A Complete Set of Canopic Jars

Description This set of canopic jars was made to contain the internal organs removed from the body during the mummification process. The four sons of the god Horus were believed to protect these organs. The jackal-headed Duamutef protected the stomach; the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef, the intestines; the baboon-headed Hapi, the lungs; and human-headed Imsety, the liver.

Provenance Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1912, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1912