The four sons of Horus, from left: Imsety, Duamutef, Hapy, and Qebehsenuef
The four sons of Horus were a group of four deities in ancient Egyptian religion who were believed to protect deceased people in the afterlife. Beginning in the First Intermediate Period of Egyptian history (c. 2181–2055 BC), Imsety, Hapy, Duamutef, and Qebehsenuef were especially connected with the four canopic jars that housed the internal organs that were removed from the body of the deceased during the process of mummification. Most commonly, Imsety protected the liver, Hapy the lungs, Duamutef the stomach, and Qebehsenuef the intestines, but this pattern often varied. The canopic jars were given lids that represented the heads of the sons of Horus. Although they were originally portrayed as humans, in the latter part of the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC), they took on their most distinctive iconography, in which Imsety is portrayed as a human, Hapy as a baboon, Duamutef as a jackal, and Qebehsenuef as a falcon. The four sons were also linked with stars in the sky, with regions of Egypt, and with the cardinal directions.
The worship of the sons of Horus was almost entirely restricted to the funerary sphere. They were first mentioned late in the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC) in the Pyramid Texts and continued to be invoked in funerary texts throughout ancient Egyptian history. Their connection with the canopic jars was established in the First Intermediate Period, and afterward they became ubiquitous in the decoration of canopic chests, coffins, and sarcophagi. Although they were increasingly closely associated with the internal organs, they continued to appear in burial equipment even after the use of canopic jars was abandoned in the Ptolemaic Period (303–30 BC), disappearing only in the fourth century AD with the extinction of the ancient Egyptian funerary tradition.
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The foursonsofHorus were a group offour deities in ancient Egyptian religion who were believed to protect deceased people in the afterlife. Beginning...
were often in the form of human heads. By the Nineteenth Dynasty each of the four lids depicted one of the foursonsofHorus, actings as guardians for...
embalmers and of the canopic jar associated with venom—the jar of the intestine—which was deified later as Qebehsenuef, one of the foursonsofHorus. As the...
as she was a goddess of the last moments of birth. As the birth ofHorus became more intimately associated with the resurrection of Osiris, so Heqet's role...
Isis, Set, Nephthys, and, in some versions, Horus the Elder. She was also the great-grandmother ofHorus the Younger. Alongside her father, brother, children...
between Horus and Set, over the Egyptian throne, recommending that Horus rule. A great festival, called the Feast of Lamps, was held annually in honor of Neith...
and husband of Isis, and brother of Set, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder, with Horus the Younger being considered his posthumously begotten son. Through syncretism...
characteristics with the sky-god Horus. At times, the two deities were merged as Ra-Horakhty, "Ra, who is Horusof the Two Horizons". When the god Amun...
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to restore her husband, allowing the pair to conceive Horus. Following a battle between Horus and Set, Thoth offers counsel and provides wisdom. Thoth...
as Horus, Upon the celestial sledge of the Opener of the Ways" [Pyramid Texts §§796-799 (Sethe)] Wilfong, Terry G. "Death Dogs: The Jackal Gods of Ancient...
the elder form ofHorus. In the same era, Horus was syncretized with the fertility god Min, so Isis was regarded as Min's mother. A form of Min known as...
Nehebkau of primeval times.[citation needed] Geb also often occurs as a primeval divine king of Egypt from whom his son Osiris and his grandson Horus inherited...
symbol of childhood, a sidelock of hair, as well as the menat necklace with crook and flail. He has close links to other divine children such as Horus and...
Bacab Four Dwarves (Norse mythology) Four Holy Beasts Four Living Creatures FoursonsofHorusFour Stags (Norse mythology) Four Symbols Four temperaments...
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Thoth, Horus, Hathor, and Maat, who all appear to the dead soul as it makes its way toward judgement. In spite of the many demon-like inhabitants of the...
of her character. She is also mentioned in Plutarch's notes on the central myth of Isis and Osiris. She joined the forces of order and helped Horus to...
Relief of Maat in east upstairs. Temple of Edfu, Upper Egypt Depiction of the Feast of the Beautiful Meeting, the second reunion between Horus and his...
associated with sun gods such as Horus and Ra as well as the Eye of Ra. Each of them had to be appeased by a specific set of rituals. One myth relates that...
respectively, of Upper and Lower Egypt. When linked with Horus, Montu's epithet was "Horusof the Strong Arm". Because of the association of raging bulls...
closely associated in ancient Egyptian religion with the Eye of Ra and the Eye ofHorus symbols, each powerful protective deities. The hieroglyph for...
e.g., Horus (Falcon), Wadjet (cobra) and Nekhbet (vulture). Nekhbet with outstretched wings below a row of uraei, from the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut...
the embodiment ofHorus. Akhenaten positioned himself as the only intermediary who could speak to Aten, emphasizing the dominance of Aten as the preeminent...
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