CAIRO: It is a startling image from ancient Egypt — a mummy discovered during a 1935 archaeological expedition at Deir el-Bahari near Luxor of a woman with her mouth wide open in what looks like an anguished shriek.
Scientists now have an explanation for the “Screaming Woman” mummy after using CT scans to perform a “virtual dissection.” It turns out she may have died in agony and experienced a rare form of muscular stiffening, called a cadaveric spasm, that occurs at the moment of death.
The examination indicated that the woman was about 48 years old when she died, had lived with mild arthritis of the spine and had lost some teeth, said Cairo University radiology professor Sahar Saleem, who led the study published on Friday in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.
Her body was well-preserved, being embalmed roughly 3,500 years ago during ancient Egypt’s glittering New Kingdom period using costly imported ingredients such as juniper oil and frankincense resin, Saleem added.
The ancient Egyptians viewed preservation of the body after death as crucial to secure a worthy existence in the afterlife. It was customary during the mummification process to remove the internal organs, aside from the heart, but this had not occurred with this woman.
“In ancient Egypt, the embalmers took care of the dead body so it would look beautiful for the afterlife. That’s why they were keen to close the mouth of the dead by tying the jaw to the head to prevent the normal postmortem jaw drop,” Saleem said.
But the quality of the embalmment ingredients “ruled out that the mummification process had been careless and that the embalmers had simply neglected to close her mouth. In fact, they mummified her well and gave her expensive funerary apparels — two expensive rings made of gold and silver and a long haired-wig made from fibers from the date palm,” Saleem added.
“This opened the way to other explanations of the widely opened mouth — that the woman died screaming from agony or pain and that the muscles of the face contracted to preserve this appearance at the time of death due to cadaveric spasm,” Saleem said. “The true history or circumstances of the death of this woman are unknown, hence the cause of her screaming facial appearance cannot be established with certainty.”
Cadaveric spasm, a poorly understood condition, occurs after severe physical or emotional suffering, with the contracted muscles becoming rigid immediately following death, Saleem said.
“Unlike postmortem rigor mortis, cadaveric spasm affects only one group of muscles, not the entire body,” Saleem added.
Asked whether the woman may have been embalmed while alive, Saleem added, “I don’t believe that this is possible.”
Saleem was unable to determine how the woman died, saying, “We frequently cannot determine the cause of death in a mummy unless there is CT evidence of fatal trauma.” Saleem cited evidence of a fatal head injury, slit neck and heart disease in three royal mummies.
The “Screaming Woman” was found at the site of the ancient city of Thebes during excavation of the tomb of a high-ranking official named Senmut, the architect, overseer of royal works and reputed lover of queen Hatshepsut, who reigned from 1479-1458 BC.
The mummy was inside a wooden coffin in a burial chamber beneath Senmut’s family tomb. Her identity has not been determined but her jewelry — the gold and silver rings with images of scarab beetles, a symbol of resurrection, made of the gemstone jasper — showed her socioeconomic status.
“She was likely a close family member to be buried and share the family’s eternal resting place,” Saleem said.
The study revealed details of her wig. Its spiral braids were treated with the minerals quartz, magnetite and albite to harden them and provide the black color indicative of youth. Her natural hair had been dyed with henna and juniper oil.
A number of ancient mummies, in Egypt and the Americas, have been found with facial expressions resembling a scream — eerily similar to Norwegian painter Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”
“I use this painting in my public lectures about the screaming mummies,” Saleem said.
Ancient Egypt’s ‘screaming’ mummy woman may have died in agony
https://arab.news/b6w4m
Ancient Egypt’s ‘screaming’ mummy woman may have died in agony
![](https://www.arabnews.pk/sites/default/files/styles/n_670_395/public/main-image/2024/08/02/4497631-811662012.jpg?itok=HQlc8Onc)
- She experienced a rare form of muscular stiffening, called a cadaveric spasm, that occurs at the moment of death
- The woman was about 48 years old when she died, had lived with mild arthritis of the spine and had lost some teeth
A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded
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- Formerly known as the Capital One Tower, the building had been a dominant feature of the city’s skyline for more than four decades
- After a series of hurricanes ripped through southwest Louisiana in 2020, the building became an eyesore, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: An abandoned, 22-story building in Lake Charles, Louisiana — once an icon in the city that became a symbol of destruction from hurricanes Laura and Delta — was imploded Saturday after sitting vacant for nearly four years.
The Hertz Tower crashed down in a matter of seconds after a demolition crew set off a series of explosions inside. The tower fell in a large cloud of dust into a pile about five stories high.
The building, formerly known as the Capital One Tower, had been a dominant feature of the city’s skyline for more than four decades. However, after a series of hurricanes ripped through southwest Louisiana in 2020, the building became an eyesore, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps.
For years the owners of the building, the Los Angeles-based real estate firm Hertz Investment Group, promised to repair the structure once they settled with their insurance provider Zurich in court, The Advocate reported. The estimated cost of bringing the building back up to code was $167 million. Eventually, the two parties settled for an undisclosed amount.
The demolition was funded by $7 million in private money secured by the city. Hertz still owns the property and the future of the site is undetermined, according to the city.
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter described the implosion of the building as “bittersweet.”
“I know how hard the city tried to work with several development groups to see it saved, but ultimately ... it proved to be too tall a task,” Hunter said before the implosion. He was in office during the hurricanes. “At this juncture, I am ready for a resolution. It’s been four years. It’s been long enough.”
Lake Charles, which sits on the banks of the Calcasieu River and is a two-hour drive from Houston, is home to around 80,000 residents. While the city is known for its copious amounts of festivals, bayous, casinos and its Cajun flair, it also has been labeled by the Weather Channel as America’s “most-weather battered city.”
Hurricane Delta crashed ashore in southern Louisiana in October 2020 just six weeks after Laura took a similar, destructive path onto the US Gulf Coast. At the time, Lake Charles was already reeling from damage caused by Laura, which battered roofs, claimed more than 25 lives in the region and left mud and debris filling streets.
The Hertz tower offers an example of the city’s long road to recovery following back-to-back hurricanes that inflicted an estimated $22 billion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center.
While there are signs of rebuilding and growth in much of Lake Charles, there are still buildings that remain in disarray and residents living in the same conditions as four years ago — waiting for financial relief to rebuild their homes, looking for affordable housing after the hurricanes’ destruction exacerbated the housing crisis or stuck in court with their insurance provider to get a fair payout.
Crazy man charged with animal cruelty after massacring 81 pets in California community
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- Vicente Arroyo faces animal cruelty and other charges for massacring 81 animals, including miniature horses, goats and birds in a California neighborhood
- Police confiscated 15 firearms, including high-powered assault rifles, and 2,000 rounds of various calibers of ammunition from the 39-year-old suspect
SAN FRANCISCO, California: A man suspected of going on a three-hour shooting rampage in northern California and killing 81 animals, including miniature horses, goats and chickens, pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty and other charges.
Vicente Arroyo, 39, made his first court appearance Thursday after Monterey County Sheriff deputies arrested him earlier in the week for allegedly using several weapons to shoot the animals being housed in pens and cages on a lot in the small community of Prunedale.
The animal owners do not want to be identified or speak with the media, Monterey County Sheriff Commander Andres Rosas told The Associated Press Friday.
“I went out there, and it was a pretty traumatic scene. These were people’s pets,” he said.
One of the miniature horses belonged to the owner of the lot where the animals were housed, the other 80 belonged to someone who rented the land to house their pets, Rosas said.
According to court records, Arroyo was charged with killing 14 goats, nine chickens, seven ducks, five rabbits, a guinea pig and 33 parakeets and cockatiels. Arroyo is also charged with killing a pony named Lucky and two miniature horses named Estrella and Princessa, KSBW-TV reported.
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Some animals survived the shooting that lasted several hours but had to be euthanized because of the severity of their injuries, Rosas said.
Rosas said Arroyo lived in a camper in a vineyard next to the lot where the animals were kept and that a motive is not yet known.
His attorney, William Pernik, did not immediately respond to a telephone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Pernik raised doubts about his mental competency during Thursday’s trial, KSVW-TV reported. The judge ordered Arroyo, who is being held on a $1 million bail, to undergo a mental evaluation.
The court will get an update on Arroyo’s mental status in two weeks, the television station reported.
Authorities received multiple 911 calls around 3:25 a.m. Tuesday reporting shots being fired in Prunedale, an incorporated community about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the city of Salinas, he said.
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Deputies who arrived on the scene could hear shots being fired, and a shelter-in-place was ordered for a five-mile radius.
Monterey County S.W.A.T. members were sent in, and the sheriff’s office also requested drone assistance from the nearby Seaside Fire Department and Gonzales Police Department, Rosas said.
Officers in an armored vehicle arrested Arroyo without incident, he said.
Deputies found a crashed pickup truck and recovered eight firearms, including long rifles, shotguns and handguns, at the scene. After executing a search warrant on his camper, they found another seven firearms, including an illegal AK-47 assault rifle, two ghost guns, and about 2,000 rounds of various calibers of ammunition, Rosas said.
Prosecutors charged Arroyo with dozens of charges involving animal cruelty, willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, illegal possession of an assault weapon, vandalism, drug possession and making criminal threats and terrorizing while being in possession of a firearm as a felon.
“This is obviously the most horrific animal cruelty case we’ve ever seen in this county, I’m sure,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Berkley Brannon told KSBW-TV after the Thursday hearing.
Rarely sighted Blanford’s fox caught on camera during UAE wildlife-mapping initiative
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- The fox — strictly nocturnal and rarely caught on camera — was in Fujairah and was mapped as part of the Notice Nature initiative
ABU DHABI: The Blanford’s fox is the latest species to be captured on camera during a wildlife-mapping initiative in the UAE, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Friday.
The fox — strictly nocturnal and rarely caught on camera — was in Fujairah and was mapped as part of the Notice Nature initiative, a collaboration between Emirates Nature-WWF, the Fujairah Environment Authority, and Mashreq Bank launched last year.
The initiative uses infrared motion-sensor cameras, which offer a non-intrusive way to monitor wildlife, especially shy species like the Blanford’s fox, and provide an insight into the state of biodiversity in the area and the effectiveness of designating protected areas to wildlife conservation.
While the Blanford’s fox is rated as being of “least concern” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s threat-of-extinction list, it is classified as vulnerable on the National UAE Red List and the Arabia Regional Red List.
Vulnerable species are those whose populations have decreased significantly across the region, making them likely to be classified as endangered in the near future if current challenges persisted.
Andrew Gardner, associate director of biodiversity conservation at Emirates Nature-WWF said in a statement: “We are excited to capture such clear images of the rare and secretive Blanford’s fox. These animals are very rarely seen and so each record gives new information on the distribution of the species and its status.
He continued: “We are confident that we will be able to collect more records of Blanford’s fox and other rare species, such as the Arabian tahr and caracal, in the UAE mountains. This is incredibly valuable scientific information, that feeds into the conservation management of these species.”
Mina Al-Ghurari, group head of marketing and corporate communication at Mashreq, said the sighting showed the importance and effectiveness of local conservation efforts.
“These sightings provide critical insights into the UAE’s rich biodiversity, helping us understand and protect our unique wildlife. We are proud of our collaboration with Emirates Nature-WWF, for this exclusive biodiversity and wildlife mapping system,” she said. “This data not only expands our knowledge of the UAE’s diverse ecosystems but also allows us to address the detrimental impacts of urbanization, pollution, and climate change on the country’s flora and fauna.”
New Pizza Hut concept stores in China help frugal diners save
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SHENZHEN: Fast food giant Pizza Hut is adapting to China’s sluggish economy by opening stores that offer smaller, cheaper versions of its favorites to attract cost-conscious diners, a strategy its parent Yum China is also using for other brands.
In the busy Bao An District of Shenzhen, a small lunchtime queue stood outside the recently opened Pizza Hut Wow store, which sells smaller pepperoni pizza servings for 29 yuan ($4), pastas for around 15 yuan, and a steak for 35 yuan, all priced significantly less than at traditional Pizza Hut restaurants.
“China’s catering industry is very competitive right now, but we’re trying to be innovative,” a Pizza Hut Wow spokesperson said. “This kind of store is more for individuals, like a small plate of tapas. In the past, Pizza Hut has been set up for families sharing.”
The first Pizza Hut Wow store opened in Guangzhou in May and there are now more than 100 around the country, with a target of 200 by the end of the year, Yum China said.
The company, which operates 10,931 KFC stores and 3,504 Pizza Hut stores, has also been experimenting with smaller store formats for KFC and rolling out more KCOFFEE kiosks to capitalize on a growing demand for cut-price coffee in China.
During a recent post-earnings call with analysts, Joey Wat, Yum China’s CEO, said Pizza Hut Wow and KCOFFEE “showed great future potential.”
According to independent food and beverage analyst Zhu Danpeng, large chains like Yum China-operated KFC and McDonald’s, which last year bought back a larger share of its China business, are among those best placed to win in the current low-cost environment.
“Pizza Hut is entering a price level that they didn’t cover in the past, I think it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
“The winner will be highly cost-effective, with a good service system. Its supply chain must be very mature. If you are not a big company you won’t be able to have these resources.”
Restaurant owners across China cheered the end of draconian COVID restrictions in late 2022, hoping that would lead to a bounceback in business, but more than 18 months later, job uncertainty, a slowing economy and weak consumer sentiment have hit the sector hard.
According to the Beijing Statistics Bureau, profits in the city’s catering business sector, which includes restaurants, dropped by 88 percent in the first half of 2024, compared to the same period last year. In Shanghai, revenue for the hospitality industry, which also groups restaurants, decreased by 2.6 percent year-on-year, with overall operating profit turning negative.
Last week, stalwart Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung said it would close more than a dozen outlets in mainland China. According to catering industry news outlet Canguanju, those closures will add to more than a million food and beverage outlets shutting shop across the country in the first half of 2024.
Panic on the streets of Paris for Australian Olympic breaker ‘Raygun’
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- Experts and casual viewers alike bewildered with her unconventional routine that included mimicking a kangaroo
- Rachael Gunn had previously defended how she qualified for Paris, and reiterated it on the TV program The Project
BRISBANE: For Australian breaker Rachael Gunn, first came her polarizing performance at the Olympics, followed by her panic when she was chased through the streets of Paris.
The 37-year-old university lecturer from Sydney — her birthday was on Monday — bewildered expert and casual viewers alike in the sport of breaking with an unconventional routine that included mimicking a kangaroo.
Breaking was being contested at an Olympics for the first time. And it might be a one-and-done, not scheduled on the Olympic program for Los Angeles in 2028 or for Brisbane, Australia in 2032.
“Raygun” as she was known, was later ridiculed on social media, with some posts also questioning the Olympic qualifying process.
In a television interview for The Project on Australia’s Channel 10, she told of being chased by cameras through Paris streets and how she dealt with the very public reaction to her performance.
“That was really wild,” she said in rare public comments since the event. “If people are chasing me, what do I do? That really did put me in a state of panic. I was nervous to be out in public. It was pretty nerve-wracking for a while.”
She apologized for the commotion, but again defended her performance and said she was thankful for support from others in the sport.
“It is really sad to hear those criticisms,” she said. “I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced, but I can’t control how people react. The energy and vitriol that people had was pretty alarming.
“While I went out there and had fun, I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics and I gave my all, truly. I think my record speaks to that.”
She had previously defended how she qualified for Paris, and reiterated it on the TV program.
“I won the Oceania championships. It was a direct qualifier,” Gunn said. “There were nine judges, all from overseas. I knew my chances were slim as soon as I qualified,” for the Olympics.
“People didn’t understand breaking and were just angry about my performance,” she added. “The conspiracy theories were just awful and that was really upsetting. People are now attacking our reputation and our integrity — none of them were grounded in facts.”
One of the most highly-critical reactions to her performance was a sketch on American comedian Jimmy Fallon’s late-night television show.
She said she was still “not in a place to watch it.”
Otherwise, Gunn said she’s just trying to cope a month later, with some help from therapy.
“I definitely have my ups and downs, good and bad days,” she said. “It has been so amazing to see the positive response to my performance. I never thought I’d be able to connect with so many people in a positive way ... but it definitely has been tough at times. Fortunately, I got some mental health support pretty quickly.”