The discovery provides clues about how ancient Egyptians likely dealt with pregnancy and maternal mortality.
A tomb containing an ancient Egyptian woman and her unborn child./span/p/div p class=”dropcaps”>Archaeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient Egyptian woman who likely died shortly before giving birth. The discovery was announced by the Egyptian Antiquities Council via Facebook on November 14. a href=”https://www.facebook.com/moantiquities/posts/2027831220595851″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”The statement said the discovery was made as part of a joint Italian-American archaeological project exploring the city of Kom Ombo in southern Egypt. Kom Ombo was an agricultural settlement famous for its ancient “double” temple, meaning that the temple in the city had two sets of rooms and corridors built in honor of two different gods. The remains of a pregnant woman were found in the tomb, and it is believed that she was around 25 years old at the time of her death. The tomb itself was discovered in a cemetery used by travelers through Egypt's southern desert, according to Mostafa Wazira, secretary of the Antiquities Council. The cemetery is believed to date back to between 1750 and 1550 BCE. The fetus in the woman's womb was found in a head-down position, indicating that the baby was being prepared for birth. This suggests that the woman may have died shortly before or during childbirth. The mother was also wrapped in a leather shroud. Two ceramic vessels were found near her a href=”http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/316308.aspx” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”which were discovered/a.
Wikimedia CommonsTemple of Kom Ombo in Egypt.
This unique discovery could give historians and experts clues about what maternal mortality was like in ancient times.
Professor Sandra Wheeler of the University of Central Florida said the find “supports the concept that childbirth was a dangerous process and that maternal mortality was a constant reality.”
Wheeler, who was not directly involved in the discovery at Kom Ombo, notes that without the presence of soft tissue, it is virtually impossible to establish with absolute certainty the cause of the woman's death.
The Antiquities Council said in a statement that the woman's pelvis was out of alignment, which Wheeler said could indicate she suffered trauma or malnutrition during her critical growing years.
Meanwhile, Wheeler and other archaeologists continue excavating a cemetery in the city of Dakhla Oasis, in Egypt's western desert. There, they have found a burial site containing about 200 premature fetuses, all likely the result of miscarriages.
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