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Viscera figure with falcoln head (Qebehsenuef)

Third Intermediate Period
ca. 1000–945 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 126
Four "viscera" figures, meant to protect the internal organs, were found inside the mummy of Djedmutesankh. Representing the Sons of Horus, these were associated with four of the seven packages of viscera that had been removed, dessicated, wrapped in linen, and put back inside the body. Falcon-headed, this example represents Qebehsenuef, usually seen as the embodiment and protector of the intestines.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Viscera figure with falcoln head (Qebehsenuef)
  • Period: Third Intermediate Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 21, second half
  • Date: ca. 1000–945 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb MMA 60, Chamber, Burial of Djedmutesankh (Ch5), MMA excavations, 1923–24
  • Medium: Resin
  • Dimensions: H. 8.8 × W. 2.8 × D. 2.6 cm (3 7/16 × 1 1/8 × 1 in.)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1925
  • Object Number: 25.3.154d
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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