|
Material : Limestone and Painted Wood
Height : 34 Diameter : 11
Found in : The Tomb of Inepuhotep and Usermut , to the North of the Pyramid of Teti , Saqqara Necropolis (1914)
Period : Middle Kingdom
Dynasty: XII
Belonged_to: Inepuhotep
Excavation : The Egyptian Antlquities Service
These vases were found in a Middle Kingdom tomb belonging to Inepuhotep and Usermut near the Pyramid of Teti in Saqqara . Dating back to the early Twelfth Dynasty , these roughly finished vases are made of limestone and topped by a lid made of painted wood in the form of a human topped by a black wig . Ancient Egyptians paid much attention to the preservation of the dead body's viscera . The manner of treatment each internal organ of the body received varied according to the Ancient Egyptians' perceptions of their significance . The brain was discarded , because its function was not understood . The heart was considered to be the physical "centre" of the individual and the location of the intelligence . Sometimes the heart was removed and some other times it was deliberately left in place within the chest while other organs were extracted during the mummification . The liver , the lungs , the stomach , and intestines were taken out of the body and washed in a kind of white wine , then placed into canopic containers .
We could identify the owner of these vases from some hieroglyphic inscription on the wooden container that houses the jars , stating the name 'Inepu' . The jars are covered with lids that have images of human heads which are associated with the Four Sons of Horus: the human-headed Amset , the baboon-headed Hapi , the jackal-headed Duamutef , and the falcon-headed Qebehsenuf) . These four gods were thought to guard the four organs: the liver , lungs , stomach , and intestines . The heads of these jars are painted in bright colors . Some of the men on the lids have a painted moustache and a false wooden beard .
|
|
