IV. Diodorus Siculus (l. i. § 85. tom. i. p. 96.) records a tradition, that Isis put the limbs of Osiris into a wooden cow, covered with Byssina. No reason can be imagined, why cotton should have been used for such a purpose; whereas the use of fine linen to cover the hallowed remains was in perfect accordance with all the ideas and practices of the Egyptians.
V. Plutarch, in his Treatise de Iside et Osiride (Opp. ed. Stephani, 1572, vol. iv. p. 653.) says, that the priests enveloped the gilded bull, which represented Osiris, in a black sheet of Byssus. Now nothing can appear more probable, than that the Egyptians would employ for this purpose the same kind of cloth, which they always applied to sacred uses; and in addition to all the other evidence before referred to, we find Plutarch in this same treatise expressly mentioning the linen garments of the priesthood, and stating, that the priests were entombed in them after death, a fact verified at the present day by the examination of the bodies of priests found in the catacombs.
VI. The magnificent ship, constructed for Ptolemy Philopator, which is described at length in Athenæus, had a sail of the fine linen of Egypt[493]. It is not probable, that in a vessel, every part of which was made of the best and most suitable materials, the sail would be of cotton. Moreover Hermippus describes Egypt as affording the chief supply of sails for all parts of the world[494]: and Ezekiel represents the Tyrians as obtaining cloth from Egypt for the sails and pendants of their ships[495].
[493] Deipnos. l. v. p. 206 C. ed. Casaubon.
[494] Apud. Athenæum, Deipnos. l. i. p. 27 F.
[495] Ez. xxvii. 7. שש ברקמה ממצרים.
VII. It is recorded in the Rosetta Inscription (l. 17, 18.), that Ptolemy Epiphanes remitted two parts of the fine linen cloths, which were manufactured in the temples for the king’s palace; and (l. 29.) that he also remitted a tax on those, which were not made for the king’s palace. Thus in an original and contemporary monument we read, that Ὀθόνια βύσσινα were at a particular time manufactured in Egypt. But we have no reason to believe, that cotton was then manufactured in Egypt at all, whereas linen cloth was made in immense quantities.
VIII. Philo, who lived at Alexandria, and could not be ignorant upon the subject, plainly uses Βύσσος to mean flax. He says, the Jewish High-Priest wore a linen garment, made of the purest Byssus, which was a symbol of firmness, incorruption, and of the clearest splendor, since fine linen is most difficult to tear, is made of nothing mortal, and becomes brighter and more resembling light, the more it is cleansed by washing[496].
[496] De Somniis, vol. i. p. 653. Mangey.
Here we may notice the tenacity of the cloth found in Egyptian mummies. A great part of it is quite rotten; and its tender and fragile state is to be accounted for, not only from its great antiquity and exposure to moisture, but from the circumstance, that much of it was old and worn, when first applied to the purpose of swathing dead bodies. Nevertheless pieces are found of great strength and durability.