EMBALM
175
EMBER WEEKS
etv), that (according to Pettigrew, p, Gl) " appearing ] torn, which, however, was very different in all else that to be precisely the time necessary for the operation of | ralates to the disiwsal of the corpse. See Bukial. the alkali on the animal tihre." This would seem to render it possible that the seventy days in the time of Herodotus was the period of mourning, as it was not to be exceeded in what appears to have been the longest operation of embalming. The division of the seventy days mentioned in Gen- esis into forty and thirty may be suggested if we compare the thirty days' mourning for Moses I Amongthelater Jews a sort of embalming by means and for Aaron, in which case the seventy days in | of honey occurs (Josephus, Ant. xiv, 7, 4 ; see Strabo, this instance might mean until the end of seventy i xvi, 74G ; compare Pliny, xxii, 50). Wax is said to days. It is also to be remarked that Diodorus speaks have been employed for a similar purpose by the^an- of the time of mourning for a king being seventy- two days, apparently ending with the day of bur- ial (i, 72). Joseph's coffin was perhaps a stone case, as his mummy was to be long kept ready for re- moval. See Coffin.
III. Jewish. — It is not until long after the Exodus that we find any record of Jewisli embalming, and then we have, in the O. T., but one distinct mention of the practice. This is in the case of king Asa, whose burial is thus related : " And they buried him in his own sep- ulchres, which he had digged for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed [or rather " coffin," not " bier"] which he had filled [or "which was filled"] with perfumes and spices compounded by the apothe- caries' art ; and they made for him an exceeding great burning" (2 Chron. xvi, 14). The burning is men- tioned of other kings of Judah. From this passage it seems that Asa had prepared a bed, probably a sarcophagus, filled with spices, and that spices were also burnt at his burial. In the accounts of our Sa- viour's burial the same or similar customs appear to be indicated, but fuller particulars are given. We read that Nicodemus "brought a mixture of mj'rrh and aloes, about an hundred pound [weight]." The bodj' they wound "in linen clothes with the sweet spices, as the manner of the Jews is to prepare for burial" (John xix, 39, 40). Mark specifies that fine clothes were used (xv, 46), and mentions that the women who came to the sepulchre on the morning of tlie resurrec- tion "had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him" (xvi, 1). Luke relates that the women went to see the sepulchre. "And they re- turned, and prepared sweet spices and ointments'' (xxiii, 5G). Immediately afterwards he speaks of tlieir "bringing the sweet spices which they had pre- pared" (xxiv, 1) on the second day after. Our Lord himself referred to the use of ointment in burial-cere- monies (jroug TO ii'Ta(t)id^Hv) " for the preparation for burial," when he commended the piety of the woman who had anointed his head with " very precious oint- ment" (JMatt. xxvi, 6-13), and spoke in like manner in the similar case of Mary, the sister of Lazarus (John
xii, 3-8). The customs at tliis time would seem to
have been to anoint the body and wrap it in fine linen,
with spices and ointments in the folds, and afterwards
to pour more ointment upon it, and perhaps also to
burn spices. In the case of our Saviour, the hurried
burial and the following of the Sabbath may have
caused an unusual delay. Ordinarily everything was
probably completed at once.
Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus speak of the use of
myiTh in Egyptian embalming, but we do not find any
mention of aloes. The wrapping in fine linen is rather
contrary to the Egyptian practice than like it, when
we remember that the coarser mummy-bandages are
those which immediatel}^ enfold the bod}^, and would
best correspond to the clothes used by the Jews.
The Jewish custom has therefore little in common
with the Egyptian. It was, however, probably intend- ed as a kind of embalming, although it is evident from
wliat is mentioned in the case of Lazarus, who was
regularly swathed (John xi, 44), that its effect was not
preservation (ver. 39). The use of aromatics may nat- urally have been a harmless relic of the Egyptian cus-
Muimuy uf tV-n-aini'ii, priivt nt Aiuun-Iia Museum.)
cient Persians (Herodotus, i, 140; comp. Cicero, Tusc. QucBst. i, 45 ; Xenophon, JIdlen. v, 3, 19).— Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. V.
IV . Litem<ure.—See Pettigrew, History of Egyptian Mummies (Lond. 1840, 4to) ; Wilkinson, Ancient Egyp- tians, 2d series, ii, 451 sq. ; Rosellini, Monimenti ddV Egitto, II, iii, 334 sq., and pi. 121 ; Jablonski, Opusc. ed. Water, i, 472 ; Caylus, Abhand. zur Gesch. u. Kiinst. i, 334 sq. ; Heyne, in the Commentt. Soc. Gottt. 1780, iii, 89 sq. ; Winckler, A nimadverss. i, 105 sq. ; Creuzer, Comment, in Herod, i, 14 sq., 361 sq. ; Sethus, De ali- mentor.facultafibus (Par. 1658), x, p. 74 ; Eitter, in the Hall. Encyclop. vii, 374 sq. ; Brande's Encydopcedia, and the Penny Cydopcedia, s. v. Mummy.