3/27/2023 0 Comments Canopic jars![]() The image during this period probably represented the dead person rather than the protective deities. Later, we find burials that included four stone jars with domed lids, probably originally placed in wooden chests.ĭuring the First Intermediate Period, canopic jars started to feature human-headed lids. Wooden canopic chest of Hapyankhtify 12th dynasty from Meir Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkĪlthough embalming is first seen during the late predynastic and early dynastic periods, the earliest items of canopic import date to the beginning of the fourth dynasty, with the cubical, calcite canopic box of Queen Hetepheres, its interior divided into four quadrants. From the middle of the 18th dynasty, these genii (divinities) were identifiable by their heads: Imseti had that of a human Hapy that of a baboon Duamutef, a jackal and Qebehsenuef, a hawk. Early travelers to Egypt connected the jars around mummies to this other name and began calling them “canopic.” The name stuck and has been extended to refer to all kinds of visceral containers.įrom the late Old Kingdom, the four basic organs removed from a body became associated with specific deities, known collectively as the Four Sons of Horus: the liver with Imseti (later under the protection of the goddess Isis) the lungs with Hapy (protected by Nephthys) the stomach, Duamutef (Neith) and the intestines, Qebehsenuef (Selqet). According to Classical writers, the Greek hero Kanopos, helmsman of Menelaeos, was worshipped at Abu Qir (Canopus) in the form of such a jar. One form of canopic container was the human-headed jar. The employment of this term for organ storage is actually the result of mistaken identity. Thus developed what is now referred to as canopic equipment. But the removal process was clearly regarded as part of the ideal technique and became part of a ‘standard’ burial for ancient Egypt. Of course, because of cost or other considerations, many bodies remained un-eviscerated. The remaining evacuated items underwent the same chemical desiccation process as the corpse itself, and when wrapped in linen bandages, sometimes approximated the shape of a fully-wrapped mummy. ![]() This excluded the heart, which was considered the seat of intelligence, and the kidneys, which were difficult to extract. Among them are the containers used for the internal organs that were usually removed as a key part. The various artifacts created to house the results of the mummification activities often include wonderful works of art. Mummies and the processes by which they have been created have long been a source of fascination for the general public. ![]() The earliest known canopic chest: the calcite example of Hetepheres, wife of Seneferu fourth dynasty from Giza Egyptian Museum, Cairo
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