Canopic
As canopic jars (also canopic jars or - vases ) are in Egyptology the vessels referred to in which in the mummification the intestines separately from the corpse interred were.
Name derivation and representation
The name is derived from the representation of Osiris-Canobus , which was created by merging the Kanopos and Osiris . The representation was made as a vase or egg-shaped object with a human head. As a result, all such vessels found in graves were referred to as "canopic jars" in Egyptology.
history
The oldest canopies are from the end of the 4th dynasty of Meresanch III. known. Canopies from the 5th dynasty are already common. They are vase-shaped, initially unlabeled and have a flat lid. In earlier times the vessels were made of clay , alabaster and limestone . Many canopic jars from the Old Kingdom were damaged and deposited in the burial chamber . There were no remains of entrails in them. They were likely used in pre-burial mummification rituals and then placed empty in the grave. From the late Old Kingdom, the canopic jars were partially labeled, and in the Middle Kingdom they were provided with human-headed lids.
As a rule, there are four canopic jugs in the graves, in which the entrails were buried. Since the Middle Kingdom, the internal organs have been under the protection of the four sons of Horus , the protective gods of the canopic jars:
- Duamutef for the stomach, represented as a falcon since the 19th dynasty ,
- Amset for the liver, human-shaped,
- Hapi for the lungs, represented as a monkey (baboon) and since the 19th dynasty
- Kebechsenuef responsible for the intestines, represented as a jackal since the 19th dynasty.
In the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period there is isolated evidence that the intestines were coffed as miniature mummies and only then buried in the canopic jars. These looked like miniature mummies and could even wear a small mask. In the Amarna period, the canopic lids were given individualized human features of the deceased (see Tutankhamun ). Since the 19th dynasty, the lids of the vessels had the characteristic animal heads of the gods protecting them.
The presence of the canopic jars in the graves seemed to have been more important than their original functional function: mummies were found whose entrails had not been removed. In the second half of the Third Intermediate Period, canopic jars were completely dispensed with; the entrails were put back in the body and protected by wax figures of the sons of Horus. From this and the late period , dummy canopies without an internal cavity are also known.
As a typical Egyptian motif, canopic jars are depicted on coins minted in Alexandria as a Roman province even in the early days .
See also
literature
- Jan Assmann : Death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt. Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-49707-1 .
- Hans Bonnet : Canop. In: Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , pp. 365-366.
- Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto : Canopies. In: Small Lexicon of Egyptology. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-447-04027-0 , pp. 140-141.
Web links
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Lucie Jirásková: Damage and repairs of the Old Kingdom canopic jars - the case at Abusir. In: Prague Egyptological Studies. 15, 2015, ISSN 1214-3189 , pp. 76-85, ( online ).
- ^ A b Karl Martin: Kanopen II. In: Lexikon der Ägyptologie . (LÄ). Volume 3: Horhekenu - Megeb. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-447-02100-4 , column 317, and Hans Bonnet : Kanope. In: Real Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. (RÄRG). 2000, p. 366.
- ↑ a b Richard H. Wilkinson : The world of the gods in ancient Egypt. Faith - Power - Mythology. Theiss, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8062-1819-6 , p. 88.
- ↑ a b Rosemarie Drenkhahn: Kebehsenuef. In: Lexicon of Egyptology. (LÄ). Volume 3: Horhekenu - Megeb. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-447-02100-4 , column 379.
- ↑ a b Arne Eggebrecht : Duamutef. In: Lexicon of Egyptology. (LÄ). Volume 1: A - Harvest. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1975, ISBN 3-447-01670-1 , column 1150.