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Canopus
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Canopus, ancient Egyptian city canopic jars
At a Glance
Al-Jizah. Giza Necropolis, Giza Plateau, Cairo, Egypt. Side view of Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background. The sides of all three of the Giza pyramids are astronomically oriented to be north-south, east-west (see notes)
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Temple ruins of columns and statures at Karnak, Egypt (Egyptian architecture; Egyptian archaelogy; Egyptian history)
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Tomb of Mohammed Bin Ali, Salalah, Oman.
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Greek:
Kanopos
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temple
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Canopus, ancient Egyptian city
Canopus, ancient Egyptian city

Canopus

ancient city, Egypt
Also known as: Canobus, Kanopos, PeGewat
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Canopus, ancient Egyptian city on the western coast of the Nile River delta, in Al-Iskandariyyah muḥāfaẓah (governorate). The Canopic branch of the Nile is entirely silted up, but on the shore about 2 miles (3 km) from Abū Qīr there are extensive remains, including the temple of the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis. Canopus was a center of the ointment industry and a pleasure resort for the people of Alexandria.

canopic jars
canopic jarsSet of canopic jars with the heads of (top) a human, (left) a baboon, (right) a falcon, and (bottom) a jackal.

Osiris was worshipped at Canopus under the form of a human-headed vessel. The name canopic jars was therefore mistakenly applied by archaeologists to the jars with human and animal heads in which the viscera were placed by the ancient Egyptians after mummification.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Laura Etheredge.
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