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Canopic Chest of Khonsu, 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom. Canopic jars are v-shaped vessels that are hollowed out in the middle and topped with either plain or iconographic stoppers. They ranged in heights from about 14 to 50 cm (5.5 to 20 in), including the lid, and in diameters of anywhere from 6 to 20 cm (2.4 to 7.9 in).
This contained the canopic jar containing Hetepheres organs. In the center of the lid was a loam seal that secured a cord around the chest. The seal was protected by a small perforated ceramic lid. The clay surface was badly damaged. It certainly mentioned the "mortuary of Khufu", as did the other seals found in the tomb. [12]
During the late New Kingdom, jars that contained shabtis, a common type of funerary figurine, were given lids shaped like the heads of the sons of Horus, similar to the lids of canopic jars. [ 32 ] In the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom (1189–1077 BC), embalmers began placing wax figurines of the sons of Horus inside the body cavity. [ 33 ]
Canopic chests are cases used by ancient Egyptians to contain the internal organs removed during the process of mummification. Once canopic jars began to be used in the late Fourth Dynasty , the jars were placed within canopic chests.
Although the sarcophagus was sealed and the Canopic chest was intact, the mummy of Hetepheres was missing. The chest, a large square box with four smaller square compartments inside, is one of the oldest examples known, so it has been suggested that Hetepheres may have been one of the first Egyptian royals to have her organs preserved.
Canopic jars became used to hold their internal organs. Amulets of gold, faience , and carnelian first appeared in various shapes to protect different parts of the body. There is also the first evidence of inscriptions inside the coffins of the elite during the Old Kingdom.
Canopic jars of Neskhons in the British Museum. She predeceased her husband and her mummified corpse was placed with that of Pinedjem II in Tomb DB320 in the Theban Necropolis, in which it was rediscovered in 1881. She was buried in the 5th regnal year of Siamun in coffins that were originally made for Pinedjem's sister and first wife Isetemkheb D.
Behind it was the large canopic shrine containing the king's canopic chest and jars. During the work in the burial chamber, the entrance to the Treasury (called the Store Room by Carter in his diaries) was blocked with wooden boards, so that the work would not damage the objects in the Store Room.