An ancient Egyptian mummy that is said to have died from throat cancer while pregnant might actually have been without child and tumor-free, claim the authors of a scathing new study. Accusing the team behind the original theory of sensationalizing their claims without sufficient evidence, the researchers say that the supposed fetus was in fact just stuffing inserted by the embalmers, while the clumsy removal of the woman’s brain led to an erroneous cancer diagnosis.
In response, the scientists who first proposed the idea have told IFLScience that the authors of the new study are “attempting to create a scandal out of natural academic differences”, insisting that the paper “does not present any new findings”.
Known as the Mysterious Lady, the specimen at the heart of the controversy was brought to Poland in the early 1800s and is currently housed at the National Museum in Warsaw. In 2021, researchers from the Warsaw Mummy Project published a study claiming that the ancient corpse contained a 26 to 30-week-old fetus.
Shortly afterward, the same researchers stated that a void in the mummy’s skull was evidence of a cancerous tumor that may have been the cause of the pregnant woman’s demise.
“The case of [the] Warsaw mummy – pregnant or not? Terminally ill with cancer or not? – has generated such extensive media attention that the process of rigorous scientific debate – which strives to achieve objectivity in an effort to arrive at the truth – has become compromised,” write the authors of the new rebuttal. “Mainstream media became fascinated by the idea of a ‘pregnant mummy,’ although these claims had not been verified by a radiologist, as is standard practice in these cases,” they add.
One of the authors – described as “a paleoradiologist and mummy expert” who specializes in fetal imaging – even published a response to the original claim in which she pointed out that there is no fetal skeleton inside the mummy. Members of the Warsaw Mummy Project later contested that this was because the bones had been dissolved in naturally occurring acids after the woman’s death.
Not content with this explanation, the skeptics sent the original CT scans of the Mysterious Lady to 10 independent mummy radiology experts around the world, along with a questionnaire asking them about their conclusions. According to the study authors, all of these scholars were non-biased, with the exception of one – the diagnostic imaging expert used by the Warsaw Mummy Project when making their claims.
“All ten respondents indicated clearly that there was no evidence of a fetus in the pelvic area,” write the researchers. “Not one marked the answer ‘There is evidence to support the presence of a 26–30 week fetus’ or else expressed any doubt (no one indicated ‘Fetus can be neither confirmed nor excluded’),” they continue.
The 10 experts were unanimous in concluding that the material originally identified as a fetus consisted of “packs” of unknown substances that were inserted by the embalmers.
Countering this finding, Wojciech Ejsmond and Marzena Ożarek-Szilke from the Warsaw Mummy Project told IFLScience that they are aware that “there is no consensus among experts on what is inside the pelvis of the Mysterious Lady,” and that “interpretations vary from fabrics and viscera to a tumor.” However, they insist that “our interpretation regarding pregnancy was discussed with gynecologist[s] and obstetrician[s] who supported it, making it a legitimate hypothesis.”
“The fact that other experts have different interpretations is expected,” they say.
Moreover, none of the independent reviewers found evidence that the woman was suffering from cancer, despite the presence of lesions within the skull. One respondent did state that the cancer theory could be neither confirmed nor denied, although even that individual conceded that the most likely explanation for these markings was a fumbling attempt to remove the brain during the mummification process.
In response, Ejsmond and Ożarek-Szilke explained that “the hypothesis of cancer in the skull was consulted with an expert in the field, Prof. Rafał Stec, who supported [our] interpretation. However, we always emphasize with him that this remains a working hypothesis.”
Summing up their position, the authors of the new study write that “this paper represents an effort to aggregate the opinions of multiple international authors who, based on their collective decades of expertise, after analyzing the radiological material, assert that the mummified woman does not contain an intrauterine fetus, nor traces of an intracranial neoplastic process.” In addition to criticizing the Warsaw Mummy Project for attempting to “steal the show” with unverified claims, they also lambast the role of the media in propagating what they say is a false narrative.
Yet Ejsmond and Ożarek-Szilke counter that the study authors “only had access to certain fragments of the mummy’s CT scans… making it difficult to comment on their conclusions.” Furthermore, they insist that the new analysis “selectively quotes our statements to fit a particular narrative and only references fragments of our conference papers that support [the authors’] position.”
The study is published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
