The Democratic advocate., 1878-02-09
Ghe Antiqnarian.
Ancient Modes of Embalming the Dead.

Herodotus and Diodorus tell of three
modes of embalmment prevalent in Egvpt
The hrst was very costly, answering TO
about $1,000, exclusive of such gems. Jew
els and gold as love or prodigality might
lavish upon the dead; the second. $500;
the third within the reach of all. As TO
the extent to which gems and Jewels were
wound up in the eerecloth to deck the
dead, there is an instance of the queen
lately found at Thebes, whose ornaments
were shown in our Exhibition of 1860.
They are now in the Pasha's Museum.
Their intrinsic value alone, that is. to
break up and melt down, is several thou
sand pounds. 1t is curious in reading the
two historians accounts of the Egyptian
embalmer to observe in divers matters the
foreshadowing of the modern undertaken
In his ways. The different degrees of woe
were then, as now, sounded according to
the depth of the purse. Justas it is now.
when the furnisher viii undertake for YOU
any graduation of sorrow from the simple
elm coffin and pauper funeral up to the
flourish and parade of plumed hearse,
weeping mutes and prancing steeds, so
with the Egyptians. Only the manner
was different. When bereaved mourner.
they tell us, went into one of these Egyp-
tian shops, the functionaries would show
him different models in wood highly and
artistically finished, or otherwise, to rep
resent the mummy and coffin. There
were painted patterns of mummies in their
multi-colored cases to choose from. The
various costs, according to pattern, we're
then stated. The customer chose his
model, and the bargain was struck. He
then went home and sent back the dead
body, and the body remained with the
embalmer until the whole process was
completed The number of DAYS requisite
for embalming was, as we gather from both
historians, seventy or seventy-two, and
this tallies with the Scripture account
Genesis ], 3, for doubtless the immedi
ate process only occupied part Of the time,
the rest being given to the ritual of mourn
ing. The processes for embalmment are
related very categorically. In some things
they hardly commend themselves to our
present sentiment Of what is respectful to
to the dead. The chief secret seemed to
consist in certain chemicals injected into
the veins and body; in certain washings
and steepings in natron, and in the filling
up the cavity of the bOby with myrrh and
other balsamie substances and spices. The
brains we're drawn out through the nos
trils. Sometimes jewels were laid On the
breast under innumerable swathings of
linen. And then a kind of pictured shell
received the body-a sort of close fitting
case made to open and shut lengthwise
after the fashion of violin case. But
when the mummy was sent home-what
then? The family did not Immediately
part with it. On the contrary, they often
kept their dead relative for long while,
guest in his own house. A room was set
apart. The mummy, standing upright as
in life, was enshrined in n kind Of painted
cabinet tabernacle starred over with
innumerable hieroglyphics, and protected
with great painted scarabel and multi
colored cherubim, with their overshadow-
ing wings spread athwart the chest
Hither, then, at intervals, the family would
come to hold communion with the dead.
They would bring fresh lotus flowers to
enwreath their silent relative, or strew
about the ground blossoms of asphodel and
papyrus. Numberless paintings in the
tombs of Egypt picture this affecting
scene-a mother and her children kneel-
ing in circle with the dead in their midst,
or a wife with plaintive face and dishevel-
led hair embracing the placid-looking
mummy of her husband Listen to what
Diodorus ys:-''A clever embalmer," he
writes, "would send back the body perfect
ly preserved, even the hair of the eyelids
and eyebrows remaining undisturbed; the
whole appearance so unaltered that every
feature might be recognized. The Egyp-
tians, therefore, who sometimes keep their
ancestors in magnificent apartments set
apart, have an opportunity Of contempla-
ting the faces of those who died long be-
fore them, and the height and figure of
their bodies being distinguishable, as we'll
as the character Of the countenance, they
may enjoy a wonderful qualification, as if
they lived in the society of those they see
before fham - Nyfu,1Os, Sxf Homo