The Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt - Amarna Canopic Jar

AMARNA CANOPIC JAR

AMARNA CANOPIC JAR

Identity: Meritaten, Eldest Daughter of Akhenaten
Material: Alabaster
Period: New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty
Reign: Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)

Dimensions:
Height: 38.3 cm

This canopic jar was found in an unfinished tomb, in the Valley of the Kings, thought to belong to queen Tiye. The tomb contained various Amarna funerary objects, brought for the burial of a member of Akhenaten's royal family. The name of the original owner was unfortunately erased. At the end of Dynasty 18 royal canopic jars had stoppers representing the head of their owner. This royal female head is a masterpiece of Amarna art, as it escapes the deformed caricatures of the early phase. She wears an elaborate wig, with curls framing the face, and a frontal uraeus. The eyes and eyebrows are inlaid with blue glass paste, quartz and obsidian. A broad collar covers the shoulders. The canopic jar was probably used for the burial of Akhenaten's successor, Smenkare, as the body of a young man was found in a coffin from the same tomb.


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