Tut Exhibit - King Tutankhamun Exhibit, Collection: Basic Funeral Equipment - Alabaster Canopic Chest

The Tutankhamun Exhibit

Basic Funeral Equipment

Alabaster Canopic Chest

Alabaster Canopic Chest

Inside the canopic shrine was a magnificent alabaster chest with gilded dado, placed on a gilded wooden sledge and covered by a linen pall. The detachable roof, which served as the lid of the chest, was fastened by cords to gold staples near the top of the walls. At each corner was a figure, carved in high relief, representing one of the four goddesses who guarded the outer shrine. In front of the goddesses were short inscriptions, one of which is the following: "Words spoken by Isis: 'My arms hide what is in me, I protect Imsety who is within me, [the] Imsety of the Osiris, king Nebkheperura [i.e. Tutankhamun], true of voice'." Four cavities were hewn in the interior of the chest to hold the internal organs and on top of each cavity was an alabaster stopper, a finely sculptured likeness of the king. The features were picked out in black and red and the vulture's head and cobra on the brow were inserted.