Manchester Memoirs, Vol. lix. ([91 5), No. 10. 47 



spread custom of burning incense at the statue. For, as 

 Blackman (5) has pointed out, the aim was by burning 

 aromatic woods and resins thereby magically to restore 

 to the "body" the odours of the living person. 



It was therefore intimately related to the practice of 

 mummification and genetically connected with it. It was 

 part of the magical procedure for making the portrait- 

 statue of the deceased (or later, in the time of the New 

 Empire, the mummy itself) " an efficient animate sub- 

 stitute for the person " (Alan Gardiner). 



A careful investigation of the geographical distribution 

 of the custom of burning incense before the corpse and of 

 the circumstances related to such a practice has convinced 

 me that wherever it is found, even where no attempt is 

 made to preserve the body, it can be regarded as an 

 indication of the influence of the Egyptian custom of 

 mummification. For apart from such an influence incense- 

 burning is inexplicable. The attempt on the part of 

 certain writers to explain the use of incense merely as a 

 means of disguising the odours of putrefaction will not 

 bear examination. It is an example of that kind of 

 so-called psychological explanation which is opposed by 

 all the ascertainable facts. 



Beyond the borders of Egypt peoples who for a time 

 adopted the custom of embalming and then for some 

 reason, such as the failure to attain successful results or 

 the adoption of conflicting beliefs or customs, allowed 

 the practice to lapse, the simpler parts of the Egyptian 

 funerary ritual often continued to be observed. The body 

 was anointed with oil, perhaps packed in salt and aromatic 

 plants, wrapped in linen or fine clothes, had incense 

 burned before it, and was laid on a bed or special bier. 

 All of these practices originated in Egypt and observance 

 of any or all of them is to be regarded as a sure sign of 



