Canopic Jar: Anterior and Posterior Views

The image presents two side-by-side black-and-white illustrations of a canopic jar, rendered in a simple line-art style. On the left, labeled 'Pars anterior', the jar features a front-facing mummiform deity wearing a nemes headdress, flanked by two simple symbols. On the right, labeled 'Pars posterior', the jar displays a rectangular panel containing vertically arranged pseudo-hieroglyphic signs, including a bird-like glyph at the bottom, suggesting a funerary inscription. Both jars are set upon circular pedestals with a wide mouth and small handles at the shoulders.

This plate is taken from Athanasius Kircher's 'Oedipus Aegyptiacus' (1652–1654), a monumental work attempting to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs through the lens of Hermeticism and comparative theology. It reflects the 17th-century European fascination with Egypt as the source of all 'prisca theologia' or ancient, hidden wisdom.