Canopic Jar with a Lead in the Form of a Baboons Head Article - 1

Canopic Jar with a Lead in the Form of a Baboons Head - Article Example The Baboon at the top of the canopic jar is linked with Nephthys who was a goddess that guided and protected Isis, her sister to bring together the different parts of Osiris’s body after he was killed and thrown into the Nile. A vital component of the mummy was a mask that resembled a headdress that was positioned over the crown of the frame that wrapped in linen. The mask had characteristically young-looking physical characteristics that were not supposed to demonstrate similarity to the departed but exhibit a perfect appearance of their presence in the life after death. This particular example possesses many typical features that are characteristic of these masks and it was made using cartonnage that is a material which is light in weight which is formed by coating layers of linen with plaster. The deific position of the person wearing it is symbolized by the skin which is gold-plated and the extension was used as a symbolism of the deific position of the person wearing it. The mask has a decorated collar with a gold-plated and winged scarab beetle on the head that was believed to promote the rebirth of the departed. The mask is believed to have been created between 332 and 30 BC and apart from linen and plaster that was used to make the mask, papyrus, pigment, and gold were also used. The dimensions of the mask are fourteen inches by ten and a half inches and the iconography of this mask is characteristically pharaonic where the wings and the sun disc that symbolize the scarab beetle that is linked to the rising and setting of the sun and therefore rebirth (Budge 185).