(4) The custom of burying at full length was evidently introduced into
Egypt by the second, or x race. The Neolithic Egyptians buried in the
cramped position. The early Babylonians buried at full length, as far
as we know. On the same "Stele of Vultures," which has already been
mentioned, we see the burying at full length of dead warriors. [* See
illustration.] There is no trace of any _early_ burial in Babylonia in
the cramped position. The tombs at Warka (Erech) with cramped bodies
in pottery coffins are of very late date. A further point arises with
regard to embalming. The Neolithic Egyptians did not embalm the dead.
Usually their cramped bodies are found as skeletons. When they are
mummified, it is merely owing to the preservative action of the salt
in the soil, not to any process of embalming. The second, or x race,
however, evidently introduced the custom of embalming as well as that
of burial at full length and the use of coffins. The Neolithic Egyptian
used no box or coffin, the nearest approach to this being a pot, which
was inverted over the coiled up body. Usually only a mat was put over
the body.

[Illustration: 038.jpg Portion of the "Stele of Vultures" Found at
Telloh]

[Illustration: 038-text.jpg]

Now it is evident that Babylonians and Assyrians, who buried the dead at
full length in chests, had some knowledge of embalming. An Assyrian king
tells us how he buried his royal father:--

"Within the grave, the secret place,
In kingly oil, I gently laid him.
The grave-stone marketh his resting-place.