What are Canopic Jars? - A Super-Simple Easy Peasy Guide

Gold and blue Anubis canopic jar on dark background, features Egyptian hieroglyphs, exuding a historical and mystical aura. — A replica Canopic Jar - Courtesy of Joanna Hill

Canopic Jars are not your regular type of jar. They were not used to store sugar, pasta, or multi-coloured beads for your latest arts and crafts project. Instead, Ancient Egyptians used canopic jars to store dead people’s viscera during the process of mummification.

Viscera is a fancy word used to describe all the gloopy slimy organs lurking inside your body. To be more specific, canopic jars were used to preserve and protect the lungs, stomach, intestines, and liver. The Ancient Egyptians believed that these organs would need to be kept safe, as their owner would definitely want them back once their spirit made its way to the afterlife.

There were four canopic jars, one to store each type of organ. Back in really really really ancient Ancient Egypt (called the Old Kingdom) the jars were plain and kind of boring. However, by the time the New Kingdom came about, Canopic Jars were colourful and very decorative. Each jar had an Egyptian god carved into the lid, a bit like a miniature statue. Or maybe the head of an action figure, that kind of thing. Anyway, these four gods were referred to as the Four Sons of Horus.

But which gods are they and which jar would you find them perched upon? Let’s have a looksee.

Clay canopic jar with a pharaoh face, gold and black stripes, hieroglyphs; set on a rocky background.

Name: Hapi

What does his head look like: A great big baboon.

Which organ does he protect? The lungs

Fun Fact: Along with his lung protecting, Hapi was also considered to represent the direction of ‘North’.

A black and gold Anubis statue with striped patterns sits on a painted container. The background features textured rocks.

Name: Duamutef

What does his head look like:

An awesomely scary Jackal.

Which organ does he protect?

The stomach.

Fun Fact:

Duamutef was born from a lily flower.

Brown and gold canopic jar with a pharaoh's head lid, hieroglyphs, on a rocky background. Rich colors convey an ancient Egyptian vibe.

Name: Imsety

What does his head look like: A regular human – BORING!

Which organ does he protect? The liver.

Fun Fact: The Egyptians considered the liver to be where all of our emotions come from, which is why Imsety had a human head – he was the most human of all the gods.