DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6553#0137
APPENDIX.
87
inhabitants of the villages near Saccara are frequently employed
in collecting the various antiquities deposited in these pits. Small
articles of gold are sometimes found on bodies enclosed in sarco-
phagi ; but on those in wooden coffins the ornaments are com-
posed of stone, or of earthenware; and, indeed, from mummies
less carefully prepared two or three scarabaei are only obtained.
According to Sir J. G. Wilkinson, the idols of Phtah Sakari5
(stated by Herodotus to have been the peculiar deity of Mem-
phis) are exclusively found in the tombs at this place, and at
Gizeh. The other articles consist of small figures, of vases, of
scarabaii, and of amulets composed of various materials, and
workmanship according to the rank of the deceased. Models of
furniture, arms, and papyri, which are frequently found in the
tombs at Thebes, are sometimes discovered at Saccara; and, as
these objects are inclosed within the linen wrappers, frequently
about the chest of the mummies, the bodies are always broken up
in search of them, and of the gums, and resinous substances used
in the process of embalmment, which are now sometimes esteemed
to be medicines, and which were formerly in great repute.
The catacombs containing the birds are entered by the shafts,
A, B, and C, in the Map, of which A and B were open, but the
most considerable, C, was closed up. The mummies are depo-
sited in galleries irregularly excavated in the rock, if that term
can be applied to a soil composed of indurated clay and of shale ;
and the material, which was removed, was no doubt ground up,
and employed in the manufacture of the coarse vases, which
contain the birds. They are of a conical shape, rounded at the
ends, and usually contain the mummy of an ibis,'1 wrapped up in
4 From which Mr. Salt derives the name of Saccara.
6 Mr. Perring observes, that in Egypt the Ibis was a sacred emblem of
the god Thoth, who, as the regulator and dispenser of time, had a reference
to the influences and phases of the moon ; that, according to Plutarch, the
Ibis was adored on account of a fancied relation between the blended tints of
its plumage and the appearance of the moon. He adds, that DiodoniB Sicu-
lus described Thoth to have been the inventor of calculation, of numbers, and
of letters; and that, upon the authority oi A-A'uin, the Ibis was sacred to Thoth
because its steps were exactly a cubit in length. He also remarks that Thoth
is denoted in hieroglyphics by an Ibis; and that Hermes, likewise supposed
to have been the inventor of letters and of figures, and the teacher of wisdom,
is styled Ibiform. Mr. Perring considers that Herodotus is mistaken when
he asserts that all the mummies of the Ibis were preserved at Hermopolis,
although it is probable that some may have been collected in that nome, as
in the "Itin. Anton." an Ibiuin is stated to have been situated thirty miles
distant from Oxyrynchus, and twenty-four from Hermopolis.
87
inhabitants of the villages near Saccara are frequently employed
in collecting the various antiquities deposited in these pits. Small
articles of gold are sometimes found on bodies enclosed in sarco-
phagi ; but on those in wooden coffins the ornaments are com-
posed of stone, or of earthenware; and, indeed, from mummies
less carefully prepared two or three scarabaei are only obtained.
According to Sir J. G. Wilkinson, the idols of Phtah Sakari5
(stated by Herodotus to have been the peculiar deity of Mem-
phis) are exclusively found in the tombs at this place, and at
Gizeh. The other articles consist of small figures, of vases, of
scarabaii, and of amulets composed of various materials, and
workmanship according to the rank of the deceased. Models of
furniture, arms, and papyri, which are frequently found in the
tombs at Thebes, are sometimes discovered at Saccara; and, as
these objects are inclosed within the linen wrappers, frequently
about the chest of the mummies, the bodies are always broken up
in search of them, and of the gums, and resinous substances used
in the process of embalmment, which are now sometimes esteemed
to be medicines, and which were formerly in great repute.
The catacombs containing the birds are entered by the shafts,
A, B, and C, in the Map, of which A and B were open, but the
most considerable, C, was closed up. The mummies are depo-
sited in galleries irregularly excavated in the rock, if that term
can be applied to a soil composed of indurated clay and of shale ;
and the material, which was removed, was no doubt ground up,
and employed in the manufacture of the coarse vases, which
contain the birds. They are of a conical shape, rounded at the
ends, and usually contain the mummy of an ibis,'1 wrapped up in
4 From which Mr. Salt derives the name of Saccara.
6 Mr. Perring observes, that in Egypt the Ibis was a sacred emblem of
the god Thoth, who, as the regulator and dispenser of time, had a reference
to the influences and phases of the moon ; that, according to Plutarch, the
Ibis was adored on account of a fancied relation between the blended tints of
its plumage and the appearance of the moon. He adds, that DiodoniB Sicu-
lus described Thoth to have been the inventor of calculation, of numbers, and
of letters; and that, upon the authority oi A-A'uin, the Ibis was sacred to Thoth
because its steps were exactly a cubit in length. He also remarks that Thoth
is denoted in hieroglyphics by an Ibis; and that Hermes, likewise supposed
to have been the inventor of letters and of figures, and the teacher of wisdom,
is styled Ibiform. Mr. Perring considers that Herodotus is mistaken when
he asserts that all the mummies of the Ibis were preserved at Hermopolis,
although it is probable that some may have been collected in that nome, as
in the "Itin. Anton." an Ibiuin is stated to have been situated thirty miles
distant from Oxyrynchus, and twenty-four from Hermopolis.