The Four Sons of Horus are most well known for their association with the mummification of the internal organs but there is more to these gods than containers of the dead king’s body parts. By focusing on the earliest records of the ancient Egyptian use of these four gods we’ll be letting the pyramids speak for themselves.
But first let’s look at the aspect for which the Four Sons of Horus are most well known.
Four Canopic Jars
For the corpse to be properly dried and free of moisture the organs needed to be removed and treated individually. The liver, lungs, intestines and stomach were dried with natron to prevent them from decaying inside the body. The heart was left in place and the brain removed and discarded.
The removed organs were individually embalmed and placed inside jars, then placed inside a funerary chest which was entombed with the body. Niches in the walls of burial chambers held the chest containing the organs and in Old Kingdom pyramids from the 6th Dynasty the canopic chest was buried in the floor of the chamber at the foot of the sarcophagus.
Each of the four organs had a god associated with them and the lids of the jars were sometimes shaped in the head of that particular organ’s god. These are known as the Four Sons of Horus.