XVIII. Some account of two mummies of the Egyptian Ibis, one of which was in a remarkably perfect state

Abstract

The ancient Egyptians were not more remarkable for their attainments in science, than for the extraordinary attention they paid to the bodies of their deceased relatives, preserving their remains by arts which are now either unknown, or imperfectly recorded, and depositing them in subterranean structures, which to this day excite the curiosity and wonder of the philosophic traveller. The practice of embalming was not confined, as is well known, to the conservation of human bodies exclusively; it was likewise employed to protect the remains of several of their sacred animals from that decay and dissolution which usually ensues, on the exposure of animal substances to the action of the earth, or of the atmosphere. We learn from Herodotus, that among the different animals which the Egyptians honoured with this peculiar mode of sepulture, were the cat, the ichneumon, the mus araneus terrestris, the ibis, and the hawk; but, whether this be a complete enumeration or not, it is almost impossible, at this period of time, to determine. Mummies of the hawk and of the ibis have, been often drawn out of the catacombs; and Olivier asserts, that he has not only met with the bones of the mus araneus terrestris, but also with those of several of the smaller species of quadrupeds, and that the bones of different animals are not unfrequently contained within the same wrapper. It is however confidently affirmed by different writers, that the more modern Egyptians have frequently included a single bone of some quadruped within the usual quantity of cloth, which they have artfully taken from some decayed mummy in the catacombs, and then fraudulently sold this sophisticated production as an ancient mummy. Hence, any general conclusions founded on meeting with the bones of other quadrupeds, must be received with diffidence and suspicion.