Wilkinson, John Gardner: Topographie of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile, to the second cataracte and Wadi Samneh, with the Fyoom, Oases and eastern desert, from Sooez to Bertenice (London, 1835)

256 DRESS. — EMBALMING. [Chap. V.

according to the caste, or occupation, of each indi-
vidual. Those of the priests were the most varied;
but workmen had merely a short kilt or apron,
fastened round the waist, the upper part of the body
being exposed.*

Both sexes wore ornaments of different kinds;
and the men even had ear-rings,f necklaces^ and
bracelets.

Much might be written on the customs of this
people, but the limits of this work oblige me to
conclude. I shall only add a few remarks on the
ceremony of embalming their dead, and of the early
invention of glass.

Embalming.—In spite of the authority of Por-
phyry, who affirms that the intestines of the hu-
man body, after an address to the sun, were thrown
into the Nile, I feel persuaded that no part of the
intestines, nor even the bran or saw-dust, on which
they were washed and cleansed, were ever thrown
into the river.

The account given by Herodotus appears highly
probable. He observes that they were " well
cleansed with palm-wine;" and I imagine that the
bran or saw-dust, used as an absorbent, was after-

* Children were left naked till an advanced age; and the whole
expense (says Diodorus) of bringing them up to man's estate did
not exceed twenty-two drachmas (thirteen shillings). Lib. i. s. SO.

t Like the Carthaginians and other people. Necklaces and
bracelets were also worn by some Europeans, as the Gauls,
Sabines, &c. Judah's bracelets are mentioned in Gen. xxxviii. 18.

J " Pharaoh took off his ring ... and put it upon Joseph's
hand ... and put a gold chain about his neck." Gen. xli. 42.
Conf. the sculptures, passim.