CANOPIC JARS

Vessels (usually four to a set) used as receptacles for the viscera of the dead removed during mummification. Each jar was distinguished by its lid which represented one of the demi-gods known as the 'Four Sons of Horus': human-headed Amset, baboon-headed Hapi, jackal-headed Duamutef, and falcon-headed Qebehsenuef. They protected the viscera. Europeans used the term 'Canopic' for these jars, derived from Canopus, the name of the Egyptian port where Osiris (god of the dead) had been worshipped in the form of a jar with a god's head.