THE TRIPLE MUMMY CASE OF AROERI-AO

                (Extracts from a contemporary account of the description of the mummy cases, circa 1850)

               This valuable case, or rather cases, with the mummy which they once held, were sent to England by Mr.Salt, the British Consul-General in Egypt, and were then sold to Mr. Pettigrew, the well known writer on mummies, and by him again to Dr.Lee. They are, first, an outer case with four straight sides and an arched top; secondly, a middle case, shaped to the body, with carved head and face; and thirdly, an inner case, also shaped to the body with carved head and face. Within the innermost once lay the embalmed body wrapped in linen bandages. These Mr.Pettigrew unrolled in the lecture room of the Royal Institution, before a large audience; and an account of the appearance of the mummy on being thus opened was published in the Morning Chronicle for May 30th, 1836. Mr Pettigrew then read the name of the embalmed man as Asiriao.
              The linen bandages were several hundred yards in length, and beneath them were four large linen sheets. The viscera had been removed and rolled up, and placed between the legs : the liver had been placed in the abdomen. The head was completely shaven, as was usual with Egyptian priests. The body was that of an aged man; and some parts of it had been gilt, a circumstance which is not surprising when we consider the costly style of the three cases. It thus appears that the embalmed man was an aged priest, belonging to a wealthy family.
             It was at one time thought that the bandages of the Egyptian mummies were of cotton cloth, from a doubt about the meaning of the words used by Herodotus; and even experienced eyes were unable to determine whether they were of linen or cotton, in consequence of their stained condition. But lately the microscope has enabled us to distinguish between the smooth natural fibre of the cotton and the irregular ragged fibre of the linen. I believe that wherever careful examination  has been made the bandages are found to be linen. Linen cloth had, from the earliest times, been manufactured in Egypt. It was not till after the trade had been opened with India that cotton was known in the valley of the Nile.
           The sides of the cases are held together by rude mortised joints, which are made fast by wooden pegs. The outer case has at each corner a small upright square post to which the sides are fixed. This rises as high as the arch of the top. But the carpenter's work is not exact, and the spaces between the planks, when they do not fit, are filled up with plaster made of earth and gum. In some mummy cases the woodwork is in part held together by cloth bandages; but no such fastenings appear to have been used here.
           The value of the wood is curiously shown by the care which the maker has taken to save it. First, because by measurement we find that the cases are thinner than they seem to be, as judged by the thickness of the edges shown. The edges of the middle cases are two inches thick, but the top and bottom of each case, where the thickness is not seen, are only seven-eighths of an inch thick. And secondly, because the planks out of which they are made, though of an even thickness, are not of an even width; they had not been previously cut down so as to have their edges made straight. We see that necessary waste of wood was avoided, by our finding the bottom of the outer case made of such pieces as have the unevenness of one fitted into the unevenness of the other.
           The square outer case is of sycamore wood. The middle case is of cedar. The face on the middle case is of dark acacia wood, with eyelids and eyebrows of dark bronze, and eyes of ivory. The inner case, like the outer, is probably of sycamore. The pegs are of acacia wood. The paint with which the cases are covered is a water-colour made of gum from the acacia tree. The colours are six in number : the white is of powdered limestone; the red and yellow are ochres; the blue and green are copper; the black is of charcoal. These are the usual materials of the Egyptian paints. The last five are all laid upon a thick surface of white, and are varnished with an ancient varnish of resin, or perhaps amber, dissolved in spirit. But the white paint is left free from varnish, in order that it should not lose its whiteness when the varnish changes its colour. But the cases are none of them free from touches of modern paint and modern varnish, which, however, in no instances, seem to have obscured or falsified the hieroglyphics. The whole is in excellent condition.

                                                        The Top of the Outer Case 

              On the arched top of the outer case is single line of hieroglyphics between two rows of pictures and writing. The pictures are ten in number. Four of these contain, each, a hawk bandaged as a mummy, sitting on a dish, with an eye and dish written over its name. On the head of each is a flame and glory. From the other monuments we may glean that this bird represents the soul of the deceased, and the two characters for its namemay be so read as to give us that meaning.
            Four other pictures contain, each, a figure of the deceased priest, with a glory on his shaven head, his skin red in colour, and a white tunic hanging from his waist to his ankles, and upheld by a strap over one shoulder. His hands are raised in the act of prayer to the god Osiris, who stands before him. this god is in the form of a mummy, with  a beard, holding a tall Anubis-staff in his hands, and wearing the crown of Upper Egypt. Behind each Osiris stands another god, with a glory on his head, and holding in his hands an ostrich feather, the usual emblem of truth. These four gods are the four lesser gods of the dead. They should have four different heads, namely, a man's, a jackal's, an ape's, and a hawk's. Amset the carpenter, with a man's head; Hepe the digger , with an ape's head; Snouf the bleeder, with a hawk's head; and Smotef or Sottef the cutter,with a jackal's head.

                                           
        
            The two middle pictures are the most important. In one is a boat floating on the water. In it sits the god Horus-Ra, called by the Greeks Aroeris, or the elder Horus, to distinguish him from Horus the son of Isis, when in later times the god Horus became divided into two. Horus-Ra has a hawk's head, with the sun in place of a crown; and he holds the ostrich feather in his hands. The deceased priest took his name, and hence this god naturally holds the first place on the mummy case. Above him, like a canopy, is a sacred snake, the Uraeus, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt. This is painted blue like the canopy of heaven. Behind Horus-Ra stands Horus the son of Isis, known by his hawk's head, and the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Near him is an eye for his name, from which we learn that he was also called Baal, from an eye . Horus holds the rudder as steersman of the boat, while it is pushed forward by the deceased man himself, who stands at the prow and holds a long pole, which he thrusts to the bottom of the shallow water which they are crossing. In front of him is written his name, "The deified Aroeri, deceased". Upon the inner case of this mummy we shall see that his name is written at greater length, Aroeri-ao. The ornament at each end of the boat is either a lotus flower or bunch of papyrus flowers.
            The other middle picture represents the blue vault of heaven, under the form of a woman, the goddess Neith, whose legs, body, and outstretched arms reach from the ground on one side to the ground on the other. Beneath this vault is the deceased priest, with two bodies. By his death he is divided into two parts.His earthly body is red, and is in the act of falling to the ground. His spiritual or heavenly body is blue, and stands upright, raising his hands to heaven. In this interesting way did the Egyptians express in a picture their belief in the immortality of the soul, or rather their belief that mandoes not die when his body falls to earth. This picture may be placed in contrast with the older representations of life being put back into the mouth of the mummy, which made the resurrection of the body part of the means necessary to the enjoyment of a future life. In the opinion of this artist the resurrection of the earthly body would seem unnecessary. On each side of this group is a figure of the god Kneph-Ra, seated on a bird's perch. His name Kneph means the spirit , so he naturally forms part of this scene. Along each side of this top is an ornamental border of a row of trees, a border often employed in the Egyptian pictures to mark the boundary of a garden, and sometimes of what seems meant for a heavenly paradise.

                                                      The First Side of the Outer Case 

           The painting on one side of the square outer case, contains seven figures, each in the form of a mummy, with a flame or glory on his head, and twenty-two lines of hieroglyphs.

                                                                       

                                                    The Second Side of the Outer Case

           The second side of the square case, contains, like the former, seven standing figures and twenty two lines of hieroglyphs.

                                                          
         
                                                     The Two Ends of the Outer Case 

            On each end of this case is a picture between two standing figures of a mummy and four lines of hieroglyphs, with a picture also overhead, in the arched top. In one head-picture, is the character for "good", between two large eyes, figurative of the Divine Providence. Beneath is a priest with shaven head and leopard's skin tunic, in the act of feeding a mummy. The inscription under his left hand mentions the thousands of various articles of food. The mummy may be our deceased priest Aroeri thus piously fed; or the bald-headed priest may be Aroeri, performing this pious act for one of his ancestors. The mummy is held upright by a goddess, probably Isis, who wears on her head the full moon between large cow's horns. It is thus that the new moon is seen embraced within two horns of light; and in a country like Egypt, near the tropics, these horns are not as with us on one side of the globe, but beneath it. The skin of the priest is red, the colour of the Egyptians, and that of the goddess is blue, to mark her heavenly character.

                                                               

           The inscription contains the often repeated words, "The deified priest of Amun, Aroeri, deceased; son of the priest of Amun Soten-Vaphra, deceased" . We might have remarked before that the title given to Aroeri is literally "a man pouring out a libation" but that given to his father is Noute, "divine". The latter we must suppose to be the highest title of the two.We translate them both as "priest".
            The other picture head, is a sun with rays of light and two sacred asps. On each side is a vase with a flame rising out of it, and then a hawk with a man's head. From this figure the Romans took their notion of a harpy, giving to it, however, a women's head instead of a man's , as they did to the sphinx. Beneath is a mummfied and bandaged hawk, sitting in a dish, with its name written over it Baal-Sokar. On each side of the hawk, as on the other end, are two standing mummies, and four lines of writing; namely "Honour to the deified priest of Amun, Aroeri, deceased; son of the priest Soten-Vaphra, deceased".
                     
                                                      The Outside of the Middle Case

              A hole under the chin of the face which ornaments this case tells us that it once had a beard, and represented a man; but the beard has been broken off and lost. The broad black eye-brows and eye-lashes show that it was thought a beauty in men as well as in women to paint that part of the face. What should be the hair of the head, or perhaps a covering for the hair, hangs upon the shoulders, and is painted with alternate stripes of blue and green. The broad collar round the neck is ornamented with several rows of patterns and borders. Amongst others the bell and the pomegranate border is three times repeated. It is here formed of round fruit balls and hanging flower bells placed alternatively, and all coloured green. Other borders on the collar are like rows of leaves placed side by side. One row of leaves is blue and another green.

                                                                 

           In the inscription the demonstrative sign for a man is a figure seated on a chair, not as before, on the ground. The leg of the chair is copied from the leg of a lion. The man holds in his hand the whip formed sceptre of Osiris, which tells us that he is dead, and has become an Osiris, or divine person, himself, as indeed we are told by the word Osiris being used as an adjective before his name, which we have translated "deified". 
          The side view of the case, showing the arched nose and thick lips of the Egyptian countenance; and also the high ear, which seems however to be a peculiarity arising from a mistaken fashion of the Egyptian artists, rather than from the Egyptian physiognomy.
          There is only one line of painting on the side of the outside of the middle case, and none on the back; and, as there is no painting on the inside of the outer case, we must suppose that these two were not meant to be parted.

                                                        The Inside of the Middle Case   

             On the inside of the back half of the middle case, is painted one of the four lesser gods of the dead. It is a human figure the size of life, bandaged like a mummy, and standing in profile, with a hawk's head, like Horus. The blue colour of his hands, the only flesh that is seen, declares his spiritual nature. On his head is the tall conical crown of Upper Egypt, with a ball at the top, and two feathers beside it as wings.
                                                                          

               In front of it is the sacred asp, the usual ornament of a king's forehead. His two hands hold an Anubis-staff, the dog-headed staff which was often carried by priests. This was the staff which the emperor Commodus was ambitious of being allowed to carry in the procession of Isis, in Rome; and he had his head shaven like a priest, to qualify him for the office.
           By the side of this god is written his name Smotef, the carver , who usually has a jackal's head, and is sometimes also named Sottef, a word with nearly the same meaning.

                                                        The Outside of the Inner Case

              The inner case is the most handsome of the three, the most carefully painted inside and out, and perhaps by a better artist than the painter of the cases already described; it is also better preserved. the face which, in the middle case, was of a dark acacia wood, approaching to ebony in its colour, is here painted red, of a colour not far removed from that of the Egyptians themselves. The beard is a thin piece of wood fixed into the chin, painted to imitate plaited hair, and straight, except that the end is slightly curled forward, a peculiarity which we remark upon the stone mummy cases in the British Museum, of the three or four centuries before the Christian era.

                                                    

          All hair is shaven off the cheek, in which respects the face is unlike those of the Theban kings, where the painted whisker on the cheek looks almost like a band by which the beard is held on. But in a priest like Aroeri-ao, we remark with surprise, not that the beard at the point of the chin is the only hair on his face, but that he wears any beard at all.What should be the hair of the head is of alternate stripes of blue and yellow. On the breast is the figure of the goddess Neith, sitting with outstretched arms. Corresponding with her is the figure of the goddess Isis, upon the instep, in the same attitude. When the two goddesses are so opposed, Neith represents power over heavenly things, and Isis over earthly things.

                                                         The Inside of the Inner Case

              The inside of this case is the most ornamented part of the whole. It has one large figure painted on the upper half or front, and one on the lower half or back. On the back half, is the Thoth, or nilometer-landmark, with the same girdle and crown, but here having a human head and arms. The flesh is painted blue, to mark that it is the figure of a god. In his hands he holds the two sceptres which are peculiar to Osiris, one a whip, and one a crook. This figure therefore is at the same time Thoth and Osiris and Kneph-Ra. Over his head is written "Ra, the great lord, lord of Ethiopia". The tongue is lord , the hand stands for Ethiopia.
              On the right side of this figure, beginning at his head, is written, "glory dedicated to Chem, for the Egyptian priests of the temple. Appointed doorkeeper of heaven, appointed for earth, for the city, of holy Amenti, for the deified priest of Amun, Aroeri-ao, a man deceased, full of blessings". "Chem" is here spelt with a final M, which is wanted in the inscription on the outer case. "Egyptians" is spelt Chemo, such being the the usual plural termination.
             On the left side of the figure is a line of writing, beginning with the parentage of the deceased. This figure stands upon the representation of a house, with a door; and the characters upon it perhaps describe it as the temple of the bull Apis.

                                                                                            
                     
            On the upper half of this case, is the goddess Neith, with her arms outstretched, to receive the deceased priest. Her name is written within the circle on her head, spelt NT, and followed by the figure of the heavens as the demonstrative sign. Her face, arms, and feet are yellow, the colour always given to the Egyptian women, marking that their skin is fairer than that of the men. Her hair is blue, as is the greater part of her dress; but her body is not of the human form, it is nothing but an enlarged sash-tye. Around her head is written "Mother of the glorious gods". Under her left elbow is "Her gift, her glory".  Over her feet is written "mummy", followed by the mummy couch as the demonstrative sign . Over her head we read "Ra, the great god, lord of Ethiopia"; and he is also styled Oben-Ra, a name which seems only an Asiatic way of pronouncing Amun-Ra, and which may have been brought into Egypt by the Persians. We find the same written in hieroglyphs on an ivory box in the British Museum, which was brought from Nineveh.
            The gods in the inscriptions are not few in number. They are (1) Horus-Ra, the chief of the gods; (2) Horus the son of Isis; (3) Isis (4) Nephthys her sister (5) Osiris, ruler of Amenti (6) the Sokar god (7) Ptah-Sokar-Osiris of Memphis (8) and (9) two of the name of Anubis (10) Amun (11) Chem, lord of San or Tanis (12) Seb (13) Neith, the mother of the gods, who belonged to Sais  the four lesser gods of the dead, namely, (14) Smotef (15) Amset (16) Hepi (17) Snouf (18) Oben-Ra; (19) Aten-Ra (20)Chonso. Thus we have no mentionof Amun-Ra of Thebes, nor of Athor his wife, nor of Chonso their son, except as part of a man's name; nor of Pasht the goddess of Bubastis; nor of Apis-Osiris, better known as serapis; nor of Hapimou the Nile.
           Throughout the whole of the long inscriptions there is no date, either of the time or place; indeed the mummy cases seldom have a king's name upon them to guide us. We must form our opinion of the date from the style of art and any peculiarities that the inscription affords. From these it seems probable that our mummy was made in Memphis, during the reigns of the Persian conquerors of Egypt, or about four hundred years before the Christian era. The absence of the Theban gods from the list shows that it belonged to Lower Egypt; the absence of Serapis, and of all Greek peculiarities, marks it older than the Ptolemies. The name of Oben-Ra, which we also find on the sarcophagus of Amyrtaeus, leads us to the same century. The box-like form of the outer case, the sash-tye which forms the body of the goddess, both belong rather to Memphis than to Thebes.
           The mummy and inner mummy case of Horseisi, the great grandfather of Aroeri-ao, are in the museum of the College of Surgeons, ornamented with paintings, in a style not unlike those of his great grandson.   

                                 

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