Funerary Figure of Duamutef

Funerary Figure of Duamutef

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This jackal-headed figure represents the god Duamutef, who protected the stomach. He is one of the four so-called sons of Horus that are often depicted as mummies, each with a different head (for the other three statuettes belonging to the same set, see 12.182.37b-d). The sons of Horus were deities who protected the internal organs and are probably best known from their representations on the lids of the canopic jars that contained mummified viscera. They were also thought to assist in the process of mummification and to provide nourishment, possibly because they were associated with the internal organs. Thus they had a general protective function for the deceased. In this particular statuette, note the jackal-headed god’s fur peeking out from underneath his long human wig.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Funerary Figure of DuamutefFunerary Figure of DuamutefFunerary Figure of DuamutefFunerary Figure of DuamutefFunerary Figure of Duamutef

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.