Ancient Egypt for Kids
Canopic Jars

After you died in ancient Egypt, your body was preserved in a special way. Preserving your body was an important job in ancient Egypt. Part of the process was to remove your internal organs. Your organs were carefully stored in Canopic jars. (Also spelled canpic.)

There were four jars. Each jar had a special top. Each top represented one of the four sons of the Egyptian god Horus so that they could watch over you. (Horus was the falcon head god, the son of Orisis and Isis.)

The one organ they did not remove was the heart. That was left in the body so it could be weighed by the gods, to see if you had earned your way into the Land of Two Fields, the afterlife.

This was one more step in the path to your afterlife.

Canopic jars (Mandy Barrow)

The Four Sons of Horus

Weighing of the Heart Ceremony

More about mummies

The Afterlife

Interactive Quiz about Ancient Egypt (with answers)