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Also, last of all, they were allowed to behold the coffins of the
Ethiopians, which are made (according to report) of crystal, after
the following fashion: When the dead body has been dried, either in
the Egyptian, or in some other manner, they cover the whole with
gypsum, and adorn it with painting until it is as like the living man
as possible. Then they place the body in a crystal pillar which has
been hollowed out to receive it, crystal being dug up in great
abundance in their country, and of a kind very easy to work. You may
see the corpse through the pillar within which it lies; and it neither
gives out any unpleasant odour, nor is it in any respect unseemly; yet
there is no part that is not as plainly visible as if the body were
bare. The next of kin keep the crystal pillar in their houses for a
full year from the time of the death, and give it the first fruits
continually, and honour it with sacrifice. After the year is out they
bear the pillar forth, and set it up near the town.
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