CHAP. XIII. VASES OF THE FOUR GENII. 'J3 



balmed, the intestines were deposited in four vases 

 of alabaster, or other costly materials, according to 

 the expense which the friends of the deceased 

 chose to incur. Some were contented with those 

 of cheaper materials, as limestone, painted wood, 

 or pottery ; but in all cases the cover of each vase 

 was surmounted by the head of its own peculiar 

 Deity, according to its contents. In embalming 

 the bodies of poorer people, who could not af- 

 ford this expense, the intestines, when properly 

 cleansed, were returned into the body by the 

 usual incision in the left side, through which they 

 had been extracted ; and the figures of the four 

 Genii, generally of wax, or aromatic composition, 

 enveloped in cloth, were introduced into the cavity. 

 This was done with the same view of protecting the 

 parts under their peculiar influence, as when they 

 were deposited in the vases. The aperture was 

 afterwards closed, and covered with a leaden plate, 

 on which they represented the eye (of Osiris?), 

 or sometimes the same four Genii who were thought 

 to preside within. But I shall have occasion to 

 mention this hereafter in describing the funeral 

 rites of the Egyptians, where I shall also notice 

 the error of Porphyry respecting their throwing 

 the intestines into the Nile. 



The hieroglyphic legends painted on the ex- 

 terior of the vases alluded to the Deity whose 

 head they bore, and it is principally from these 

 that their names have been ascertained. 



The Goddess Selk is sometimes found accompa- 

 nying the four Genii, in the paintings of the tombs, 



