Canopic Jar “Symbol of Mummification & Protection”

The most spiritual and religious item in ancient Egyptian mythology is the canopic jar which played a vital role in the process of mummification, resurrection, and judgment. The ancient Egyptians believed that life was immortal and death was a door to the other side. The ancient Egyptians have four jars that were used to hold organs like intestines, lungs, stomach, and liver after being removed from the body, embalmed, anointed then wrapped in linen. The heart that remained inside the body contained the soul. The jars were placed inside a canopic chest and then buried inside the Egyptian Tombs with the sarcophagus of the deceased. They were carved from limestone or pottery and used from the old kingdom till the Ptolemaic period. The heads of the jars wear carved to resemble the “Four Sons of Horus” who were also considered the cardinal compass points; the baboon-headed Happy, the jackal-headed Duamutef, the human-headed Imsety, and the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef. Note: The Canopic Jar is an ancient Egyptian symbol of immortality, burial, afterlife, Mummification, transformation, and Protection. Every Canopic Jar represented all of the four sons of Hours to provide the ultimate protection.

The canopic jars were four in number, each for the safekeeping of particular human organs: the stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver, all of which, it was believed, would be needed in the afterlife. There was no jar for the heart: the Egyptians believed it to be the seat of the soul, and so it was left inside the body. These organs were removed from the body and carefully treated with natron (a natural preservative used by embalmers) and placed in the sacred canopic jars. Many Old Kingdom canopic jars were found empty and damaged, even in undisturbed tombs. Therefore, it seems that they were never used as containers. Instead, it seems that they were part of burial rituals and were placed after these rituals, empty. The design of canopic jars changed over time. The oldest date from the Eleventh or the Twelfth Dynasty and are made of stone or wood. The last jars date from 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 embalming. 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. The sons of Horus were also the gods of the cardinal compass points. Each god was responsible for protecting a particular organ and was himself protected by a companion goddess.