Egyptologists and
critics alike have labeled the four images below the lion couch in the Abraham Facsimile 1
as canopic jars. However nowhere in the scriptural record of the Book of
Abraham, in Facsimile 1, or any other written manner from Abraham’s writings do
we find any reference to the images beneath the couch or altar being canopic
jars.
First of all, canopic
jars were those actual jars used by the ancient Egyptians in the early period
of their embalming to store the deceased’s viscera. In order to preserve the
body long enough for the “Ba” to carry out its assignment of transferring the
deceased’s “personality” or essence to the “Ka” for its trip into the
afterlife, time was needed (see the last post), therefore, the embalming
process was intended to do that so the body could lie intact and “in state” for
a period of time. But in those early periods, it was believed that the
deceased’s internal organs needed to be removed for the preservation of the body.
In later periods, the embalming process was so improved that the removal of the
viscera was not necessary.
Top Row: Early canopic jars were simple clay jars with flat lids; Bottom
Row: Later jars had heads from early simple carved images to later far more
elaborate, even made of gold, highly decorated and very costly
The word canopic, like many terms
related to ancient Egypt, comes from a misunderstanding. The ancient classical
writers believed that the Greek hero, Kanopos, helmsman for Menelaeus, was
worshipped at Canopus in the form of a jar. The very early explorers and later
Egyptologists saw a connection between that object and the actually unrelated
visceral jars discovered in tombs, and began calling them “canopic.” The name
stuck and eventually was used to describe all kinds of receptacles intended to
hold viscera removed during the mummification process.
Modern research confirms
Herodotus’ claim, writing in the latter half of the 5th century B.C.
(The Histories, Book II, Chapter 86), that the entire process of mummification
lasted for seventy days, though the removal of the viscera was accomplished in
the first few days after death. In fact, the Ancient Egyptians believed that a dead person would need his
organs in the afterlife. For this purpose, four major organs were taken out of
the body during the mummification process, and stored in the Canopic jars. The brain was believed to be responsible only for
producing mucus and was allowed to liquefy and then completely removed
from the corpse through the nose.
Beginning in the period known as the
Old Kingdom (2600-2100 B.C.), the viscera was removed and stored in the jars
for the owner’s afterlife. Four main organs were involved: the liver, lungs,
stomach and intestines—the heart was the home of the dead person’s spirit and
the Egyptians believed it stayed with the body. The early canopic jars were rarely inscribed and had a plain lid. Later, during the
Middle Kingdom (2055 to 1650 B.C.) inscriptions on the jars became were introduced and became more frequent, and the lids
were often in the form of human heads. By the Nineteenth dynasty (1292 to 1189
B.C.), the lids depicted one of the four sons of Horus as guardians of the
organs: Duamutef, the jackal-headed
god representing the east, guarded the stomach which was protected by the
goddess Neith; Hapi, the baboon-headed god representing the north, whose jar
contained the lungs and was protected by the goddess Nephthys; Imseti, the
human-headed god representing the south, guarding the liver and was protected
by the goddess Isis; and Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god
representing the west, guarding the intestines and was protected by the goddess
Silket.
The organs were wrapped in linen, put into the jars, and
consecrated oil was poured into after, and then the jars were sealed as part of
the funerary rituals. These jars were wide-mouthed, to allow the placement of
the organs inside, and from 5 to 10 inches tall, and through the dynasties of
Egypt, the jars evolved from a plain ritual jar to an elaborately decorated
tomb ornament.
This set of canopic jars was made to
contain the internal organs removed from the body during the mummification
process. The four sons of the god Horus were believed to protect these organs.
(left to right): The jackal-headed Duamutef protected the stomach; the
baboon-headed Hapi, the lungs; the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef, the
intestines;and human-headed Imsety, the liver
In
the Third Intermediate Period (1070 to 664 B.C.) the organs were left in the
body and dummy canopic jars were introduced, because of improved embalming
techniques, however, the canopic jars remained a feature of tombs, but were no
longer hollowed out for storage of the organs, having a symbolic rather than a
containment function. At this time, the viscera was coated in resin and rolled
up within linen “visceral packets,” and stored within the thoracic and pelvic
cavities.
By the Twentieth
Dynasty (1187 to 1064 B.C.), the canopic jars were no longer placed in a canopic
chest, instead, much larger individual jars bearing the heads of the goddesses were
used, though it is unknown how the jars were stored in the tomb. During the 21st
Dynasty, the viscera of most mummies were returned to the bodies during the
mummification process, and the canopic jars were left empty, but by the 22nd
Dynasty, the jars were solid dummy jars, though in the case of Sheshonq II, the
dummy jars held dummy packets of viscera. By the 23rd Dynasty, the
text associated with canopic equipment became much simpler, often only naming
the deceased and the genius, and later this equipment became painted with bright
polychrome and highly decorative.
This funery process has
been studied by Egyptologists, and though they have not always agreed with one
another on some of the points, they have become familiar with the
details mentioned above. Unfortunately, their tendency is to translate anything
resembling a funery process by this understanding—the mummification process of
a funery event. This is exactly what happened in the Egyptologists’
interpreting the Abraham Facsimile 1 vignette; however, the scene Abraham
describes is not about mummification, or about a funery process at all, but
about human sacrifice—something most Egyptologists have claimed did not take
place in ancient Egypt, even though there are some indications available to
suggest otherwise.
In short, the emblems, or gods, depicted in Facsimile 1 beneath the altar, or lion couch, are not canopic jars at all, but symbols of the four corners of the earth of the Egyptian world, and so depicted by the four images of the sons of Horus, yet representing the idolatrous gods of Sumeria which Abraham knew. It should also be
noted that Abraham was pointing out the ancient Egyptian customs which took
place in his earlier life to a non-Egyptian audience! That is, he knew who
would be reading this in the future would not be Egyptians and may not have any
idea of Egyptian customs, beliefs and practices. But like many professional
people, the Egyptologists who later tried to interpret Abraham’s drawing,
blindly assumed they knew what the scene depicted and interpreted it as such,
claiming the drawing was a funery scene and claimed that Abraham’s depiction
and description (Joseph Smith's translation) was inaccurate. Of course, it would be inaccurate if it were a
funery scene—but it was not, as Abraham so clearly described the events. And
when looking at the vignette in the light of Abraham’s description, and what is
actually known about the changing process of the ancient Egyptian funery
process over the dynasties, it is clearly a different and separate vignette, or
story.
(See the next post, “The
Book of Abraham and the Facsimile Image-Part IX – Understanding Elkenah,” for
more information on the god behind the human sacrifice of Abraham)
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