Canopic Jars

Canopic Jar: One set of a set of 4 jar in which the liver lungs stomach and intestines of the dead were stored. These jars were generally fashioned after the sons of Horus.

Canopic jars were used by the ancient Egyptians during the mummification process to store and preserve the viscera of their owner for the afterlife. They were commonly either carved from limestone or were made of pottery. These jars were used by the ancient Egyptians from the time of the Old Kingdom until the time of the Late Period or the Ptolemaic Period, by which time the viscera were simply wrapped and placed with the body. The viscera were not kept in a single canopic jar: each jar was reserved for specific organs. the name derives from the location Canopus (now Abukir) in the western Nile Delta near Alexandria, where human-headed jars were worshipped as personifications of the god Osiris

Hieroglyphs for the four sons of Horus used on an Egyptian canopic jar

from the 19th dynasty until the end of the New Kingdom 15 39 to 10 75 BCE, the heads represented the four sons of the god Horus (jackal-headed Duamutef, falcon-headed Qebehsenuf, human-headed Imset, and baboon-headed Hapy).

The four sons of Horus were a group of four gods in ancient Egyptian religion, who were essentially the personifications of the four canopic jars, which accompanied mummified bodies. Since the heart was thought to embody the soul, it was left inside the body. The brain was discarded.

 

 

Attributes of the Sons of Horus.

Imsety, the  Human aspect, housed the liver. He was  associated with the South and the Goddess Auset.

Duamutef. the Jakal head.  protected the stomach.  he was associated with the Deity Neith and the North.

Hapi, who was the Baboon, housed the lungs and was associated with the East and Nephtys.

Qebehsenuef the falson headed, holds the intestines and is associated with the West and Serket.