The newest addition to the Lapham’s Quarterly “Voices in Time” series unearths a text from c. 700 China instructing spellmen on unearthing jewels buried with the dead:
“Then proceed into a tumulus and select an adult male corpse—a body without the marks of boils or lesions on it. It should next be given a thorough washing. Then daub incense and flowers on its feet as offerings and simply chant the spell commanding the corpse to arise.”
