Comparative Guts

Comparative
Guts

Search
Close this search box.
Menu

Category: Ancient Mediterranean

Illustrations of the uterus

Illustrations of the uterus from Muscio’s epitome of Soranus’ Gynecology Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS 3714, fol. 28r; c. 900 CECC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – These illustrations of various positions of the fetus in the womb accompany Muscio’s Late Antique Latin summary of Soranus’ 2nd century Greek work on gynecology. The 9th/10th century manuscript pictured […]

Terracotta anatomical votive; spiral coil ending in trefoil

Terracotta anatomical votive; spiral coil ending in trefoil. Tivoli/Lazio, 3rdC BC-1stC BC © The Trustees of the British Museum Museum Number 1899,0720.13 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 – This terracotta votive nicely combines the clean volumetric rotundity of the belly with the coiled shape of the imagined innards (intestines? the uterus? the spiral image as an abstract […]

Terracotta anatomical votive

Terracotta anatomical votive 3rdC BC-1stC BC © The Trustees of the British Museum, Museum Number 1839,0214.51CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 – This image represents an inner part; some of the features, such as the ribs and wrinkles and the central globe, point to a womb as an ‘empty sack’, a container ready to receive the embryo; on […]

Apollo the Python-Slayer or Cleveland Apollo

Apollo the Python-Slayer or Cleveland Apollo Hellenistic (?) Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Number 1839,0214.51 – The celebrated Cleveland Apollo is one of the most famous works attributed to the fourth-century Attic sculptor Praxiteles. Many later marble copies survive, but this bronze classical piece came to public attention only in 2004 when […]

Grotesque figurine

Grotesque terracotta figurine 3rd century BCE–3rd century CE (?) © 2023, Benaki Museum, Athens. Benaki Museum inv. No 12793 – This Hellenistic terracotta, part of the Benaki Museum collection in Athens, depicts with hyper-realistic traits an old, and/or ‘disabled’ man with a protruding pot belly, achieving a grotesque effect and signalling a pathology while offering […]

Canopic Jar Representing the Deity Qebehsenuef

Kanopengefäß mit der Darstellung der Gottheit Qebehsenuef Vor grauem Hintergrund ist ein schlankes vasenähnliches Gefäß aus hellem Kalkstein mit Verschluss abgebildet. Auf seiner Vorderseite ist es mit Hieroglyphen in schwarz beschriftet. Das schmale Foto im Hochformat zeigt eine Kanope aus Ägypten. Sie ist im Zeitraum zwischen 818 und 525 vor Christus datiert. Als Kanopen, Kanopenkrüge oder auch Kanopenvasen werden in der Ägyptologie die Gefäße bezeichnet, in denen bei der Mumifizierung die Eingeweide separat vom Leichnam beigesetzt werden. Die auf dem Foto abgebildete Kanope misst 30,5 Zentimeter in der Höhe und hat einen Durchmesser von 12,8 Zentimetern. Das Gefäß verbreitert sich leicht von unten nach oben und bildet dort eine Rundung, ähnlich der Rundungen bei Schultervasen. In seiner Öffnung steckt ein steinener Falkenkopf wie ein Korken. Der Vogelkopf hat eine nahezu rechteckige Form, der kurze gekrümmte Schnabel zwischen den hervortretenden Augen ist schwarz gefasst. Der Falke steht für die Gottheit Qebehsenuef. Er war einer der vier Horus-Söhne und Kanopengötter, die di mumifizierten Eingeweide beschützen. Als seine Eltern galten der Gott Horus der Ältere und die Göttin Isis. Die Hieroglyphen verlaufen in einer senkrechten Linie von der Öffnung bis zum Fuß vorn am Gefäßkörper herab. Unter den Schriftzeichen finden sich einige, die an Zeichnungen von Tieren erinnern, wie ein ägyptischer Geier oder ein Entenküken. Weiteres Zeichen stellen zwei Schilfstängel nebeneinander und einen Türriegel dar. Die Oberfläche der Kanope ist mit schmalen Rillen und Kratzern überzogen, die als Spuren der Bearbeitung oder des Gebrauchs gedeutet werden können. — — Canopic Vessel Depicting the Deity Qebehsenuef A slender vase-like vessel made of light-coloured limestone with a stopper is depicted against a grey-coloured background. On its front, it is inscribed with hieroglyphics in black. The narrow photo in portrait format shows a canope from Egypt. It is dated between 818 and 525 BC. In Egyptology, canopic jars or canopic vases are the vessels in which the entrails are buried separately from the corpse during mummification. The canopic jar shown in the photo measures 30.5 centimetres in height and has a diameter of 12.8 centimetres. The vessel widens slightly from the bottom to the top, where it forms a curve similar to the curves of shoulder vases. A stone falcon's head is stuck in its opening like a cork. The bird's head has an almost rectangular shape, and the short, curved beak between the protruding eyes is set in black. The falcon represents the deity Qebehsenuef. He was one of the four sons of Horus and canopic gods protecting the mummified entrails. His parents were considered to be the god Horus the Elder and the goddess Isis. The hieroglyphs run down the body of the vessel in a vertical line from the opening to the foot at the front. Among the characters are some that resemble drawings of animals, such as an Egyptian vulture or a duckling. Other characters represent two reed stalks side by side and a door latch. The surface of the canopic is covered with narrow grooves and scratches, which can be interpreted as traces of workmanship or use.

Canopic Jar Representing the Deity Qebehsenuef Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art – During mummification, the internal organs (excluding the heart, which was generally left in place) were taken out of the body and placed in special containers known in Egyptology as canopic jars. Traditionally, the four canopic jars were connected to four mythological figures known […]

Wall scene from tomb of King Ramesses III

Wall scene from tomb of King Ramesses III (KV11) Photo: Matjaz Kacicnik, Theban Mapping Project – The fragmentary wall decoration of this chamber depicts butchery and cooking activities connected to the funeral or mortuary cult of the tomb’s royal owner. On the right wall a man is seen butchering a bound ox, while the back […]

Hieroglyph from the obelisk of Thutmose III

Hieroglyph from the obelisk of Thutmose III at the Constantinople Hippodrome Wikimedia Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) – The hieroglyphic sign F46 depicts coiled intestines, abstracted to the point of forming a regular, oblong spiralling shape. As with other internal organs used in Egyptian iconography, the intestines depicted are almost certainly those of an animal, […]