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Canopic Jar and Lid (Depicting a Hawk)

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Canopic jars first appeared in the tomb of Hetepheres, the mother of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid. They were intended to hold the separately mummified internal organs. The middle-class examples of canopic jars, which first appeared seven hundred years later, are often dummies like these, never hollowed out to hold the organs, but still included in the tomb. Canopic jars demonstrate the development of a custom at a royal cemetery that was then adopted in a cheaper form by the middle class.
MEDIUM Limestone
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES 664-404 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 26 to Dynasty 26
    PERIOD Late Period
    DIMENSIONS 10 1/4 in. (26 cm) high x 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm) diameter  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.895Ea-b
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone canopic jar (b) with stopper (a) having falcon’s head (Kebehsenuef). Inscribed for a man named Hor. Four column inscription within a rectangular panel incised on the vessel. Condition: Eyes and beak still retain black paint. Some scuffing of the body. Otherwise the piece is in excellent condition. Found with 37.894E and 37.896E-.897E.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Canopic Jar and Lid (Depicting a Hawk), 664-404 B.C.E. Limestone, 10 1/4 in. (26 cm) high x 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm) diameter. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.895Ea-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.895Ea-b_front_PS1.jpg)
    IMAGE front, 37.895Ea-b_front_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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