Scientists reconstruct the face of the oldest mummy in the world and discover something

Experts have used statistics, technology and artistic approaches to reconstruct the appearance of the preserved body of a 2,000-year-old Egyptian woman. The result created two facial hypotheses. Scientific studies were also able to determine the cause of death: cancer.

See what the 2,000-year-old pregnant mummy looked like.

Read more: Check out 6 super interesting facts about Ancient Egypt

An X-ray and CT scan produced a digital autopsy that allowed “seeing” underneath the bandages and into the preserved body. The same method that allowed detecting the possible fetus in her uterus in previous research. Dark, youthful skin and brown eyes were seen in both reconstructions.

Advances in forensic science technology

Forensic scientist Chantal Milani reminds us that reconstructions of the faces of people who lived so long ago should not be considered as exact portrayals of an individual's appearance, but rather as an approximation artistic. Each person's skull, like other anatomical structures, has unique details, proportions and shapes that are manifested in the soft tissues, which contributes to the personalization of the appearance.

According to her, the thin facial skeleton, following different anatomical rules, requires certain standard reconstruction procedures. This establishes, for example, the shape of the nose. The thickness of the soft tissue in various parts of the bones is the most significant factor: with statistical data from different populations around the world, it is possible to generate a good approximation of what the woman in antique.

Meet the mysterious mummy

Researchers initially thought the 19th-century mummy was a male priest. In 1826, the University of Warsaw received the mummy as a gift. It was scanned almost two centuries later. Thanks to so little information about her, the woman was nicknamed the “Mysterious Lady”.

Scholars estimate that she was around 20 years old when she died of cancer. She is the world's first mummy pregnant with a 28-week-old fetus. Despite this, other archaeologists doubt the find, as the skeletal bones of the fetus do not appear to be present and there is no definite body shape. Another hypothesis is that the fetus would be embalming material.