日本語訳を! 6-(6)
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(11) In the beginning nature preserved the bodies. The Egyptians buried their dead in the sand, on their sides, with their knees curled into their chest, facing the setting sun in the direction their spirits were headed. The hot, dry desert sucked the body fluids away. The skin hardened into a leathery shell, keeping everything in place. Ironically, concern for the corpse was what created problems. To keep sand from getting into the dead person's eyes and mouth, the Egyptians began to put a basket over the body's head. Then, a basket on the head didn't seem good enough. Trays were woven for above and below the corpse to keep sand off the whole body. Soon, brick-lined pits were being built for the dead. The problem was that without the sand to wick away the moisture, the bodies were rotting. That would never do. Without the entire body, the spirits could not lounge in the Field of Reeds. Haunting was happening. And so the Egyptians experimented and gradually developed the process of mummification during the Old Kingdom period.
(12) Because everyond wanted their loved ones preserved, the funeral trade was a good one. The embalmers, who prepared the dead for burial, guarded their money-making secrets, passing their skills down from father to son. What we know about making a mummy comes from the Greek historians Herodotus, who wrote during the 5th century BCE, and Diodorus Siculus, who wrote during the 1st century BCE. The Greeks were fascinated by Egypt, as they were with many foreign cultures, and wrote about both the country and its history. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus describe three mummy options: one for the very rich, one for the not so rich, and one for the poor. From their writings, we have the following recipe for a mummy (in this case, a top-of-the-line mummy):
