75 
The structure of the two examples of mummy coffin wood, 
referred to above, is remarkably well preserved. This may per- 
haps be attributed partly to the natural durability of the wood, but 
chiefly it is due to the conditions to which it had been subjected. 
These were no doubt eminently favourable for preservation, since, 
as Schweinfurth points out*, the air in the Egyptian tombs must 
have usually remained constantly dry, on account of the climate 
and the nature of the tombs, the latter being deep rock-built halls, 
to which practically no external air would penetrate. In the case 
of the more delicate parts of plants, such as leaves and flowers, the 
degree of preservation is more surprising, thus, when specimens of 
this kind are found enclosed in undisturbed coftins, their condition 
is described as being often equal to that of specimens from old but 
well-kept herbaria. 
The wood of the Sycomore-tig (Vicws Sycomorus, L.) is stated to 
have been very generally used for making mummy-coftins or 
sarcophagit. ‘These were either made of boards joined together, 
or consisted of two pieces—coffin and lid, and, in the case of 
mummy-shaped coftins, were sometimes multiple structures, two, 
three, or more coffins fitting one inside the other. 
The same wood was largely employed for the carvings of the 
temples, images of gods, and statues of priests, and also for the 
manufacture of the most various kinds of furniture, implements and 
utensils. Another wood used for similar purposes was that of the 
Acacia (A. Nilotica, Del.). It is claimed by Woenig that these two 
trees, in association with the date-palm, were the only two, which 
rew in groups, and perhaps even formed forests, and that con- 
sequently the Egyptians were obliged to depend almost exclusively | 
on them for their supply of wood. The wood of the Sycomore-fig 
is described as very knotty and hard to work, but at the same time 
very durable. 
The Sycomore-fig appears to have been highly valued by the 
Egyptians on account of the cool shade given by its dense foliage, ¢ : 
as well as for its more practical uses, the stem and branches eupplying 
timber, the twigs being used for burning, and the fruits as foo 
Medicinal properties were ascribed to different parts of the plant 
by Plinyt, who states that the juice of the cortex is an antidote for 
snake-poison, besides having other curative properties. It is 
probable that the medicinal use of this plant may have had an 
offerings, on the walls of the temples. A picture belongin, aoe es 
fifth dynasty (ée. between 2840 and 2744 B.C. according to ae 
F. Woe alten Aegypten, Leipzig, 1886. This book, 
whlch salle the results of numerous authors (both Egyptologists and 
Botanists) is the chief source of the following information. 
t Pliny, Hist. Nat., Harduinus, ed. 2, xxiii, 7 
Cypro sui generis, ut diximus. 
ii, 70:—“ Mora in Aegypto et ma 
” The footnote to this shows, by comparison = 
with lib, xiii, sect. 14, that Ficus Sycomorus is the Egyptian plant referred to. — ee 
