Canopic jar of Tetinakht: Duamutef

Three canopic jars (12.181.253a–c) were found in a tomb dating to the beginning of Dynasty 18. Two of the lids are shaped like animal heads and the third has a human head. This jar, with the jackal-headed lid, represent the deity Duamutef, protector of the stomach. Another jar, with a falcon-headed lid represents Qebehsenuef, protector of the intestines. The third jar has a lid with a human head and represents Imsety, protector of the liver. These are three of the Four Sons of Horus. Missing from the set is the fourth jar which probably had a baboon-headed lid representing the Hapy, protector of the lungs.

These are the earliest datable examples of animal-headed lids on canopic jars, a style that did not become common until later in the New Kingdom. In earlier periods, the lids were different. Old Kingdom canopic jars were often covered with simple disk-shaped lids (see 14.7.16–.19), and from the Middle Kingdom to the early Eighteenth Dynasty, they were usually covered with human-headed lids (see 11.150.17a–d).

For a complete set of animal-headed canopic jars, see 12.183.1a–d.

Credit: Rogers Fund, 1912