Canopic jar
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Canopic jars were used among the ancient Egyptians, and were commonly made of limestone, pottery, wood, or bronze. These jars were used by ancient Egyptians from the period of the Old Kingdom onwards to store various internal organs removed during the process of mummification. All the viscera were not kept in a single canopic jar, but rather each organ was placed in its own.
The jars were four in number, each charged with the safekeeping of a particular human organ. These four types also represented the four cardinal points of the compass. Each was associated with one of the Four sons of Horus. Duamutef, the jackal-headed jar representing the east, contained the stomach and was protected by the goddess Neith. Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed jar representing the west, contained the intestines and was protected by the goddess Selket. Hapi, the baboon-headed jar representing the north, contained the lungs and was protected by the goddess Nephthys. Imseti, the human-headed jar representing the south, contained the liver and was protected by the goddess Isis. [1]
Canopic Jars in the Old Kingdom were plain and did not have the heads of the gods as lids. They were plain and almost never inscribed.
In addition to hieroglyphics, figures of gods were often hand-painted on the jars. These were the Four sons of Horus, the guardians of the organs.[2]
Occasionally, the jars or the jar lids were made in the shape of a god.
The Egyptians considered the heart to be the seat of the soul, so it was the only organ not removed from the body. The brain was not preserved (it was held to be only used for producing mucus), but instead was smashed and pulled through the nose by a long hook. Sometimes the covers of the jars were modelled after (or painted to resemble) the head of Anubis, the god of death/embalming. These jars have been around for years, and surviving examples of them can be seen in museums. The canopic jars were buried in tombs together with the sarcophagus of the dead. It was also done because it was believed the dead person would need their organs for the afterlife.
[edit] Decline
By the time of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, the use of canopic jars to hold organs had declined considerably, although the jars themselves continued to be placed in tombs, for their magical symbolism, or perhaps just for tradition's sake. These were often left empty or filled with hudhud and straw.
[edit] Etruscan practice
By extension, due to the similarity of their form, some Etruscan cinerary urns were also called canopic jars, made of clay or bronze, often put on the replica of a throne into the tombs, and with a male or female head modelled on them, representing the deceased's face with the handles having the form of arms. The baboon head was reserved to guard parts of the male anatomy.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Canopic Jar of Duamutef
- ^ Names of the sons of Horus and the body parts they guarded: from The British Museum's [1] classifications, October 2006
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