intended to give to the mummy the protection of the various gods, were inserted, under his directions, in their proper places between the swathings. When the swathing of the body was ended, the name of the deceased was usually written in ink on one of the outer coverings.

In the second method of embalming, the viscerae were removed by means of oil of cedar, and the flesh was dissolved off the bones by a preparation of soda; mummies which were prepared by this process consist of nothing but skin and bone. The third method was used almost exclusively for the poor; the body was steeped in a preparation of soda for a period of seventy days, and then handed over to the relatives for burial. The period which elapsed between death and burial varied in length. From the inscriptions we learn that in one case the embalming lasted 16 days, the swathing in linen 35 days, and the burial 70 days, ie., 121 days in all. In another, the embalming occupied 66 days, the preparations for burial 4 days, and the burial 26 days, in all 96 days. According to the Bible (Genesis 1, 3), the embalming of Jacob occupied 40 days, but the period of mourning was 70 days. Certain stelae in the British Museum' mention 70 days, and we may assume that this period was commonly observed, at all events, in Graeco-Roman times.

Cost of embalming.-According to Diodorus, who lived about B.C. 40, the methods of embalming were three in number; the first cost one talent of silver, about £250; the second, twenty minae, about £60; and the third very little indeed. In the description of the first method given both by Herodotus and Diodorus, it is said that the intestines were removed from the body previous to embalming, but neither writer says what was done with them afterwards. We know, however, that they were cleansed, and wrapped in linen with powdered spices, salt, etc., and placed in a series of four jars, or vases, to which modern writers have given the name Čanopic Jars. They were thus named by the early Egyptologists, who believed that in them they saw some confirmation of the legend handed down by certain ancient writers to the effect that Canopus, the pilot of Menelaus, who is said to have been buried at Canopus, in Egypt, was worshipped there under the form of a jar with small feet, a thin neck, a swollen body, and a round back. Each "Canopic" jar was dedicated to one of the four sons of Horus, or sons of Osiris, who were also the gods of the

1 E.g., No. 1031 (389), Bay 27.

four cardinal points; and each jar was provided with a lid made in the shape of the head of the deity to whom it was dedicated. The names of the four gods were:

1. Mesthȧ, or AMSET; he was

man-headed.

口

2. Ḥāpi ; he was dog-headed.

3. Tuamutef; he was jackal-headed.

Δ

4. Qebḥsennuf↓↓↓; he was hawk

headed.

These gods represented the south, north, east, and west respectively, and the goddesses with whom they were associated were Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Serqet. Mesthå protected the stomach and large intestines; Hapi, the small intestines; Tuamutef the lungs and heart; and Qebḥsennuf the liver and gall bladder. The custom of mummifying the intestines separately is as old as the VIth dynasty at least, and the gods of the cardinal points who presided over them are mentioned several times in the texts of Unas, Pepi, and other kings of the Vth and VIth dynasties. The four jars. were usually placed in a coffer, or chest, specially prepared for the purpose; and this is frequently depicted in representations of funeral processions. The Ani Papyrus shows the four sons of Horus standing by the coffer containing the mummified intestines of the deceased, and his renewed body rising through the cover of it, holding "life" hand (see page 138). Among the fine collection of "Canopic" jars in the British Museum may be specially mentioned the set made for Kua-tep, XIth dynasty, No. 30,838 (Third Egyptian Room, Wall-case No. 112), and the sets Nos. 22,374-7, and 9562-5, of the later period, in Wall-cases Nos. 74 and 75 (Second Egyptian Room).

in each

The custom of mummifying the dead appears to have been unknown in the Predynastic Period. In the earliest attempts made to preserve the body, the plan followed was to remove the intestines, and then to dry it in the sun, or to rub it with salt. The skulls found in the tombs are usually empty, a fact which proves that the embalmers were able to remove the brain and membranes without injury to the bridge of the

nose; sometimes they contain bitumen, or some kind of resin, which must have been introduced into them by the way through which the brains were extracted, ie, through the nostrils. Mummies cured with unguents and spices do not last long when unrolled; the skin of those cured with natron, i.e., a mixture of carbonate, sulphate, and muriate of soda, is hard, and comparatively durable, but it hangs loosely from the bones, which are white and somewhat friable; bodies from which the intestines have been removed, and which have been preserved by being filled with bitumen, are quite black and hard, and practically speaking, last for ever. The dead poor were sometimes merely salted and laid in a common pit or cave. At one period the dead were embalmed in honey the treatment of the child who was found in a sealed jar of honey, mentioned by the Muḥammadan writer 'Abd al-Latif, and the body of Alexander the Great being wellknown instances of the custom.

Under, or soon after the XXVIth dynasty, the Egyptians began to place their mummified dead in brightly painted cartonnage cases, decorated with inscriptions containing the pedigree of the deceased, religious texts, figures of gods, etc., and to set them upright in the halls of their houses. The faces were painted to resemble those of the dead, and attempts were made to reproduce the natural colour of their skins, hair, and eyes, and even to represent small physical peculiarities. A man's immediate ancestors formed a part of his household.

About the beginning of the Graeco-Roman Period, or in the first century after Christ, it became the custom among the ruling class in Egypt to insert painted portraits of the dead in the linen swathings over their faces. Specimens of such portraits may be seen in Case Y in the Second Egyptian Room, and in Wall-cases Nos. 70 and 71. A century or two later further attempts were made to abolish from mummies the funerary swathings, etc., and the dead were placed in papyrus cases, which were moulded to their forms, and were painted with coloured representations of their clothes and ornaments. Very fine examples of such painted papyrus cases are exhibited in Wall-cases 64 and 65 in the First Egyptian Room, and they are of special interest as showing what kinds of garments and jewellery were worn by the Graeco-Egyptian ladies of Egypt, and how they were decorated. In the case of men, painted portraits were inserted over the faces, and the rest of the mummy was covered with plaster, usually coloured pink or

red, and ornamented with faulty imitations of the scenes found on the old cartonnage cases. The best example of this kind of mummy is that of Artemidorus, exhibited in Wallcase 63 in the First Egyptian Room. The figures of the gods, etc., are painted in gold, and the mistakes in them prove that the artist did not understand the signification of the scenes which he was copying. The old theology of Egypt was forgotten, the meanings of the old funerary texts and scenes were lost, and the artist found himself obliged to use the form of address to the dead customary among the Greeks, i.e., "O Artemidorus, farewell!"

The Egyptians, even after their conversion to Christianity, continued for a time to mummify their dead, and to bury them with the old ceremonies; but before the end of the third century A.D. the art of embalmment had fallen into general disuse. The pagan Egyptian embalmed his dead because he believed that the "perfect soul" would return to the body after death, and that it would enter upon a new life in it; he therefore took pains to preserve the body against the corruption of the grave. The Christian Egyptian believed that at the Resurrection he would receive back his body, changed and incorruptible, and that it was unnecessary for him to preserve by means of spices and unguents that which he would obtain, without any trouble on his part, by faith through Christ. Little by little, as a result of this belief, the observance of the old pagan ceremonies ceased, and with them embalmment in the Egyptian fashion. The views which Anthony the "Father of the Monks of the Egyptian desert" (A.D. 250-355), held on this matter are of importance. According to Athanasius: "The Egyptians were in the habit "of taking the dead bodies of righteous men, and especially "those of the blessed martyrs, and of embalming them and "placing them, not in graves, but on biers in their houses, "for they thought that by so doing they were paying honour "to them." Anthony besought the Bishops to preach to the people, and to command them to cease from this habit, and he showed "That it was a transgression of a command for a "man not to hide in the ground the bodies of those who were "dead, even though they were righteous men. Therefore "many hearkened and were persuaded not to do so, and they "laid their dead in the ground, and buried them therein." When he was dying he entreated his monks, saying: "Permit no man to take my body and carry it into Egypt, lest "according to the custom which they have, they embalm me "and lay me up in their houses. . . . . . And ye know that I

66

"have continually made exhortation concerning this thing "and begged that it should not be done, and ye well know "how much I have blamed those who observed this custom. "Dig a grave then, and bury me therein, and hide my body "under the earth, and let these my words be observed care"fully by you, and tell ye no man where ye lay me until the "Resurrection of the Dead, when I shall receive this body "without corruption from the Saviour." (See The Life of Anthony, by Athanasius, in Migne Patrologiae, Ser. Graec., tom. XXVI, col. 972.)

The linen mummy swathings must now be mentioned. These were made from flax, and were of various thicknesses. Surviving examples vary in length from a few inches to about 15 feet, and in width from 2 to 10 inches; some are made with fringe at each end. Mummies are often found wrapped in linen sheets, several feet square, and the outside covering of all is sometimes of a purple or salmon colour. Under the Ancient Empire, mummy swathings were quite plain, but under the Middle Empire, blue stripes occasionally appear at the ends, and the sheets in which the mummies of kings were wrapped, eg, Amenḥetep III and Thothmes III, were covered with hieroglyphic texts from the Book of the Dead. At a later period texts in the hieratic character appear on the swathings, accompanied by vignettes drawn in outline. The principal seat of the linen industry in Egypt was Panopolis, the modern Akhmim, and, at a very early period, the weavers attained to such skill, that in a square inch 540 threads may be counted in the warp and 110 in the woof. About the third century of our era, the mummies of wealthy people were wrapped in “royal cloth" made wholly of silk and decorated with figures of gods, animals, etc. The visitor will find a large collection of mummy swathings and sheets exhibited in Table-case E, in the Third Egyptian Room. Here are the fringed linen winding-sheet of Teḥuti-sat, a singing woman of Queen Aahmes-nefert-ȧri, B.C. 1550 (No. 1); two swathings inscribed. with texts from the Book of the Dead (Nos. 11, 12); a roll of linen inscribed with the names of Piankhi Seneferef- Rā, B.C. 700 (No. 13); grave shirts from Akhmîm (Nos. 18-27); and specimens of embroidered linen, with figures of saints, etc. (No. 39 ff.); a portion of a Coptic stole embroidered with scenes from the life of Christ, and squares of linen worked with coloured figures of birds (doves ?), and the Cross and symbol of "life" within wreaths (Nos. 40–51).