chapter 30, and verse 33, it would seem that incineration was likewise

practiced. Among the Greeks, in historical times, the bodies of the dead were indifferently interred or burned, a common word being used for either method. When the body was not burned it was placed in a coffin made of baked cla}' or earthenware and buried outside the town. Intramural interment was forbidden through the belief that the presence of the dead brought pollution to the living. If the cere- mony was that of burning, the body was placed upon a pyre of wood, to which fire was communicated in the presence of those who had attended the funeral. When the flames v/ere extinguished, the bones were col- lected and placed in urns made of various materials. These were pre- served in tombs, built expressly for the purpose, on the road-side, just outside the city gates. After the funeral of the deceased, those who assisted at the disposal of the body partook of a feast, at the house of the nearest relative, whose dut}- it was to attend the funeral ceremonies, which, if neglected, subjected him to very grave accusations.
At Athens the period of mourning continued for thirty days, during which time feasts and sacrifices were celebrated. In the early part of the Republic, the Romans generally buried their dead, though burning was likewise practiced. Sylla appears to have been the first of his £'e}is who was burned. Under the empire, burning became customary until subverted by the gradual spread of Christianity, and at the end of the fourth century it had again fallen into general disuse. The funeral rites varied, not only with the wealth of the deceased, but somewhat, too, in periods of the commonwealth. In the latter days of the Roman Republic, under the earlier emperors, the corpse of a man of wealth was washed, anointed with oil and perfumed by the slaves of the undertaker. The body was then dressed in the best clothes it had possessed when living, placed with the feet toward the door in the vestibule, upon a couch covered with flowers, a branch of cypress being placed before the door, and a coin put in the mouth of the corpse to pay the ferriage into Hades.
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EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 295
The funeral took place at niglit, tlie procession being headed by- musicians, followed by hired mourners singing funeral songs ; after these came the freedmen, wearing the cap of liberty. Immediately preceding the corpse were persons bearing masks made of wax, representing the ancestry of the deceased. The couch was borne by freedmen, or near relatives, the family following after ; the men, contrary to custom, with heads covered ; the women, with heads bare and hair disheveled, often beating their breasts and uttering piercing cries. Finally the corpse, with the couch upon which it was borne, was placed upon the funeral pyre, built in the form of an altar. The nearest relatives, with averted faces, kindled the fire, while perfumes, oils and articles of food were frequently thrown upon the body as it was being consumed. When the pyre was burned down, the embers were extinguished with wine, the bones and ashes sprinkled with perfume, and carefully collected by the nearest of kin, were then placed in an urn and buried in sepulchres com- mon to those of the same family. After the funeral, mourning sacrifices were continued for nine days, though by the women, on the death of a husband, or father, mourning was sometimes worn for a year.
As the Christian religion gradually obtained the ascendancy a corresponding change took place in the mode of disposing of the dead. Bodies were no longer burned, but were interred and the offices of the Church were substituted for the rites of paganism. At a very early date it became customary to bury the dead in the immediate neighborhood of the churches, which, in large towns, led to scenes most shocking to the feelings of the community, while the disengagement of the gases, result- ing from their decomposition, proved deleterious to the general health. In London some churchyards raised over four feet in a few years. Within thirty years there had been interred within a space not exceeding three hundred and eighteen acres, one million five hundred thousand. (Report of the General Board of Health, London, 1S50).
The period taken by a body to decay, after inhumation, varies according to climate, soil and the covering in which it is enveloped. Orfila and Lesueur, in their experiments, found nothing but the skeletons of bodies that had been buried from eighteen months to two years ; but this time is unusually short. Low, damp, moist grounds are best to hasten decomposition, especially if water percolates through.
296 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
The Parsees of Bombay, India, dispose of tBeir dead by placing them upon iron gratings on the tops of high towers, called " Towers of Silence," built expressly for the purpose of exposing their dead to the approach of numberless vultures. These devour the body within an bour after if has been left alone, leaving nothing but the bones, which are thrown into a deep well in the centre of the tower, where they are left to decay. This receptacle for the remains is common to all, rich and poor, no distinctions being made. This method of disposing of the dead was adopted by these people because deemed by them as the most appropriate for this reason : They believe the Earth to be the Mother of Mankind, the producer of the fruits of the field, that source from whence comes plant life for the sustenance of not only man but his domestic animals. They therefore considered it a defilement and a injury to the Earth to bury their dead within its sacred depths, in consequence of which they exposed them on the tops of these high towers and to the birds of the air. Fire was considered too pure and sacred to use for burning the body ; like the Hindu, they considered exposure the best manner of disposing of their dead.
I do not wish to dwell too long upon the various methods adopted by different people of the world in the disposal of their dead, or to tire you, my dear Brothers, with a too lengthy article upon this subject, but shall confine my remarks especially to the Egyptian Mummy. It would have given me very great pleasure to have described the mummies and mummification of this American continent, but time and space will not permit my doing so. I will say, however, that I do firmly believe the religious ideas of the ancient Egyptians and the Incas of prehistoric times to have been identical.
Vestiges of an ancient Inca civilization are to be found to-day on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The tombs of the people who inhabited this country have been forcibly broken into and desecrated by miserable grave robbers, the ancient mummies taken from their sepulchres and ^ broken into pieces, which they scattered over the ground in an endeavor to rob the dead of their eyes and the ornaments with which they were decorated.
Father Acosta says, in the sixth chapter " Royal Commentaries of the Inca," 1-92, that "these mummies were well preserved, with eyes
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 297
that were made of pellets of gold, so well imitated that no one could have missed the real ones."
The following seems to have been the usual method adopted after death by the Ancient Egyptians : When a person of any consequence died the women of the family, as well as all the female relatives, smeared their faces and daubed their heads with mud, and going forth from their dead into the streets, with their bosoms bare and their clothing sus- pended from their waists, wandered through the city, all the time beating their bosoms with loud lamentations and loudl}' bewailing their loss. The male members of the family would gather together, their clothing arranged in a similar manner, and perform the same methods of flagellation, accompanied with loud cries and lamentations. These scenes are pictured in many of the tombs showing funeral processions with the mourners beating their breasts and throwing dust upon their heads.
The corpse of the male was at once committed to the care of the embalmers ; but if it was a female it was retained at home until decom- position had begun. It was then, like the male, committed into the charge of the embalmers.
Herodotus says, in Q\idJ^-Euterpe 89, " The wives of men of rank are not given to be embalmed immediately after death, nor are indeed any of the more beautiful or valued women. It is not till they have been dead three or four days that they are carried to the embalmers. This is done to prevent indignities being offered them. It is said that once a case of this kind occurred, the man being detected by the information of his fellow-workmen . ' '
After the body had been surrendered to the embalmers it was dis- robed, when the principal embalmer, called a Scribe^ drew a line with a reed pen down the left side, from the sternum across the ribs. Following this line a paraschite or flank incisor made a deep incjision, and just as soon as it was made the operator would be driven away from the body by the people, who stoned, assaulted and cursed him, these paraschites being held in perfect abhorrence and dread. If any one should happen to come in contact with them they would be considered to be defiled, and one con- taminated by their touch would immediately have to be purified, by certain ceremonies in their temples, performed by their priest, in order to purify them, that they might again mingle with friends and companions.
298 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
After the incision had been made another kind of embalmer called a Taricheiite would then proceed to extract the entrails, which, according to Herodotus, were afterwards washed in palm wine and thoroughly cleansed, when they were put through different processes for their preservation, which, on being finished, were placed in canopic jars and dedicated to the gods of the underworld, representing the four cardinal points of the universe: ist, Mestha^ or Amset ; 2d, Hapi ; 3d, Taimiautef ; and 4th, Qtiebhsejtmif. They received these names from the Ancient Egyptians who placed the viscera into jars because they thoroughly believed that it was necessary to have the whole of the body in the judgment of the dead, and if these jars did not contain the viscera of the deceased they were supposed to do so.
These four jars have each a different head, representing the separate gods, and are as follows : Mestha is human-headed, representing the South, and the jar of this god was supposed to contain the stomach and larger intestines. Hapi was dog-headed, and representing the North, and it was supposed to contain the small intestines. Taumautef was jackal-headed, representing the East, and was supposed to contain the lungs and the heart. Quebhsennuf is hawk-headed, representing the West, and is sup- posed to contain the liver and gall-bladder. These four jars were placed in canopic chests, or boxes, about two feet square, divided into four com- partments of equal size, and in each space was placed one of the canopic jars that stood upright in the compartment to which it was allotted.
The earliest record of canopic jars occurs during the eighteenth dynasty, during which period these jars were made of alabaster, arragonite and a variety of beautiful stone. They were in many instances most magnificent and exquisite specimens of Egyptian Art. I have said above that these jars were sttpposed to contain the various interior organs of the human body, because both Porphyry and Plutarch claim that the viscera, when removed from the body, was cast into the Nile ; but Mr. Pettigrew having received one chest for examination, which he opened, claims to have found the different jars used for the purpose as above described.
I myself firmly believe that the interior organs of the body were embalmed, preserved and kept for this reason : The ancient Egyptians most assuredly believed that the interior organs of the body exerted an influence upon every thought and act of a man's life, affecting not only
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 299
tis morality and virtue, but that they had a general tendency to lead into the downward path of vice and miser}^. In consequence they laid the blame for all the evil acts committed during the whole course of the man's life, as well as his evil thoughts, upon the viscera. Therefore, if the man was to be judged according to his every act and thought through life, all parts of the body should be there to undergo the examination, and whatever was adjudged to the body should also be adjudged to the various organs that made him either virtuous or immoral, and ought to be there with the body as testimony to the Truth of the Judgment. Budge states "that when the intestines were not buried in jars they were returned to the bod}^, and figures of Mcstlia^ Hapi, Taumaidef and Qucbliscnniif made of wax, sheet silver, gold, or porcelain were laid upon the parts these gods were supposed to protect," and y&X. Porphyry states that the viscera, after having been extracted, were laid in a box or chest and one of the embalmers would hold it up toward the sun, accompanied by the following invocation : " O sun, and all ye Gods, who give life to man, receive me, and give me to dwell along with the immortal Gods, for I have ever reverenced the Gods whom my parents taught me, and have honored the authors of my body ; of other men I have neither killed any one nor deprived him of a deposit, nor have done any other grievous wrong. And if, throughout my life, I have committed any sin in eating or drinking, I have not done it on my own account, but on account of these, pointing to the chest containing the viscera, which was then thrown into the river and the bod3% as pure, submitted to embalmment." But this is clearl}^ disproven by the fact that canopic jars have been found in immense quantities, containing the intestines of numberless bodies, as well as in finding the interior organs within the bodies of a vast majorit}- of the mummies discovered throughout the Nile valley, demon- strating that the statement of Porphyry, only so far as the invocation is concerned, is not to be relied upon.
After the intestines had been removed, another Tarischeicte extracted the brain, using a crooked instrument, made expressl}^ for the purpose, with which to draw the brain down through the nasal cavities, after which the body was considered read}^ for the various salts and spices that were to be incorporated in all parts of it, necessar}^ for its preservation. Further operations for the completion of the process of embalming
300 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
depended in a great measure upon the amount paid for its decorations and preservation. Three methods prevailed for the purpose of embalm- ing the bodies of the dead in Egypt.
The first was attainable only by the rich, the process being as follows : After the entrails, brains, etc., had been removed certain gums, spices and fluids were passed through the nostrils up into the hollow of the skull. The cavities of the chest and stomach were then thoroughly washed with palm wine, then filled with resins, gums and many now unknown substances, the incision made b}- the Paraschite being then closed up. The body was steeped in a bath, composed of carbonate of soda and other alkalies, for a period of seventy days ; it was then taken from the bath and permitted to dry, after which they wrapped it in from eight hundred to one thousand yards of linen bandages, cemented together by gums and costl}' aromatics, which effectually preserved the body from deca3^ Its outer covering, or mask, was beautifully decorated with gold and silver leaf and artistically painted in many colors. It was then placed in a series of cases, the one fitting into the other. This completed the process adopted in the embalming of the bodies of the most wealthy and cost about three thousand five hundred dollars of our money, or one silver talent of theirs.
The second method consisted in removing the entrails, etc., injecting the cavities with cedar oil and soaking the body in natron for seventy days. It was then bandaged as above, inclosed in mask and outer covering and coffin. This method cost about one thousand two hundred dollars in our money, or a mena in theirs.
The third process was for the poorer classes and consisted in remov- ing the brains and viscera. It was then washed in the sap of a small tree growing in Arabia and Nubia, the juices of which were called myrrh. The body was then soaked in a saline bath for the usual seventy days, when it was dried and covered with linen bandages and mask. It was then decorated and put in a coffin or case. This mode of embalming cost about five hundred dollars.
When the bodies were prepared, or embalmed, they were often kept for a long time at home, being very frequently produced at festivals or banquets to recall to the guests the fact " that in life the}^ were in the midst of death" and all the joys of life were but transient.
TOMBS OF THE MAMELUKES,
CAIRO.
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 301
Kenrick in his "Ancient Egyptians,'' Vol. II., page 48, says: "By a singular law passed, at a time when there was a great want of circu- lating medium (quoting from Herodotus), a man was allowed to pledge the mummies of his forefathers for debt, but was himself deprived of sepulture if he failed to redeem them before his death. The prohibition appears to have included his descendants as long as the debt remained unpaid."
Herodotus also related another peculiar custom, which was, when- ever any Egyptian or foreigner lost his life through falling prey to a crocodile, or by drowning in the river, the law compelled the inhabitants of the city near which the body is cast up to have it embalmed and to bury it in one of the sacred repositories with all possible magnificence. No one may touch the corpse, not even any of the friends or relations, but only the priests of the Nile who prepare it for burial, with their own hands — regarding it as something more than the mere body of a man — and themselves lay it in the tomb.
The art of embalming reached its perfection during the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, or about the time of Thothmes III. to Rameses