ABSTRACT
EGYPTIAN MUMMIES timber was lacking in Egypt. But the evidence in demonstration of the fact that they did really devise these practices is clear and definite. Professor Reisner's excavations at N aga ed Der in Upper Egypt reveal every stage in the gradual development in the use of local wood; and it is patent that it was the empirical knowledge so acquired that prompted the Egyptians to search for and import better timber from abroad. This they did by means of ships built in imitation (not merely in shape, but also in method of construction) of the papyrus floats devised for use on the Nile. Similarly the fundamental importance of their burial customs to the Egyptians led to the conscious improvement and elaboration, in the interests of the dead, of metal work, jewellery, and ceramics, superb examples of which have been found in the royal tombs, and especially in that of Tutankhamen, which is unique in having been found almost intact.
