Late Period, 664-332 BC. A limestone canopic jar with columnar body and wide flat base; lid in the form of the human-headed Imsety wearing bag wig and false beard. 5.77 kg, 29cm (11 1/4"). Property of a Jerusalem gentleman; inherited from his father who acquired them in the 1970s. Imsety was the human-headed son of Horus, protected the liver of the deceased and was in turn protected by the goddess Isis. It seems that his role was to help revive the corpse of the dead person, as he is asked to lift them up by Horus: You have come; betake yourself beneath him and lift him up, do not be far from him, in your name of Imsety. To stand up meant to be active and thus alive while to be prone signified death. In Spell 151 of the Book of the Dead Imsety is given the following words to say: I am your son, Osiris, I have come to be your protection. I have strengthened your house enduringly. As Ptah decreed in accordance with what Ra himself decrees. Again the theme of making alive and reviving is alluded to through the metaphor of making his house flourish. He does this with the authority of two creator gods Ptah and Ra. Spell 148 in the Book of the Dead directly associates all four of Horus's sons to the four cardinal points. Imsety was associated with the south.

Fine condition.