Embalming: The process of preserving a body by means of aromatics
(Genesis 50:2,3,26)
This art was practised by the Egyptians from the earliest times, and
there brought to great perfection. This custom probably originated in
the belief in the future reunion of the soul with the body. The
process became more and more complicated, and to such perfection was
it carried that bodies embalmed thousands of years ago are preserved
to the present day in the numberless mummies that have been
discovered in Egypt. The embalming of Jacob and Joseph was according
to the Egyptian custom, which was partially followed by the Jews
(2 Chronicles 16:14) as in the case of king Asa, and of our Lord
(John 19:39,40; Luke 23:56; 24:1)
