The "Screaming Woman" Mummy CIT8- A Living Anatomical Fossil?

has not always been the case; before the 1870s, students were forced to dissect available bodies quickly before body decomposition began. Evidence of mummified human remains from Egypt encouraged a search for the preservation of human bodies for anatomy studies. Among the thousands of mummies that were discovered, mummy-CIT8 (the screaming woman) continues to attract scientists and enthusiasts because of her horrific facial expression, which was uncommon. The particular reason for her appearance continues to elude researchers; however, speculations or hypotheses continue to mount. Some suggested natural processes like rigor mortis and muscle spasm, and others speculated poor ethical procedures from the embalmers. This present exploratory perspective projected a new look at the mummy CIT8 and does not think that muscle spasm or rigor mortis, neither jaw-dropping nor resulting from decomposition, was responsible for the "screaming woman’s "facial expression. Our exploratory analysis suggested that her frozen expression was obligatory and man-made.

Key Words: Embalmment; mummification; unnatural-expression