The four canopic jars were put into a special chest which went into the tomb with the mummy. Duamatef had the head of a jackal, and guarded the stomach. Hapy had a baboon head protected the lungs.Ĥ. Qebehsenuf had the head of a falcon and guarded the intestines.ģ. He may live an unassuming life in the declining Illinois town of Cairo, but Mr Ibis is actually one of the most important Ancient Egyptian gods of all time. Many archaeologists claim that his head is similar to the African golden wolf (i.e. Anubis’ face is actually a mix of a dog’s face and the face of a jackal. He was one of the first Egyptian gods to be painted and sculpted into the walls of the tombs of ancient Egypt. Imsety had a human head, protected the liver.Ģ. They wore a jackal mask and often had leopard skin painted on their bodies.

The Canopic Jars were decorated with the heads of the four sons of Horus.Įach canopic jar guarded a different organ.ġ. The heart was left inside the body because the Egyptians believed that in the afterlife it would be weighed to see whether the person had led a good life. Sharpe, The Alabaster Sarcophagus of Oimenephthah I, King of Egypt, Now in Sir John Soane’s Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London: Longman, Roberts and Green, 1864) The Egyptian jackal gods were nearly all male. Why did the Egyptians not remove the heart? Jackal gods depicted on the coffin of King Seti I (image from pl. Each organ was placed in a special jar with a top representing an animal or human head. The persons liver, intestines (guts), lungs and stomach were placed in canopic jas. What did the Egyptians put inside the jars? During the mummification process the organs of the human body were removed and preserved separately in canopic jars.

Jars used by ancient Egyptians to hold mummified remains.

During the process of mummification, all of the major organs were removed and placed in canopic jars. It was very important to ancient Egyptian religious beliefs that the human body was preserved.Ī method of artificial preservation, called mummification was developed by the ancient Egyptians.

Jackal egypt