Introduction
Imsety is one of the Four Sons of Horus, a group of funerary deities charged with protecting the internal organs removed and preserved separately during mummification.
Family
- Father: Horus (son of Isis)
- Siblings: Duamutef, Hapy (son of Horus), Qebehsenuef
Guardian of the Liver
Imsety, depicted with a human head, protects the liver specifically and is himself protected by the goddess Isis. The Four Sons of Horus — Imsety, Hapy, Duamutef, and Qebehsenuef — appear together on the lids of canopic jars and in funerary texts throughout Egyptian history, their protective roles considered essential to the deceased's successful passage into the afterlife.
Ancient Egyptian religion spanned three millennia and many regional cult centers, so parentage, roles and even gender pairings for a given deity often differ between the Heliopolitan, Hermopolitan, Memphite and Theban theological systems; the account above follows the most widely attested classical version.