1770, otherwise known as Mummy 1770 or Mummy No. 1770, was an ancient Egyptian female mummy. The specimen was found in a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

Rosalie David Ann Rosalie David (born 30 May 1946) is a British Egyptologist and emeritus professor at the University of Manchester. David served as director of the International Mummy Database. Early life and education David was born in Cardiff. She was in ...

, and was approximately 13 or 14 years old at the time of her death. The mummy's legs were not present, and were replaced by wooden planks. Her feet also consisted of sandals filled with mud and reeds, with the tips being substituted for toes. The fingernails and reed tips had golden coverings, which suggested that she lived in a wealthy family.

Death

It was discovered that Mummy 1770 had a calcified male

guinea worm ''Dracunculus medinensis'', or Guinea worm, is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at up to in length, is among the longest nematodes infecting humans. In contra ...

in her abdominal wall. Her legs were amputated, one above, one below the knee. It is possible that an unsuccessful treatment of the dracunculiasis was the cause of death. However, it is not known whether her legs were amputated because of this. It is known that mummy 1770 died a few weeks after her surgery.

Facial reconstruction

When the sarcophagus was unwrapped in 1975 by the Manchester Mummy team, including Dr. Rosalie David, believed they may be able to attempt a forensic facial reconstruction. Her skull was incomplete and in many pieces, in order to reconstruct, the team put the skull together, made a

plaster cast A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a pregnant belly, a fossil or other remains such as fresh or fossilised footprints – p ...

, and filled the gaps with wax. To create the face, wooden pegs were drilled into the cast, at the precise depth of tissue. Then wax was added to the cast over the pegs, slightly covering them. After the wax was added, glass eyes and a wig were added to the cast. Mummy 1770 was reconstructed twice, one was the 1975 version, the other was a modified version, with darker skin and make up.

References

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External links

University of Manchester
Ancient Egyptian mummies Ancient Egyptian women Egyptian amputees Egyptian people with disabilities