What are these?
These are amulets depicting the Four Sons of Horus. You can see the holes in each figure where they could have been strung from a cord. The Four Sons of Horus were protective deities often associated with the deceased and Canopic jars.
Can you tell me about the chins please?
I think what you may be referring to are the false beards. In general, many Egyptians shaved their heads and faces and wore wigs. Pharaohs especially would wear false beards as well as a symbol of their divine right to rule. Many deities are shown with false beards as well. The individuals you see on this coffin fragment are three of the four sons of the god Horus.
Could you tell me more about the four sons?
Sure! Their names are Imsety, Duamutef, Hapi, and Qebehsenuef and are essentially the personifications of the four Canopic jars. Are you familiar with Canopic Jars?
No, please tell me.
When Ancient Egyptians mummified the dead part of the process included removal of many of the internal organs. The liver, intestines, stomach, and lungs would be mummified separately and placed in these jars so that the deceased could take them to the afterlife. The lids of the jars would be in the shape of the heads of the Four Sons of Horus. Their heads might be shown as human like they are depicted in the coffin fragment you sent or they may be depicted with the head of their animal characteristics (a jackal, a human, and baboon, and a falcon) like many other Egyptian deities.
Can you tell me which figure worked with which organ?
Imsety, the human, protected the liver; Duamutef, the jackal, protected the stomach; Hapi, the baboon, protected the lungs; and Qebehsenuef, the falcon, protected the intestines. The heart was often placed back in the body and the brain was discarded all-together.
You may find many depictions of the Four Sons of Horus in the Mummy Chamber exhibition as they obviously have strong connection to Ancient Egyptian funerary practices.
And the discs above the heads?
Those are sun disks! Solar worship was very important in Ancient Egypt and many deities were tied to the sun in some way in addition to the primary solar deities like Ra, Horakhty, and Khepry.
How did the blue survive on these sculptures?
These little figures are made out if an interesting material called faience that holds on to color really well. Faience starts as a paste that is molded into shapes like these. Then, a glaze is put on, made by adding copper to quartz and other minerals. That's the blue part. Finally, it's put into a really hot kiln and everything fuses together and become very hard. It lasts a really long time!
