Canopic glass. Ancient Egypt, Dynasty XXVI

Canopic vase. Ancient Egypt, 26th Dynasty. 664-525 BC.
Alabaster.
In two pieces.
Size: 38 x 17 x 13 cm.
Alabaster canopic vase, the lid of which takes the form of a human head. It probably represents Amset, son of Horus, whose function as a canopic vase was to shelter the liver of the deceased. The head or lid of the vase has hieroglyphs on both the upper part and the lower band.
The canopic vases were vessels into which the viscera of the deceased were carefully removed from the body, mummified and bandaged. Their name is due to the confusion between these vessels and others found in the city of Canopo, which had a human head on the lid. The first organs removed from the body, mummified and placed in a vessel date from the 4th Dynasty. They belonged to Queen Heteferes, mother of King Khufu (Cheops). At that time the "vessels" were not "vessels", but the entrails were placed in an alabaster box divided into four compartments, where organic remains and Natron, the preservative/drying agent used for mummification, were found. From the Middle Kingdom onwards the entrails were placed inside four separate vessels with the effigy of the deceased and under the protection of the 'Sons of Horus': Amset, Hapi, Duamutef and Kebhsenuf, and from the second half of the New Kingdom onwards their lids took the form of these gods. In turn, each vessel was under the protection of a specific goddess. Amset had a human head, stood to the south and guarded the liver. The goddess who protected him was Isis. Hapi had the head of a monkey, was situated to the north and guarded the lungs. The goddess who protected him was Nephthys. Duamutef had the head of a jackal, was situated to the east, his tutelary goddess being Neit, and guarded the stomach and finally Kebhsenuf with the head of a falcon, was situated to the west and guarded the intestine. The goddess who protected it was Selkis. At the end of the New Kingdom, the custom of inserting the organs into these vessels ceased and from this time onwards they were placed back inside the mummies, once they had been mummified separately. However, canopic vessels continued to be used, although they were then solid, no longer having a practical purpose, but retaining their magical meaning.