Here
is his description of the three techniques:
"When
a body is brought to the embalmers, they produce specimen models in wood, graded
in quality ... They ask which of the three is required, and the family of the
dead, having agreed upon a price, leave the embalmers to their task.
"The
most perfect process is as follows: as much as possible of the brain is removed
via the nostrils with an iron hook, and what cannot be reached with the hook is
washed out with drugs; next, the flank is opened with a flint knife and the
whole contents of the abdomen removed; the cavity is then thoroughly cleaned and
washed out, firstly with palm wine and again with an infusion of ground spices.
After that, it is filled with pure myrrh, cassia, and every other aromatic
substance,
excepting frankincense, and sewn up again, after which the body is placed in
natron [see below], covered entirely over, for seventy days - never longer. When
this period is over, the body is washed and then wrapped from head to foot in
linen cut into strips and smeared on the underside with gum, which is commonly
used by the Egyptians instead of glue. In this condition the body is given back
to the family, who have a wooden case made, shaped like a human figure, into
which it is put.
"When,
for reasons of expense, the second quality is called for, the treatment is
different: no incision is made and the intestines are not removed, but oil of
cedar is injected with a syringe into the body through the anus which is
afterwards stopped up to prevent the liquid from escaping. The body is then
cured in natron for the prescribed number of days, on the last of which the oil
is drained off. The effect of it is so powerful that as it leaves the body it
brings with it the viscera in a liquid state, and as the flesh has been
dissolved by the natron, nothing of the body is left but the skin and bones.
After this treatment, it is returned to the family without further attention.
"The
third method, used for embalming the bodies of the poor, is simply to wash out
the intestines, and keep the body for seventy days in natron."
