Egyptian
Canopic Jars. What are Canopic Jars?
· What are Canopic
Jars?
· What are Canopic
Jars used for?
· What are the
Canopic Jars used for?
· What are the
Canopic Jars made of?
· Horus
· The Four Sons of
Horus.
The Ancient
Egyptians used Canopic Utensils to preserve the entrails of the deceased during
the Mummification process, because they believed the importance of these organs
for the deceased to be resurrected in the Afterlife.
The amount
of Canopic Jars were four each one made for preserving certain Human Organs,
for example Stomach, Intestines, Lungs and Liver, all of these were believed to
be necessary in the Afterlife. The Pots which were previously Flat Lids ,
continued on to become Human Shaped Heads, close to the deceased, however since
the Eighteenth Dynasty each vessil had a distinctive Lid. The Heart was left in
the Body as the Egyptians believed that it was the Seat of the Soul.
Many of the
Old Kingdom Canopic Jars have been found empty and destroyed , even in
undisturbed Tombs, so they appear to have never been used as containers, so it
appears that they were part of the Burial Rites and were placed after this Rite
empty..
The Ancient
Egyptians followed very careful Steps when it came to the Burial Rituals , a
series of factors were taken into consideration whilst preparing the Body of a
deceased Pharaoh or King.
The Canopic
Jars were an important part of this process as they were the way Egyptians
believed that each respective God would keep determined Organs of the Body
ready for the Afterlife.
What are
Canopic Jars?
Also known
as Jars of the Old Kingdom the Canopic Jars were the containers used to hold
the Internal Organs that were removed from the Dead Body before Mummification.
Throughout
the Old Kingdom when Mummification was just beginning , the Jars served this
purpose were Stone Vessels with a Plain Lid. It was not until the first
intermediate period that the Jars acquired a different Human Headed Stopper,
also from this time the packages of Viscera placed inside them were sometimes
decorated with Human Faced Masks.. Then from the Nineteenth Dynasty onwards the
Stoppers of the Jars were each shaped like the Head of one of the Minor
Funerary Deities known as the Four Sons of Horus, this was depending on which
Organ it contained.
What are
Canopic Jars used for?
The
Egyptians were one of the first Civilizations to believe in an Afterlife. Their
belief was that the preservation of the Body was essential in order to enjoy
eternal Life, so for this reason they created the Mummification process. After
the Pharaohs and Kings had died the process of the Mummification began, when
all the Internal Organs were removed by making an incision on the Left Hand
Side of the Body. The Canopic Jars were then used to store the Mummified Organs
separately from the Body itself. This was a very important part of the
Mummification Process.
What are the
Canopic Jars made of?
The Canopic
Jars were made of Clay, and subject to which Organ it contained it’s Head had
the shape of one of the Four Gods. The Four Gods being., Hapy, Imsety, Duamutel
or Qebhsenef.
Horus, (
Hor, Horos ) The God of the Sky
Horus who
was the God of the Sky and the youngest Son of Osiris and Isis, took on the
shape of a Falcon with the Sun and the Moon for eyes. Horus was the earliest
Royal God and one of the most important Gods of Ancient Egypt since he wears a
Double Crown, as both the God of the Heavens and the Divine embodiment of
Kingship. As a protector God who attacked and destroyed evil, Horus was shown
either as a Falcon or as a Man with Falcon Heads.
The Four
Sons of Horus.
Horus had
Four Sons who were Hapy, Imsety, Duamutef and Qebhsenef. It was the task of
these four deities to protect the Internal Organs of the deceased. The Organs
that had been removed from the Body were embalmed, anointed and then wrapped in
Linen ready to be placed in the Jars for safe keeping.
The Ancient
Egyptians strongly held the belief that the deceased required his or her Organs
to be in good condition in order to be reborn into the Afterlife.
· Hapy ..
Protected by Nephthys, with a Baboon headed lid, Hapy guarded the Lungs.
· Imsety.. Who was
protected by his Mother Isis and with a Human Form, Insety guarded the Liver.
· Duamutef..
Protected by Neith, and with a Jackal Form Duamutef guarded the Stomach
· Qebhsenef … Who
was protected by his Mother Serket, with the Form of a Hawk, Qebhsenef guarded
the Intestines.
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