— 9 — 
of the Middle Empire {vide supra). This discovery seemed to 
be of such importance that I opened the cranium to examine the 
interior. A thin layer of brownish material lined the cranial 
walls but on examination it was proved to be non -resinous— in 
all probability it was the dried remains of the brain. There was 
no evidence to suggest that the flakes of resinous matter were put 
into the cranium during the process of embalming. The probable 
explanation is that resinous matter placed in or around the nasal 
fossa had fallen into the cranium when the sphenoid was accid- 
entally broken. For it seems highly improbable that the resinous 
matter could have got into the cranial cavity unless it were placed 
on the mummy itself. 
So far as it goes this evidence seems to ])oint to the conclusion 
that the surface of the body and perhaps the nose and mouth 
were covered with a resinous paste but no attempt was made to 
open the cranium. In twelve crania of up]ier class people of the 
11th or 12th dynasty obtained by Mr. John Garstang near Beni 
Hasan the ethmoid was invariably intact. 
In his description of the remains of the Princess Ita M. de 
Morgan states that "les chairs sont comme une sorte de résine 
brunâtre."^ He states further that the "momie de la princesse 
Khnoumit" was "recouverte d'un enduit de bitume" (p. 55) — 
probably not bitumen but resin. 
The evidence as a whole seems to point distinctly to the 
practice of embalming as early as the 12th dynasty : but there is 
no valid reason for believing that any attempt was made to remove 
the brain in the Middle Empire. 
In the work already quoted Dr. Reisner says that "the 
earliest indication of the use of jars for preserving the entrails of 
the mummy is the chest for Canopic Jars found by Maspero in 
the pyramid of Mr-n-r'-Pepy at Saqqarah in 1881" ( op. c//.,p.l)' 
1 J. DE Morgan^ Fouilles à Bahclwur en 1894-1895, Vienna 1903, p. 50. 
2 
