Canopic jar base with painted text for the scribe Amenhotep
Medium:Ceramic (earthenware)
Geography: Excavated at el-Qurna, Thebes (modern Luxor), Egypt
Date: c. 1550-1069 BC
Period: 18th-20th Dynasty, New Kingdom
Dimensions:29.5 x 16.8 cm
Object number: 906.28.2
DescriptionAs part of mummification, the internal organs were removed from the deceased and stored separately in canopic jars. The lids of the jars were often shaped as the heads of four deities, known as the Four Sons of Horus, whose job it was to protect the internal organs until they can be used again in the Afterlife. The baboon-headed Hapy guarded the lungs; the human-headed Imsety protected the liver; the jackal-headed Duamutef guarded the stomach and upper intestines; and the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef guarded the lower intestines.
Object History: Excavated by the Egypt Exploration Society (Sir Robert Mond), 1905-1906
