Then Leaving The Corpse Within The House
They Go Themselves To And Fro About The City And Beat Themselves, With
Their garments bound up by a girdle and their breasts exposed, and
with them go all the women who are
Related to the dead man, and on the
other side the men beat themselves, they too having their garments
bound up by a girdle; and when they have done this, they then convey
the body to the embalming. In this occupation certain persons employ
themselves regularly and inherit this as a craft. These, whenever a
corpse is conveyed to them, show to those who brought it wooden models
of corpses made like reality by painting, and the best of the ways of
embalming they say is that of him whose name I think it impiety to
mention when speaking of a matter of such a kind; the second which
they show is less good than this and also less expensive; and the
third is the least expensive of all. Having told them about this, they
inquire of them in which way they desire the corpse of their friend to
be prepared. Then they after they have agreed for a certain price
depart out of the way, and the others being left behind in the
buildings embalm according to the best of these ways thus: - First with
the crooked iron tool they draw out the brain through the nostrils,
extracting it partly thus and partly by pouring in drugs; and after
this with a sharp stone of Ethiopia they make a cut along the side and
take out the whole contents of the belly, and when they have cleared
out the cavity and cleansed it with palm-wine they cleanse it again
with spices pounded up: then they fill the belly with pure myrrh
pounded up and with cassia and other spices except frankincense, and
sew it together again. Having so done they keep it for embalming
covered up in natron for seventy days, but for a longer time than this
it is not permitted to embalm it; and when the seventy days are past,
they wash the corpse and roll its whole body up in fine linen cut into
bands, smearing these beneath with gum, which the Egyptians use
generally instead of glue. Then the kinsfolk receive it from them and
have a wooden figure made in the shape of a man, and when they have
had this made they enclose the corpse, and having shut it up within,
they store it then in a sepulchral chamber, setting it to stand
upright against the wall. Thus they deal with the corpses which are
prepared in the most costly way; but for those who desire the middle
way and wish to avoid great cost they prepare the corpse as follows: -
having filled their syringes with the oil which is got from cedar-
wood, with this they forthwith fill the belly of the corpse, and this
they do without having either cut it open or taken out the bowels, but
they inject the oil by the breech, and having stopped the drench from
returning back they keep it then the appointed number of days for
embalming, and on the last of the days they let the cedar oil come out
from the belly, which they before put in; and it has such power that
it brings out with it the bowels and interior organs of the body
dissolved; and the natron dissolves the flesh, so that there is left
of the corpse only the skin and the bones. When they have done this
they give back the corpse at once in that condition without working
upon it any more. The third kind of embalming, by which are prepared
the bodies of those who have less means, is as follows: - they cleanse
out the belly with a purge and then keep the body for embalming during
the seventy days, and at once after that they give it back to the
bringers to carry away. The wives of men of rank when they die are not
given at once to be embalmed, nor such women as are very beautiful or
of greater regard than others, but on the third or fourth day after
their death (and not before) they are delivered to the embalmers. They
do so about this matter in order that the embalmers may not abuse
their women, for they say that one of them was taken once doing so to
the corpse of a woman lately dead, and his fellow-craftsman gave
information. Whenever any one, either of the Egyptians themselves or
of strangers, is found to have been carried off by a crocodile or
brought to his death by the river itself, the people of any city by
which he may have been cast up on land must embalm him and lay him out
in the fairest way they can and bury him in a sacred burial-place, nor
may any of his relations or friends besides touch him, but the priests
of the Nile themselves handle the corpse and bury it as that of one
who was something more than man.
Hellenic usages they will by no means follow, and to speak generally
they follow those of no other men whatever. This rule is observed by
most of the Egyptians; but there is a large city named Chemmis in the
Theban district near Neapolis, and in this city there is a temple of
Perseus the son of Danae which is of a square shape, and round it grow
date-palms: the gateway of the temple is built of stone and of very
great size, and at the entrance of it stand two great statues of
stone. Within this enclosure is a temple-house and in it stands an
image of Perseus. These people of Chemmis say that Perseus is wont
often to appear in their land and often within the temple, and that a
sandal which has been worn by him is found sometimes, being in length
two cubits, and whenever this appears all Egypt prospers.
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