This article is from Ancient Egypt issue 141
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CT-scans of a female mummy from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History have revealed the teenaged girl was pregnant with twins, and she may have died in childbirth. One foetus had been wrapped and placed between the mother’s legs during mummification, but the scans show a second foetus inside the mother’s chest cavity. The researchers concluded that the head of the first child became trapped in the birth canal during labour, leading to the death of the mother. The second foetus behind it must have been dislodged into the chest cavity during mummification.
