Artwork Page for Canopic Jar with Jackal's Head (lid)

Details / Information for Canopic Jar with Jackal's Head (lid)

Canopic Jar with Jackal's Head (lid)

664–525 BCE
Measurements
Diameter: 16.3 cm (6 7/16 in.); Diameter of mouth: 9 cm (3 9/16 in.); Overall: 42.6 cm (16 3/4 in.)
Public Domain
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Location
107 Egyptian
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Did You Know?

This jar is made of travertine stone-- subtle in color and with a captivating natural pattern-- with hieroglyphics carved on the front. Such jars were used to hold internal organs of the deceased and to preserve them for the afterlife.

Description

In the process of mummification, the liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were removed, separately embalmed, and stored in specialized jars known as canopic jars (after a sailor in Greek mythology, who died at the town of Canopus in the Nile Delta and was worshipped there in the form of a human-headed jar). Each organ was identified with one of four funerary deities collectively known as the Sons of Horus: the liver with Imsety (man's head), the lungs with Hapy (baboon's head), the stomach with Duamutef (jackal's head), and the intestines with Qebehsenuef (falcon's head). It was their duty to protect the deceased and restore to him his body parts in the hereafter.
A cream-colored travertine sculpture depicts a stylized jackal head on a domed base, facing left. It has tall, pointed ears and a long snout with narrow slit eyes. A wide, rectangular form extends from the chin down to the base. Horizontal bands of tan and light brown stripe the polished stone, while dark pinpoint spots are scattered across the surface.

Canopic Jar with Jackal's Head (lid)

664–525 BCE

Egypt, Late period (715–332 BCE), Dynasty 26

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