Herodotus
Mummification
from The Histories
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.
If persons wish to avoid expense, and choose the second process, the following
is the method pursued:- Syringes are filled with oil made from the cedar-tree,
which is then, without any incision or disembowelling, injected into the abdomen.
The passage by which it might be likely to return is stopped, and the body laid
in natrum the prescribed number of days. At the end of the time the cedar-oil
is allowed to make its escape; and such is its power that it brings with it the
whole stomach and intestines in a liquid state. The natrum meanwhile has dissolved
the flesh, and so nothing is left of the dead body but the skin and the bones.
It is returned in this condition to the relatives, without any further trouble
being bestowed upon it.
The third method of embalming, which is practised in the case of the poorer
classes, is to clear out the intestines with a clyster, and let the body lie in
natrum the seventy days, after which it is at once given to those who come to
fetch it away.
Source:
Herodotus. The Histories.
