Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

One of the Four Sons of Horus

ca. 664–after 30 B.C.E.

1 of 2

Object Label

Living persons wore only one or a few amulets at a time, but mummies usually bear many amulets. The Ma’at amulet (no. 2) and heart scarabs (nos. 1, 3, 11), which occurred in many forms, guaranteed a successful judgment of the dead. The amulets of a hand (no. 8), lungs and a windpipe (no. 12), and wadjet-eyes (i.e., “healthy” eyes; no. 4) protected those parts of the body and also had connotations of resurrection and the unity or integrity of the mummy. The enigmatic aper amulet (no. 13) takes the form of the hieroglyph meaning “to be equipped,” perhaps in reference to the mummy’s preparation. The two crowns (nos. 5, 6) were symbols of power. The Heh insignia (no. 7), like the popular ankh-sign, denoted eternal life. Among the living, the frog (no. 9) and possibly also the hare (no. 10) suggested fertility. The amulets of the Four Sons of Horus (no. 15) perhaps served, as they did with canopic jars, to protect various organs of the body.

Caption

One of the Four Sons of Horus, ca. 664–after 30 B.C.E.. Faience, 4 5/16 in. (11.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 51.223.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.51.223.3_wwgA-3.jpg)

Title

One of the Four Sons of Horus

Date

ca. 664–after 30 B.C.E.

Period

Late Period to Roman Period

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Faience

Classification

Accessory

Dimensions

4 5/16 in. (11.0 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

51.223.3

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • 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!

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.