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Egyptian Artifacts

Amulets of the Four Sons of Horus

These are four ๐“ฝ faience amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช that represent the four Sons of Horus.

Here, they are depicted as mummiform figures and while amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช could be worn by both the living and the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ, these specific amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช were most likely used by the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. While the Sons of Horus were first mentioned in the Pyramid Texts, these amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช are dated between The Late Period and the Roman Period (664 B.C.E.-after 30 B.C.E.).

After the 18th Dynasty, the Four Sons of Horus were associated with being the heads on canopic jars which would guard the organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. While each were associated with an organ ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น, they were also each associated with a cardinal direction and were protected by a funerary goddess๐“Šน๐“.

(From Left) Imsety ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ด๐“˜๐“‡‹ had the head of a human, protected the liver ๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„น๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ธ, was associated with the South ๐“‡”๐“…ฑ๐“ and was protected by Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ.

Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘ had the head of a jackal, protected the stomach ๐“‚‹๐“„ฃ๐“ป, was associated with the East ๐“‹๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ, and was protected by Neith ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‹Œ๐“€ญ.

Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ had the head of a falcon, protected the intestines ๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ผ, was associated with the West ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ, and was protected by Selket ๐“Šƒ๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“.

Hapy ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ had the head of a baboon, protected the lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ, was associated with the North ๐“Ž”๐“, and was protected by Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡.