the study state:

This tragic birth shows us just how risky pregnancy, labor and delivery could have been at that time in history

It's not for nothing that having twins was the worst of curses. Egyptian women had a whole arsenal of incantations to avoid becoming pregnant with twins. Examples of these incantations have already been found on ancient parchments.