Viscera figure with human head (Imseti)

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 Four 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. Human-headed, this example represents Imseti, usually seen as the embodiment and protector of the liver.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

References

Title: Viscera figure with human head (Imseti)
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. 9.1 × W. 2.8 × D. 1.7 cm (3 9/16 × 1 1/8 × 11/16 in.)
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1925
Object Number: 25.3.154a
Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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Jar from the tomb of Sennedjem, Painted red pottery — Jar from the tomb of Sennedjem
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Inner Coffin of Djedmutesankh, Wood, paste, paint — Inner Coffin of Djedmutesankh
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Nkishi (community power figure), Songye artist and nganga (ritual specialist), Wood, copper, brass, iron, fiber, snakeskin, leather, fur, feathers, mud, resin, Songye peoples — Nkishi (community power figure)
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