Egyptian Funerary Portrait

Mummy

Canopic Jars of Princess Sithathoryunet, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret II–Amenemhat III, ca. 1887–1813 B.C. From Egypt, Fayum Entrance Area, Lahun, Tomb of Sithathoryunet (BSA Tomb 8), Egypt Exploration Society excavations, 1914. Travertine (Egyptian alabaster), paint, H. 37.4 cm (14 3/4 in.); Diam 21.5 cm (8 7/16 in.) Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Rogers Fund and Henry Walters Gift, 1916, 16.1.45. Image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org

With their strong faith in the afterlife, the Roman Egyptians also believed in mummification—they thought that the soul would leave the body after death and would later return to that body. They took the stomach, liver, lungs, and intestines and placed them in a canopic jar that would either be put on top of the casket or be placed by the mummy, to ensure that the body would be nearby for when the soul awoke. Like the funerary portrait, mummification and canopic jars support the idea of life after death. They preserve the person’s identity of their living self for their future existence.