EMBALMING. – Ancient Christians generally employed two types of embalming. The first, a more economical method, consisted in placing a layer of slaked lime directly on the bottom of the tomb, or around the corpse, especially between the abdomen and the shroud or linen cloth in which the bodies were wrapped, traces of which fabric are often still visible.
This method was observed on several occasions by A. Boldetti, particularly in the Christian cemeteries along the Appian and Nomentane roads (Osservazioni sopra i cimiteri dei ss. Martiri, Rome 1720, pp. 290-91), later by G. Marchi in tombs of the larger cemetery on the Nomentane road (Monumenti delle arti cristiane primitive, ibid. 1844, p. 19), by M. Armellini in the cemetery of St. Agnes (Il cimitero di S. Agnese, 1880, p. 22); and more recently in the cemetery of Panfilo (E. Josi, Il cimitero di Panfilo, in Riv. di arch. crist., 3 [1961], p. 93). The layer of lime was normally thicker on the lids of sarcophagi, as in the two sarcophagi discovered in 1624 in St. Bibiana (P. Franchi de’ Cavalieri, Recenti studi intorno a s. Cecilia, in Note agiografiche, IV [Studi e testi, 24], Rome 1912, p. 18 n. 1), as well as in Carthage (L. Audollent, Carthage romaine, Paris 1901, pp. 430-31) and on several occasions in Algeria (S. Gsell, Monuments et antiquités de l’Algérie, II, ibid. 1901, pp. 40, 42, 258, 291, 343, 403).
The second, more careful and usual type of embalming in antiquity involved the use of aromatics, which, according to the well-known passage by Tertullian, Christians employed in their tombs in far greater quantity than was burned for the gods (Apolog., 42: PL 1, 558).
Prudentius confirms that at his time it was customary to wrap the bodies of the deceased in white linen impregnated with myrrh, which has the property of preserving the corpse (Catharinenon, X, 49-52: ibid., 69, 888). St. John Chrysostom also mentions aloe and myrrh mixed together. This embalming method has been frequently observed upon the opening of sarcophagi, in which the corpses are usually laid with their arms along their sides (Tertullian, De anima, 51: ibid., 2, 782); they are thus wrapped in multiple layers of linen. P. Styger observed up to seven layers, those closest to the corpse having a coarser weave and thicker thread (Il monumento apostolico della Via Appia, in Dissertazioni della Pont. accad. rom. di arch., 2nd series, 13 [1918], p. 21). The corpse, enveloped with aromatic preparations between each layer, up to 8 cm thick, was then bound with crossed bandages, as depicted in the mural of Lazarus both in cemetery paintings and in sarcophagi (Wilpert, Pitture, tavv. 137, 2; 181, 2; 192; 222, 2; 228, 4; 248). M. Boldetti noted the presence of resinous substances in tombs (Osservazioni, pp. 290-91) and detected the scent of aromatics when opening intact tombs in cemeteries (Osservazioni, p. 307); this was also observed in the aromatics found during excavations “in Catacumbas” in 1915, as well as in Pretestato (aromatics placed directly on the corpse), in Domitilla, in Panfilo, and in the cemetery beneath the Viale Regina Margherita. Gregory of Tours attested the presence of layers of laurel leaves in the tomb of Bishop Valerius (De gloria confessorum: PL 71, 892); M. Boldetti likewise noted the presence of laurel leaves (Osservazioni, p. 34). P. Styger found a layer of leaves and twigs about 10 cm thick, which may have served as a cushion (Il monumento apostolico, p. 25). In some cases, corpses were found with resinous substances; M. Boldetti observed this in Rome (Osservazioni, pp. 290-91) and L. Delattre in Carthage (Comptes rendus de l’Acad. des inscr. et belles-lettres, 1902, p. 597).
During the excavations “in Catacumbas,” in a sarcophagus, accumulations of light green aromatic substances were found on the chest and at the feet; these had been inserted through copper tubes via holes observed in the lid (A. Profumo, La memoria Apostolorum in Catacumbas, in Studi romani, 2 [1914], p. 459). St. Paulinus of Nola attests that the faithful scattered precious aromatics on the tombs of martyrs (Natal. s. Felicis: PL 61, 491).
The mummy was often then covered with purple or gold fabrics, as has been verified on many occasions. G. Marchi attests to this for the relics of the martyr St. Hyacinth (Monumenti, etc., pp. 266 and 268). G. B. De Rossi found such fabrics in the cemetery of Pretestato (Roma sotterranea, I, Rome 1864, p. 169); they have been repeatedly discovered in excavations beneath the basilica “in Catacumbas” (P. Styger, Il monumento apost., p. 25) and in the cemetery beneath the Viale della Regina. Maria, daughter of Honorius, was covered with gold cloths in the Vatican mausoleum (G. B. De Rossi, in Bull. arch. crist., 1 [1863], p. 53). St. Jerome condemned this practice (in Vita Pauli: PL 23, 30).