Tales of the Canopic Jar Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

The oldest canopic jars date from approximately the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom; their use continued on through the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom as well. Originally the lids on the jars were plain; it was during the period between the Old and Middle Kingdoms that human heads were used that are believed to have represented the deceased. Sometime during the Eighteenth Dynasty the design of canopic jars changed again.

Answer: 4

Four canopic jars held the internal organs, or viscera, of the deceased. Because the organs contained so much water, they would promote a quick decay of the body in the desert heat. So it was imperative that they be removed - if the deceased could afford such an elaborate procedure.

It appears that the organs were treated with an agent comparable to salt, and allowed to dry during the 70-day mummification period. There were less expensive procedures. For example, in one procedure, apparently some sort of oil, which liquefied the organs, was injected into the body. Of course, commoners, who couldn't afford mummification, were buried in the sand. Ironically, many of their bodies have been found well preserved.

Answer: Linen and oil

After being dried and treated with a natural, salt-like substance, the viscera were wrapped in linen and treated with scented oil. Evidence found in tombs from the Second Dynasty shows that these viscera bundles might have been put in simple wooden boxes in the tomb or within a canopic niche, a special cavity built within the tomb's wall; by the Fourth Dynasty proven canopic remains were found in the tomb of Senfru, who was the first pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty.

By the end of the Fourth Dynasty, canopic jars were beginning to be used for holding the viscera.

Answer: Any of these materials were used.

Canopic jars made from a vast variety of materials have been found. While the earliest one were mainly made of wood, clay pottery, or stone, later ones were made of alabaster or even gold! Inside the tomb of Tutankamun, gold canopic jars were found that were in the shape of a mummiform coffin.

Inlaid with colored glass, they each measured 8.75 inches long, and were miniature replicas of the second of the three coffins in which Tut's mummy was placed.

Answer: Horus

Horus was an important god in ancient Egypt for many centuries. As the patron deity of Nekhen, the capital of Upper Egypt, Horus became the first national deity. A god with many functions, Horus was the sky god as well as god of hunting and war. In the well-known Osiris myth, Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis, who avenged his father's murder by killing his evil uncle, Set.

There is another story, however, that says the goddess Hathor was his mother and wife. Horus typically takes the form of a falcon, or a falcon-headed man.

Answer: Natron

Natron occurs naturally, and is a mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate. The ancient Egyptians harvested it from dry lake beds, and used it for a variety of purposes, including soap (the natron was blended with oil), tooth-cleaning powder, and mouthwash.

It was also mixed with other substances to make antiseptics for wounds, and used as a bleach for clothing, as well as the making of leather. Its drying property made it important for curing meat and fish - and well as mummies!

Answer: Crocodile

The lids on canopic jars were represented by the four sons of Horus, who were also the gods of the compass points. The human-headed god, Imseti, represented the south, while Hapi, the baboon-headed god represented the north. Duamutef, the jackal-headed god represented the east, and Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god, represented the west. Each of the four sons of Horus was protected by a guardian goddess, which offered even further protection to the deceased.

Answer: Heart

The heart was needed for the important "Weighing of the Heart" ceremony which was conducted by Anubis, Thoth, and Osiris once the deceased had reached the western kingdom, which was the domain of Osiris. Believing that their actions in life determined their fate in the afterlife, the deceased would have to swear that they had not committed any offenses.

His heart would then be placed on a scale against the feather of truth, which was the symbol of the goddess Maat. If the heart was heavier than a feather, it was judged as being heavy with wrongdoing; the deceased was then devoured by Ammit, which meant eternal death. If the heart was lighter than a feather, the heart was returned to its owner, who then passed on to the eternal afterlife. Altogether the canonic jars contained the lungs, liver, intestines, and stomach.

Answer: In a canopic chest near the mummy's coffin.

Although many Egyptian customs remain the same over centuries of time, the use of canopic jars did change; they were never, however, placed in the coffin with the mummy. Early burials contained a canopic chest, which held the jars. This practice continued for some time; later, jars were placed in the four corners of the tomb or arranged in a row under the bier of the coffin.

It does appear that during the 21st Dynasty, for reasons unknown, that the bundles of linen containing the dried viscera were placed inside the empty body cavity of the mummy.

The ancient Egyptians continued to place canopic jars in the tombs, but they were empty or solid.

Answer: True

Egyptians believed in the possibility of eternal life after death IF they were judged to have led a good life by the god Osiris. The overall purpose of mummification, therefore, was to create a body that would last for eternity that the "ka", or "life force" of the person could recognize and subsequently inhabit. Mummification of the face was especially difficult. With the skin being so thin and Egypt being so hot, the embalmer would have to work quickly to preserve the likeness of the individual. If the "ka" could recognize its body, then the "ba", which was the part of the soul that could travel between the worlds of the living and dead, would be able to return to the body every night after spending time in the sunshine - BUT ONLY if the body was intact. That meant that the internal organs, along with any other pieces that came off the body of the deceased, such as fingernails, had to be buried with the mummy. Because the "ka" had eternal life it would need the same accoutrements as it had when living: food, beer, clothing, servants, games, chariots, and a host of other items.