Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians

365

The Libation poured on all the Offerings, in reality before

they were placed on the Altar. Two chief Vases for Li-

bation. White and Red Wines, Grape Juice, Beer, Milk,

and Oils among the Offerings. Quality of the Offerings - 366

Flowers how presented. Chaplets and Wreaths on the

Altars and placed on the Statues of the Gods. Their

Selection. The Onion, Raphanus, and cucurbitaceous

Plants chosen for their Utility. Their general Use. Re-

presentatives of the Vegetables of Egypt. Importance

attached to Onions

- 368

- 370

Ointment. Mode of anointing Statues of the Gods

Ointment called Psagdai. Offerings of Vestments,

Jewellery, and other Things, deposited in the Temples.

Catalogues of them

371

Offered also singly to the Gods. Various Emblems also

Public and private Thanksgivings. Each offered according

to his Means or Occupations (vide p. 356.)

372

- 373

Men beating themselves before a Mummy; another with

Two of those Emblems. An Offering apparently a Lamp - 376

An uncertain Ceremony or Game. The Egyptian Cere-

monies numerous

Mode of approaching the Gods. Bowing Postures in the

Presence of a Superior. Libations performed by the

Priests on one or both Knees

Prostration before the Gods unusual. Instances of it in

Ptolemaic Temples only. Artifices of the Ptolemies to

court the Good-will of the Priesthood

FUNERAL RITES. Offerings to the Dead

The Relations performed the Services to the Dead, or were

present while they were performed. The Nature of those

Ceremonies

The Priest who officiated was a Pontiff. The Services

long continued to be performed. The Mummies kept in

the House in a Closet. The Offerings

Several Priests attended; not of the Grade of the Pontiffs.

Single Oblations. One of these singular, appears to sig-

nify" the chosen part"

Lamps kept burning. Funeral Oblations. The Altars at

the Tombs

The Trench around the Altar

Liturgies or Services for the poor Priests paid by Collec-

tions, like our Parish Rates. The Mummies often kept

in the House a long Time, and brought to Table

The VEкpodεLTVov, or Feast in Honour of the Dead. Small

Tables of Offerings deposited in the Tombs

Though Mummies kept, great Care taken to establish their

Right to Burial. Cases of Debt. The Tombs

Kept ready for Sale. Subjects common to all Tombs.
Question, why the Egyptians paid so much Attention to

- 393

their Tombs? Some supposed the Soul delighted in their
Appearance. This Idea traced in Plato

Implements of the Occupation of each Person buried

with him. Sometimes ail the Figures finished before the

Tomb was sold. Second-hand Tombs and even Mum-

my Cases
- $95

Husband and Wife in same Tomb. The Position of their

Statues shows the affectionate Character of the Egyp-

tians. The Preliminaries for purchasing a Tomb. Ne-

cessity of binding down the Parties by Contract

Form of the Tombs. Upper Rooms and Pits.

with Doors, and sealed

Seals of stamped Clay. Doubts if they were Seals

Tombs built or hewn in the Rock. Few built except about

Memphis. Poor People's Tombs had no upper Rooms - 399

Mummies of Lower Class in a common Repository, and

wrapped in Mats, or coarse Cloths. Some Tombs very

large. Every one saved Money for his Funeral. In-

crease of Luxury. Tombs in the Time of the Twenty-

sixth Dynasty. Gardens before some Tombs

The Tombs in early Times smaller. Cut in the Rock.

Tombs about Memphis

- 400

- 401

Tombs of the Kings at Thebes. Mourning for the Dead - 402

Funerals of Modern Egypt

- 403

Funeral of a Shekh

- 407

Points of Resemblance in ancient and modern Egyptian

Funerals. Magnificence of a Royal Funeral. Mourning

for a King

- 408

Solemn Fast at the Death of a King. Difference between

the Funeral of a King and any other Person

Funeral Procession of a Basilico-grammat of the Priestly

Order

- 409

- 410

The Coffin on a Sledge, and the Head of the Mummy ex-

posed to View. The two Emblems on the Exterior

One the Emblem of Stability. The other resembling the

Knot of a Belt. Arrival at the Sacred Lake, the Coffin

placed in the Baris, or consecrated Barge of the Dead.

Procession to the Tomb

413

- 412

Funeral Procession of a Priest of Amun. Boat Scene on
the Sacred Lake. Egyptian Love of Caricature even in
serious Subjects

The Procession going from the Lake to the Tomb
Other Funerals more simple. Peculiar Office and Dress of
some Persons who attended

Funeral of a "Scribe of Weights and Measures." Another

Funeral Procession

416

The Sprinkler, as at modern Egyptian Funerals.

beneath the Western Mountains of Thebes. The Mum-

my taken from the Hearse. The Eulogy of the De-

ceased read by a Sacred Scribe

Sometimes read from the Boat. The same Procession after

crossing the Lake. Tombs with pyramidal Roofs

Small Brick Pyramids at Thebes. Palm Branches strewed

in the Way. Grease or a Liquid poured before the

Sledge. The Hearse closed or open

Mummies crowned with Flowers. (Note. This Custom

supposed to be confined to unmarried Persons.) A

Group of Figures whose Ages are well portrayed.

Children with few Clothes, as stated by Diodorus

Mourning for the Death of a Friend. The Egyptians did

not cut themselves like the Carians and the Syrians.

The Body when embalmed restored to the Family; but

frequently put into a Case beforehand. Several Cases

The Coffin and Hearse on a Sledge. The Forty-two Judges.

Charon. The Accusers at the Trial of the Dead

If no Accuser, his Eulogy was pronounced. The Body

sometimes kept in the House. The accused and those

deprived of Burial Rites for Debt

Their Children might release them. Parents highly es-

teemed. The Grief of the Family when the Deceased

was rejected at this Ordeal. Transmigration

This Punishment temporary. The Consequences of a

Belief in it. No Favour shown by the Priests at the

Trial, or afterwards. This public Exposure an Induce-

ment to Virtue. Form of the Ritual announcing the

Acquittal of the Dead preserved in the Tombs

The Forty-two Crimes and the Forty-two Assessors. Lake

of the Nome. The Poor who were rejected at their Trial

buried on the Shores of the Lake

The Ceremonies and Names borrowed by the Greeks from

Egypt

The Baris. Charon. Hecate. Gates of Cocytus and Lethe.

Figure of Justice without a Head. The 360 Priests,

and the Barrel pierced with Holes

Charon and the Styx. Cakes in the Tombs. The Cake

Osiris, Judge of the Dead. The Trial of the King. If

condemned, he was deprived of the Rites of Burial like

Funeral Rites refused to their Kings by the Jews also

The Egyptians allowed no Insult to be offered to the Body

after Death

Belief of the Egyptians that secret Crimes were known to

the Deity and punished. The Doctrine of Transmigra-

tion invented in order to bring the future Punishment

to the Level of the Comprehensions of the most ignorant 439

Transmigration during a Period of 3000 Years. Purifi-

cation of the Soul. Plato gives 10,000 Years, and 3000

for a virtuous Philosopher

Doctrine adopted by the Greeks.

Pythagoras and Phere-

441

cydes. The Metempsychosis, or Metensómatosis, the

Passage of the Soul from one Animal to another

Idea of the Egyptians preserving the Body to receive the
Soul again. Doubtful, Animals being also embalmed

The Resurrection of the Body. Tombs resold and occu-

pied by others. The 3000 Years dated from the Death

of each Person. The Pharisees

Buddhists and other Religions admitted Transmigration.*

Future Judgment. The Souls weighed

443

4.4.4

445

446

A wicked Soul sent back to the World under the Form of

a Pig. Variations in the Mode of representing these

Subjects

- 447

The Chinese Buddhists represent the wicked in the other world assuming
this new shape, in which they at first appear very uncomfortable.

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Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians, Volume 2