Egyptian Canopic Jars

Canopic Jars played a very important role in the mummification of bodies in Ancient Egypt. Wait. You don’t know what canopic jars are? Silly me. Here, let me help out and explain.

It all started way back in 2575 BCE, when the first canopic jars were said to have been created. But before these jars, we had canopic chests. Canopic chests contained the organs of the mummified beings and were placed in the tomb with the body beside the sarcophagus. The first canopic chests were simple and wooden, but as time progressed they became more elaborate. Then, around the 21st Dynasty, the Egyptians decided to leave the organs inside mummies. But, because they had been using canopic chests for thousands of years, they kept putting them in tombs—just without anything in them. These chests were supposed to represent beauty. Canopic chests fell out of use during the Ptolemaic Period. Then, the first canopic jars were put to use. These early jars were plain and simple, and made out of pottery or limestone. Inside these jars contained the organs of the person or animal being mummified. Before I elaborate and get into detail, you’re probably wondering: why are these people putting organs in jars to be stored with mummified bodies? Well—the Ancient Egyptians had a passionate religious belief, or felt strongly, that when a person died they would go, or “return” to, an “afterlife” which was very similar to the life they had when they were alive. In their beliefs, the body needed to be well preserved so that the person could return and live in this “afterlife.”

The design of canopic jars changed over time. The oldest date back to the Eleventh or the Twelfth Dynasty, and are made of stone or wood. The most recent jars date back to the times of the New Kingdom. In the Old Kingdom the jars had plain lids—though by the First Intermediate Period, jars with human heads (assumed to represent the dead) began to appear. Sometimes the covers of the jars were modeled after (or painted to resemble) the head of Anubis, the God of Death, and embalmed. By the late Eighteenth Dynasty, canopic jars had come to feature the Four Sons of Horus. Many sets of jars survive from this period, in alabaster, aragonite, calcareous stone, and blue or green glazed porcelain.

Diving back into the subject of the early, very first canopic jars and how they started and developed... In 1938 BCE, the jars were remodeled to have sculpted human heads on them. The heads resembled common humans around the time, so people could relate to them.

Around 1539 BCE, after going all this time using sculpted heads and having plain lids on the jars, the decision was made to replace the sculpted human heads and put the Four Sons of Horus on them.

Horus is an Egyptian God who is the son of Osiris and Isis. Horus was often the ancient Egyptians' protection or guardian god. He was usually depicted as a falcon-headed man wearing a red and white crown, as a symbol of ruling over the entire kingdom of Egypt. On Earth, he is depicted to look like a pharaoh.

And here we return to the main point. The heads of The Four Sons of Horus—Duamutef, Imsety, Hapi, and Qebehsenuef—were placed on these new canopic jars. Each son guarded an organ, and each son was protected by a goddess.

Qebehsenuef, who guarded the intestines, was protected by Serket the goddess. Qebehsenuef is told to have the head of a falcon. The next son, Hapi, depicted as a baboon-headed-man, guards the lungs and is protected by the goddess, Nephthys. The next head would represent, Imsety—who had the head of a human. He guards the liver and is protected by the goddess, Isis. Lastly, Duamutef, the jackal-headed-son guards the stomach, and is protected by the goddess, Neith.

Congratulations—now you officially know more about the respectable history behind the canopic jars from Ancient Egypt!