Schaff's Bible Dictionary
EMBALM'. Gen 50:2. The practice of embalming prevailed at a very early period. The Hebrews learned it from the Egyptians, by whom it was understood very perfectly, for embalming entered into their religious life, inasmuch as they maintained it preserved the body for the dwelling-place of the soul after it had completed its various transmigrations. The embalmers or physicians were regarded as sacred officers. "The process of embalming was carried on in various ways.
In the most expensive method the brain and viscera were removed, their place being filled with bitumen and aromatic substances; the body was washed in oil or the tar Bandaging Mummies and making the Cases. ) Fig. 1, sawing wood; a, timber fastened to a stand. 2. cutting the leg of a chair, on a stand, h, indicating the trade of a carpenter. f. 4, 5, and 7, binding mummies. 6, brings the bandages. 9, using the drill. 8, 10, and 11, painting and polishing the cases, e, h, i, mummy-cases.
of cedar, bound up in linen smeared with spices, asphalt, and various gums; and the whole was placed in a solution of natron (saltpetre) for 70 days. The cheap method dispensed with the evisceration, but all methods contained the steeping in natron. "-Johnson's Encyclopaedia. After this process the body was swathed in linen bandages, with a profusion of aromatics. The price of embalming a single body was sometimes upward of $1500, and from that down to $200 or $300.
The process lasted in earlier times 40, Gen 50:3, but in later times 70, days, and afterward the body was placed in a coffin of sycamore-wood or of stone, and then placed upright against the walls of the house, where it often remained for years, if the family did not wish to go to the expense of burial. Finally, the bodies were placed in subterraneous vaults in the ground or in the rock, where they were often found, after the lapse of 2000 or 3000 years, in a state of perfect preservation. ) 1, 2, 4, 9. Of wood. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8. Of stone. 10. Of burnt earthenware.
We have no evidence that embalming was practised by the Hebrews, except in the cases of Jacob and Joseph, and then it was for the purpose of preserving their remains till they could be carried into the Land of Promise, It is true Asa was laid in a "bed which was filled with Stone Mummy-Case. ) sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art," 2 Chr 16:14, and that mention is made of spices in the preparation for our Lord's formal burial, John 19:39-40, but we cannot interpret these sentences as indicating any proper species of embalming. See Bury.