in linen cloth, dipped in gums and resinous substances, when
it was delivered to the relatives, and by them placed in the mummy
case and sarcophagus. It was finally placed perpendicularly in the
apartment set apart for the dead; so that the Egyptian could view his
ancestors as figured on their coffins; and with the thought that not
only were their portraits there, but their bodies also--for the
Egyptian was a firm believer in immortality, and piously preserved the
body in a fitter state, as he thought, for reunion with the soul, than
if allowed to perish by decay.

According to the second mode of embalming, no incisions were made upon
the body, but absorbing injections were employed. The natron was used
as before; and after the customary days were passed, the injected
fluid was withdrawn, and with it came the entrails. The body was now
enfolded in the cloth, and returned to the friends. This process cost
twenty minae, the other was a talent. In the third style, that adopted
by the poor, the natron application was almost the only one used; the
body lay for seventy days in this alkaline solution, and was then
accounted fit for preservation. Sometimes the body, enveloped in the
cloth, was covered with bitumen.

The most interesting mummy in this collection is that of a royal
personage, Amenophis I., the most ancient of the Pharaohs whose name
has yet been found. The case is richly decorated, and the name appears
in three different places--that in the interior being in very large
characters, in a royal cartouch. The spectator seems to hang over this
mummy as if spell-bound. Can this in reality be one of the Pharaohs?
Such is the question; and the inscription, thrice repeated--'Amenophis
I.'--is the answer! This monarch reigned in Egypt about half a century
after the exodus of the Israelites, and 3400 years ago, according to
the chronology of Dr Hales; but others give a remoter period--even in
the days of Joseph.

Another mummy has the face covered with gold, and the body is
inscribed with the gods of the Amenti, on those regions over which
they were the genii. Thus _Amset_, with a human head, presided over
the stomach and large intestines, and was the judge of Hades; _Hape_,
with the head of a baboon, presided over the small intestines;
_Soumautf_, the third genius, with a jackal's head, was placed over
the region of the thorax, presiding over the heart and lungs; and the
last, _Kebhsnauf_, with the head of a hawk, pres