Canopic Coffin in the Form of Imsety

Canopic Coffin in the Form of Imsety

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of four miniature coffins found in the lower chamber of Pit 2 of Tomb MMA 832 representing the Four Sons of Horus, a group of funerary deities who both embodied and protected the internal organs that were removed during mummification. Designed to hold a packet of embalmed viscera but found empty, this depicts the human-headed Imsety, guardian of the liver. These coffins were found in the lower chamber of Pit 2 of Tomb MMA 832 along with material from several assemblages. The wood stela of Aafenmut was discovered in the upper chamber of the same pit, so these may come from Aafenmut’s burial.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Canopic Coffin in the Form of ImsetyCanopic Coffin in the Form of ImsetyCanopic Coffin in the Form of ImsetyCanopic Coffin in the Form of ImsetyCanopic Coffin in the Form of Imsety

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.