Four Sons of Horus26th dynasty (circa 664-525 BCE)

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Four Sons of Horus
Place Made: Egypt
Date Made: 26th dynasty (circa 664-525 BCE)
Medium: Wood
Dimensions: .1-.4) each: 7 × 1 3/8 × 2 in. 7 × 7 1/4 × 1 3/4 in.
Credit Line: Ancient Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2010.31a-d
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Egyptian Art
Curatorial Notes: These elegant wood figurines of the Sons of Horus may have served as upright elements on the back of a chair or as inlays on a funerary chest. They stand in profile as animal or human-headed beings, wrapped in a mummiform shroud. The elements of each figure are carefully contoured and detailed. The quartet of deities, or genii, known as the Sons of Horus appear in Egyptian texts and funerary practice as protectors of the deceased’s inner organs. From the 4th Dynasty (c. 2543−2436 BCE) onward, they also bear the title of “friend of the king,” assisting the pharaoh at the time of his death with the ascent to a resting place in the eastern sky by means of rope or wood ladders. During the mummification process undertaken for elite burials, inner organs were removed and placed in canopic jars. Each Son of Horus was assigned a specific identity, form, organ, protective goddess, and cardinal orientation:

Son of Horus

Imsety

Duamutef

Hapi

Qebehsenuef

form

human

jackal

baboon

hawk

organ

liver

stomach

lungs

intestines

protective goddess

Isis

Neith

Nephthys

Serket

orientation

south

east

north

west

Early canopic jars were topped with stoppers in the form of human heads; by the end of the 18th Dynasty (c. 1539−1292 BCE), these lids were made in the image of each genius. Inscriptions on sarcophagi and tomb walls usually depict the Sons of Horus in their individual forms. From the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1076−655 BCE) onward, use of their image expands. They continue to be depicted on coffins and canopic jars but are also used in amulet form, wrapped within the binding of the mummy or on other funerary equipment.
Provenance: [Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910–1996), Paris and Geneva, c. 1960s, by inheritance to]; Emmanuel and Daphne Koutoulakis, Geneva, Switzerland, sold October 2008 to; [Rupert Wace (b.1955), Ancient Art, London, sold 2010 to]; LACMA.

Four Sons of Horus26th dynasty (circa 664-525 BCE)

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Four Sons of Horus
Place Made: Egypt
Date Made: 26th dynasty (circa 664-525 BCE)
Medium: Wood
Dimensions: .1-.4) each: 7 × 1 3/8 × 2 in. 7 × 7 1/4 × 1 3/4 in.
Credit Line: Ancient Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2010.31a-d
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Egyptian Art
Curatorial Notes: These elegant wood figurines of the Sons of Horus may have served as upright elements on the back of a chair or as inlays on a funerary chest. They stand in profile as animal or human-headed beings, wrapped in a mummiform shroud. The elements of each figure are carefully contoured and detailed. The quartet of deities, or genii, known as the Sons of Horus appear in Egyptian texts and funerary practice as protectors of the deceased’s inner organs. From the 4th Dynasty (c. 2543−2436 BCE) onward, they also bear the title of “friend of the king,” assisting the pharaoh at the time of his death with the ascent to a resting place in the eastern sky by means of rope or wood ladders. During the mummification process undertaken for elite burials, inner organs were removed and placed in canopic jars. Each Son of Horus was assigned a specific identity, form, organ, protective goddess, and cardinal orientation:

Son of Horus

Imsety

Duamutef

Hapi

Qebehsenuef

form

human

jackal

baboon

hawk

organ

liver

stomach

lungs

intestines

protective goddess

Isis

Neith

Nephthys

Serket

orientation

south

east

north

west

Early canopic jars were topped with stoppers in the form of human heads; by the end of the 18th Dynasty (c. 1539−1292 BCE), these lids were made in the image of each genius. Inscriptions on sarcophagi and tomb walls usually depict the Sons of Horus in their individual forms. From the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1076−655 BCE) onward, use of their image expands. They continue to be depicted on coffins and canopic jars but are also used in amulet form, wrapped within the binding of the mummy or on other funerary equipment.
Provenance: [Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910–1996), Paris and Geneva, c. 1960s, by inheritance to]; Emmanuel and Daphne Koutoulakis, Geneva, Switzerland, sold October 2008 to; [Rupert Wace (b.1955), Ancient Art, London, sold 2010 to]; LACMA.