Preserved Fetus Found Inside Abdomen of 2000-Year-Old Mummified Egyptian Mother

Experts announced an astounding breakthrough on the previous year when they discovered a preserved fetus inside the tummy of its mummified prehistoric Egyptian parent.

Moniker as the unknown woman, the lady whom perished in over 2,000 years ago, remains a mystery. However, researchers currently comprehend how the unborn baby was kept.

2000-Year-Old Mummified Egyptian Mother Preserved Unborn Baby

(Photo : Photo credit: ROLAND HOLSCHNEIDER/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)
An employee of the Egyptian Museum of Florence checks the ca 2000 year old mummy of an Egypitian woman on November 1, 2011 during the installation of the exhibition "Journey towards immortality" running from November 5, 2011 untill February 26, 2012 at the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum.

As per recent study from the Warsaw Egyptian Experiment, the retention transpired in the context of the female ovaries acidifying as she disintegrated.

Furthermore, nutrients eluted from the fetus' joints would be stored in the unborn baby's soft tissues and the endometrium surrounding it, leading in an increased nutrient.

It's analogous to the biological cremation phase that occurs in peat bogs, where the corrosive atmosphere pickles delicate parts but demineralizes skeletons.

Furthermore, the highly acidic mechanisms which would occur within the Peculiar Woman's cadaver as her remains decayed had severely degassed the already fragile fetal skeleton.

As a result, historians and scientists may be able to figure out why the baby was kept undamaged while the Mysterious Woman's remaining internals were excised for cremation.

The Mystery Woman's corpse and the fetus's flesh vary in this aspect since they were desiccated in distinct ways. The league's investigation also revealed that the mother did not perish during delivery owing to the location of the baby and the sealed state of the reproductive tract.

"This phenomenon of skeletal decalcification in an acidic setting is analogous to an egg investigation," the authors conclude.

Blood pH in carcasses, particularly uterine fluid, drops dramatically, becoming acidic, while ammonia and fumarate contents rise over time.

Also read: 2700-Year-Old Poop Reveals Iron Age Europeans Were Fond of Blue Cheese and Beer

Preserved Fetus Found Inside a Mummified Egyptian Mother

Sahar Saleem of Cairo University in Egypt, a consultant who responded to the first finding raised concerns to whether what scientists had discovered was indeed a fetus.

"The unborn child stayed in the unaffected womb and proceeded to pickle."

In an interview the researchers and experts who handled the study noted that, "By investigating the woman's corpse, we recover the memories of the Unknown Woman and the fetus."

Investigators also noticed that no skeletons were identified in the mummy's examinations, implying that the diagnosis of an unborn child was dubious.

"We recall a long-lived individual who had visions, possibly family and friends, and was adored, and the unborn, in her locked uterus, desiccated in the consequent acidic atmosphere."

Fetal skeletons are very little developed throughout the first half of pregnancy, which makes them challenging to identify following biomechanical or what is also known to be and termed as retention procedures.

The positioning and loading of the flesh with natron, which is a salt combination gathered from dry lake bottoms, severely restricted airflow and breathing passage.

The eggshell dissolves, exposing just the contents of the egg, the albumen and yolk, and the nutrients saturated in the acid. The ultimate product is a nearly airtight and enclosed womb enclosing the unborn child.

While mummy radiographs are typically used to locate bones and amulets nestled within their covers.

Also read: 1000-Year-Old Mummy Unearthed by Archeologists in an Underground Tomb