Canopic Chest in the Brooklyn Museum, August 2007

Canopic Chest
Painted Wood
Late Period - Ptolemaic Period, circa 380-30 BC
from Saqqara

Accession # 37.1390E

Some of the internal organs removed during mummification embalmed and placed in vessels called canopic jars. These jars in turn were placed in containers like this called canopic chests. The organs and their containers were identified with deities known as the Four Sons of Horus, two of whom appear on the left side of this chest and the other two on the right. Together with the rituals accompanying it, each step of the process of mummification was thought to help transform the corpse into a more-than-human body for its no-longer-human owner.

Text from the Brooklyn Museum label.