I figure if you are a tourist in Egypt, you'd come across souvenirs in the form of cute jars. These jars probably are copies of canopic jars. Canopic jars are used by ancient Egyptians from the period of the Old Kingdom onwards to store viscerals for the after life. These viscera were removed during the mummification process and each organ, the heart, stomach, lungs and intestines were kept in four separate jars. The canopic jars were placed inside a canopic chest and buried in tombs since it was believed the dead person would need their organs for the afterlife. Burial jars are commonly used in many ancient cultures, I suppose. In Philipines, a burial jar known as The Manunggul Jar which was found in the Manunggul caves in Palawan is considered a national treasure and in Iran, a burial jar of an eight-year-old Parthian gir who was buried 2200 years ago along with 18 objects including, agate jewelry, beads and earthenware was found in Nakhl-e Ebrahim village. These days, some Chinese who opt for cremation after death would have their ashes and bones collected and kept in little jars in temples but as far as I could remember, I have not heard of people being buried in burial jars anymore. In Malaysia, the local newspaper just reported that ancient human skeletal remains together with porcelain plates with Classical Chinese characters in several large traditional Chinese jars had been dug out near Kampung Tengah in Bukit Rambai, Malacca. The jars were believed to date back to 1702. I suppose Chinese had settled in this part of the world since time immemorial, long before many other people and longer than what some people want to believe or led to believe...
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