In ancient Egyptian funerary ritual, a covered vessel of wood, stone, pottery, or faience containing the embalmed viscera removed from a body during mummification.
First used during the Old Kingdom ( 0441; 2575 0441; 2130 BC), the jars became more elaborate during the Middle Kingdom ( 0441; 1938 0441; 1600 BC), when their lids were decorated with sculpted human heads (probably representations of the deceased). From the 19th dynasty until the end of the New Kingdom (15391075 BC), the heads represented the four sons of Horus . During the 20th dynasty (11901075 BC), the practice began of returning the viscera to the body, and the art of canopic jars declined.