Description:
Canopic jar with baboon-headed lid, showing the god Hapy. Traces of black paint on the eyes. Container broken and repaired. Canopic jars held the internal organs of the deceased, and each jar was presided over by one of the Four Sons of Horus. Hapy guarded the lungs.

Label Text:
During mummification, the internal organs were removed and placed in a set of jars to be buried near the coffin. In the Ramesside period (Dynasties 19-20) and later, the lids of these jars usually took the shape of the four Sons of Horus, divine beings who protected the body parts under their care. The liver, stomach, lungs, and intestines merited separate containers, while the heart, considered the seat of intelligence, was returned to the body. The brain was discarded as unimportant.

2016

Tags:
ancient; archaeology; animals; vessels; containers; pottery; deaths; tombs; religion; rituals; ceremonies

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+1923.4a-b.A.SX

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