Imsety

imsety.jpg Imsety (whose name is also rendered Amset in many books) is one of the four children of Horus. Originally he may have been female, as indicated not only by the colour of his skin in many depictions and by his name, but also by the fact that some scenes from the Late Period depict him as a goddess.

The other children of Horus can be shown either with an animal head (a falcon for Qebehsenuf, a baboon for Hapy and a jackal for Duamutef) or with a human head, but Imsety always has a human head.

All children of Horus had the task to protect the internal organs of the deceased, which were removed from the body during mummification and were stored in four so-called canopic jars. Imsety protected the liver, and spells inform us that he himself was protected during this task by the goddess Isis.

 

 

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