Canopic jars were an essential part of the burial rituals in ancient Egypt.In ancient Egypt, people used to believe in the afterlife. And they used to think that without the body, the afterlife could not be possible.Thus began the preservation of lifeless bodies, which we now call mummification. Ancient Egyptians also used to believe that not only the outside of the body, but the internal organs (like the liver and lungs) too needed to be preserved. And that’s how canopic jars came to exist. Each canopic jar had a head that represented each son of Horus.Four canopic jars were used to contain four vital internal organs of the deceased person: lungs, liver, intestines, and stomach. And they were placed beside the mummy so that the person could return successfully.What are canopic jars?Canopic jars are a kind of receptacles that were used by the ancient Egyptians to contain the internal organs (lungs, stomach, intestines, and liver) of a dead person.It was believed that a person needed her/his body to attain the afterlife. That’s why along with the outside of the body, the internal organs were also wrapped in fine linen and put into four jars. These canopic jars represented Horus’s four sons.Horus was the god of the sky and one of the most important gods in ancient Egyptian mythology. All his sons had animal heads except one, and the same goes with the heads of four canopic jars. Often these jars were put into a special chest known as a canopic chest. And then the chests were placed inside the tombs.History And Origin Of Canopic JarsIt is difficult to determine exactly when the ritual of putting organs into canopic jars began, but the oldest discovered jar dates back to the fourth dynasty.Ancient Egyptians believed that it was absolutely necessary for a person to lead a good life for attaining the afterlife. That is why they used to put the heart in the body after mummifying it. It is strange that people in those times valued the soul more than the brain. The oldest discovered jars belonged to Queen Hetepheres (2575-2465 BC). These jars were plain boxes and did not have any decoration. The oldest example of a decorated canopic jar belonged to Merysankh III (2030-1802 BC) of the same dynasty. It had some decoration on it and a human head, which possibly represented the deceased person.Some canopic jars dating from the reign of King Shoshenq I (22nd Dynasty) were found with fictitious organs inside them. So, eventually, the use of canopic jars became a part of the tradition, and even though they did not contain a single organ, they were still placed beside the mummified body.In the Predynastic period (4000-2960 BC) dissected bodies were buried in shallow graves. It is believed that when the Dynastic people discovered these bodies, they conceived the notion of the afterlife. But there is also evidence that some burials dated from Badarian Period (4500-4000 BC) contained pottery vessels, stone beads, and slate palettes. And also some corpses buried during the Naqada II Period (3650-3300 BC) had partial wrappings, especially the hands and the head. So, it can be said that the concept of the afterlife had always been there, and not something that the people of Egypt had conceived later.What did canopic jars look like?Canopic jars were made of clay, limestone, and calcite. They were extremely decorated and carved by some type of pottery, and each canopic jar had a lid that resembled the heads of Horus’s four sons.Canopic jars from the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC) did not have any inscription or decoration. Each canopic jar had a plain lid that was either rounded or flat. Jars from the Middle Kingdom (2025-1700 BC) started to carry some inscriptions and a little decoration. Each canopic jar had a human head that represented the owner of the organs.Canopic Jars from the New Kingdom also followed the same style as the ones from the previous kingdom. But later, in the Ramesside period (during the 19th and 20th dynasties), the jars started representing the heads of the four sons of Horus, the god of the sky. And it was around this time that the people of Egypt developed their mummification process where they no longer needed to put an organ out of the body and into a canopic jar.Purpose Of Canopic JarsAs already mentioned, the purpose of canopic jars was to keep the major organs of a deceased person safe, so that they could successfully reach the afterlife.Of the four Egyptian canopic jars, one represented Imnesty, this jar can be recognized as having a human head, and it contained the liver. The second jar represented Hapy, it can be recognized as having a baboon head, and it contained the lungs. The third one represented Qebehsenuf, this jar can be recognized as having a falcon’s head, and it contained the intestines. And the last jar represented Duamatef, it had a jackal head and contained the stomach.But in the New Kingdom, people started mummifying the human organs, and then put them inside the body to complete the mummification process. Still, they used to put the empty canopic jars beside the mummy to show respect to Horus and his four sons.
Canopic jars were an essential part of the burial rituals in ancient Egypt.
