Canopic Box

The canopic chest was an important part of the funerary equipment of the ancient Egyptians since the Old Kingdom. It was made to hold the four canopic jars that contained the wrapped internal organs removed from the corpse during the mummification process.
The lid and base of this Ptolemaic wooden chest are now missing, and its contents are also lost. Considering its dimensions and the burial customs of the period, it is unlikely that it contained canopic jars; the wrapped organs were rather placed in it directly.
The shape and decoration of the chest recall a shrine. The upper section features a kheker frieze, a motif used to decorate the top ends of tomb and shrine walls. Below this the front of the chest is painted with a shrine door. The back is decorated with a djed pillar grasping sceptres and wearing a crown, an emblem of the god Osiris, king of the underworld. The djed pillar represents the backbone of the god, a symbol of stability and endurance, which provided protection for the deceased. On the lateral sides are the images of the four sons of Horus, protectors of the internal organs. The right side shows the baboon-headed Hapy and the hawk-headed Qebehsenuef, while the human-headed Imsety and the jackal-headed Duamutef appear on the left.