In spite of their significance as part of the burial equipment, canopic items have hitherto received relatively little attention in the literature of Egyptology. This book now documents and discusses all equipment made or used to contain the embalmed internal organs of the kings of ancient Egypt.

While some containers were simple stone jars, many were objects of great artistic attainment, the high point perhaps being reached with the solid gold coffinettes of Tutankhamun and the gilded shrine that sheltered them, adorned by the exquisite figures of the four guardian goddesses. Such royal canopics are also of some historical import, one set of jars being key evidence of the existence of a new pharaoh of the Third Intermediate Period.

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The book is divided into two parts. The first traces the morphological development of the various forms of container employed in kingly burials, with frequent reference to comparative material from the tombs of lesser members of the royal family and private individuals. The architectural arrangements made for the equipment are also commented upon and illustrated: In doing so, certain points of history and archaeology relating to royal burials are discussed in detail.

The arrangement of the section is chronological, individual chapters being devoted to each of the principal eras of ancient Egyptian history. That dealing with the New Kingdom is co-authored by Dr Otto Schaden and Mr Edwin Brock, the latter presenting some of the results of his researches in the Valley of the Kings.

The second part catalogues all known canopic items belonging to kings of Egypt, the earliest dating to the Fourth Dynasty, the latest to the Twenty-sixth. Full details of material, dimensions, provenance, present location and bibliography are given. Photographs or drawings are provided for all significant pieces. Hand copies of all hieroglyphic texts are accompanied by translations prepared in collaboration with Dr Mark Collier and Dr Schaden.

A full concordance with museum and excavators' numbers is given, before concluding with a bibliography and indexes.