Illustrative reconstruction of ancient Egyptian canopic jars and a funerary ritual scene, showing the Four Sons of Horus and the preparation of the dead for the afterlife.

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In: The Museum

Behind museum glass, canopic jars may appear as four quiet vessels from ancient Egypt. Yet these jars once guarded the inner body of the dead, protecting the liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines under the care of the Four Sons of Horus. More than funerary containers, they formed part of a sacred architecture of the afterlife—one built from mummification, divine guardianship, ritual texts, memory, and the ancient hope that no part of the person should be abandoned on the road to eternity.Unearth the Story