264 A HISTORY OF 



now, if the tombs, or pits, in which they were placed, had not been 

 dug in a dry, chalky soil, which was not susceptible of humidity ; and 

 which was, besides, covered over with a dry sand of several feet 

 thickness. 



The sepulchres of the ancient Egyptians subsist to this day. Most 

 travellers who have been in Egypt have described those of ancient 

 mummies, and have seen the mummies interred there. These cata- 

 combs are within two leagues of the ruins of this city, nine leagues 

 from Grand Cairo, and about two miles from the village of Zaccara. 

 They extend from thence to the Pyramids of Pharaoh, which are 

 about eight miles distant. These sepulchres lie in a field, covered 

 with a fine running sand, of a yellowish colour. The country is dry 

 and hilly ; the entrance of the tomb is choaked up with sand ; there 

 are many open, but several more that are still concealed. The in- 

 habitants of the neighbouring village have no other commerce, or 

 method of subsisting, but by seeking out mummies, and selling them 

 to such strangers as happen to be at Grand Cairo. " This commerce, 

 some years ago, was not only a very common, but a very gainful one. 

 A complete mummy was often sold for twenty pounds : but it must 

 not be supposed that it was bought at such a high price from a mere 

 passion for antiquity ; there were much more powerful motives for 

 this traffic. Mummy, at that time, made a considerable article in me- 

 dicine ; and a thousand imaginary virtues were ascribed to it, for the 

 cure of most disorders, particularly of the paralytic kind. There 

 was no shop, therefore, without mummy in it ; and no physician 

 thought he had properly treated his patient, without adding this to 

 his prescription. Induced by the general repute, in which this sup- 

 posed drug was at that time, several Jews, both of Italy and France, 

 found out the art of imitating mummy so exactly, that they, for a long 

 time, deceived all Europe. This they did by drying dead bodies in 

 ovens, after having prepared them with myrrh, aloes, and bitumen. 

 Still, however, the request for mummies continued, and a variety of 

 cures were daily ascribed to them. At length, Pareeus wrote a treatise 

 on their total inefficacy in physic ; and showed their abuse in load- 

 ing the stomach, to the exclusion of more efficacious medicines. 

 From that time, therefore, their reputation began to decline ; the 

 Jews discontinued their counterfeits, and the trade returned entire to 

 the Egyptians, when it was no longer of value. The industry of 

 seeking after mummies is now totally relaxed, their price merely ar- 

 bitrary, and just what the curious are willing to give. 



In seeking for mummies, they first clear away the sand, which they 

 may do for weeks together, without finding what is wanted. Upon 

 coming to a little square opening of about eighteen feet in depth, 

 they descended into it, by holes for the feet, placed at proper inter 

 vals, and there they are sure of finding what they seek for. These 

 caves, or wells, as they call them, are hollowed out of a white free- 

 stone, which is found in all this country, a few feet below the cover- 

 ing of sand. When one gets to the bottom of these, which are 

 sometimes fort" feet below the surface, there are several square 

 openings, on each side, into passages of ten or fifteen feet wide, and 

 these lead to chambers of fifteen or twenty feet square. Tlte^c are 



