A bit of Egypt

Oh my, I am certainly thinking of Egypt today. I hate to think what might happen tomorrow. Tonight we are off to a ARCE (American Research Center in Egypt) lecture which should be very interesting.

So -another Egypt souvenir. Canopic Jars. During the Ancient Egyptian mummification process, the organs were removed from the body, embalmed, and placed in these jars and then in a square box, to be buried with the mummy, guarded by Horus and 4 goddesses, for use in the afterlife. The jars evolved over time but always had lids representing the sons of Horus, the falcon god. The human-headed Imsety guarded the liver, the jackal-headed Duamutef guarded the stomach, the baboon-headed Hapy guarded the lungs and the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef quarded the intestines. The heart was left in the body as being necessary for the mummy to travel. The brain however was pulled out through the nose and discarded. I think our grandchildrens' second grade classes will love hearing about these! ( I can hear them now, yuk, eeyoooo......) One jar is for each of them ---later...
The writing on the front is a spell - will have to find someone who reads hieroglyphics.

An additional note: these souvenirs are smallish - not quite 7" tall, but heavy - made from stone -basalt.(carried home in a backpack). The "real" ones are probably around 15"....