Canopus (Egypt)

Canopus , ancient city of N Egypt, 12 mi (19 km) E of Alexandria. Canopus, the pilot of Menelaus' ship, died there. In Hellenistic times Canopus was known as a pleasure city for the rich. Vases capped with the figure of a human head, called Canopic vases, were used to hold the viscera of embalmed bodies. The Decree of Canopus, issued there in 238 BC and found at Tanis, has been of value in studying the ancient Egyptian language. The modern village of Abu Qir is near the ancient ruins.

Canopus.
1. Alexandrian town in Ancient Egypt, celebrated for its canals and beauty.

2. Canopic bulbous ovoid Ancient Egyptian jar, usually of stone, to contain the internal organs of the dead after disembowelling during the mummification process, with the lid shaped like a head. The jar containing the liver had a humanoid head of Imsety, son of Horus, and it was this type that was widely copied for ornaments of the Neo-Classical period and Egyptian Revival style, though the ‘lids’ were usually fixed.

3. Part of the gardens of Hadrian's villa at Tivoli (Tibur), near Rome, laid out ad 134–8 around a Euripus (canal) lined with Egyptianizing statues and complete with sculptured crocodiles and an elephant, intended as a mnemonic of the Nilotic landscape and of Canopus itself.

Bibliography

J. Curl (2005);
Roullet (1972)