The body is doubtless that of a well-to-do commoner. The subjects painted 

 on the case seem to be the figures of Netpe with expanded wings protecting the de- 

 ceased; then the god Anubis presiding over the details of embalmment; and thirdly 

 the boat which took the mourners across the Nile to the place of interment. Nearer 

 the shoulders on each side is the head of the hawk-headed god, with Osiris, Isis, 

 Nepthys, Tokari, and other deities in different compartments, the hieroglyphica 

 extending down the front giving the name and quality of the deceased. 



Embalming in Egypt was at first the exclusive right of kings, 

 but in time the practice became universal, even the poorest hav- 

 ing their bodies "pickled." The universality of the custom is 

 due to two causes: the dryness of the climate, which naturally 

 favored preservation; and the belief that man's Ka or Double 

 returned to the body at times after death, just as it was supposed 

 to leave the body during sleep. It was thought that body and 

 Double lived on after death, but separately. To insure contin- 

 ued existence the body must be preserved for rehabitation by 

 the Double at will. The pyramids were built to serve as perpet- 

 ual abiding places for the body and its Double. The Egyptians 

 considered the life after death the real existence and gave much 

 more thought to their tombs than to their residences. Egypt- 

 ian philosophy underwent many modifications and elaborations 

 during its long history, but always the preservation of the body 

 was held essential. 



The embalmers early mastered the art of mummy making. 

 Herodotus described their methods as follows: 



First they draw the brains through the nostrils, partly by means of a bent iron, 

 partly by means of drugs introduced in their heads. Next, they make an incision 

 in the stomach with a sharp Ethiopian stone; through this opening they draw the 

 mtestines, clean them and pass them through palm-wine, then again through aro- 

 matic substances; next, they fill the stomach with myrrh, cinnamon and other 

 perfumes, then sew it up again. This done, they put the corpse in salt, and cover 

 It with natron for seventy days. At the end of this period, they wash the body 

 and swathe it in linen bandages. 



In many cases numerous protective images, amulets, and va- 

 rious symbolical emblems were enclosed within the wrappings; 

 the Book of the Dead, which contained instructions and ritual 

 for the passage from this world to a state of immortality, was 



60 



