|
There are a set of men in Egypt who practice the art of embalming,
and make it their proper business. These persons, when a body is
brought to them, show the bearers various models of corpses, made in
wood, and painted so as to resemble nature. The most perfect is said
to be after the manner of him whom I do not think it religious to name
in connection with such a matter; the second sort is inferior to the
first, and less costly; the third is the cheapest of all. All this
the embalmers explain, and then ask in which way it is wished that the
corpse should be prepared. The bearers tell them, and having
concluded their bargain, take their departure, while the embalmers,
left to themselves, proceed to their task. The mode of embalming,
according to the most perfect process, is the following: They take
first a crooked piece of iron, and with it draw out the brain through
the nostrils, thus getting rid of a portion, while the skull is
cleared of the rest by rinsing with drugs; next they make a cut along
the flank with a sharp Ethiopian stone, and take out the whole
contents of the abdomen, which they then cleanse, washing it
thoroughly with palm wine, and again frequently with an infusion of
pounded aromatics. After this they fill the cavity with the purest
bruised myrrh, with cassia, and every other sort of spicery except
frankincense, and sew up the opening. Then the body is placed in
natrum for seventy days, and covered entirely over. After the
expiration of that space of time, which must not be exceeded, the body
is washed, and wrapped round, from head to foot, with bandages of
fine linen cloth, smeared over with gum, which is used generally by
the Egyptians in the place of glue, and in this state it is given back
to the relations, who enclose it in a wooden case which they have had
made for the purpose, shaped into the figure of a man. Then fastening
the case, they place it in a sepulchral chamber, upright against the
wall. Such is the most costly way of embalming the dead.
|
|