THE "CHRISTIANISATION" OF HERMANUBIS
Author(s): Danijela Stefanović
Source: Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte , 2013, Bd. 62, H. 4 (2013), pp. 506-514
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
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Historia
Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte
Revue d'Histoire Ancienne

Journal of Ancient History Historia Band 62 · Heft 4 · 2013

Rivista di Storia Antica © Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart

THE "CHRISTIANISATION" OF HERMANUBIS

Abstract: One of the most traditional religions that Christianity confronted in Late A
the Ancient Egyptian. Christianity had reached Egypt as early as the first century an
oped considerably by the IV century. The new religion brought a new ideology and it
by the local population, and the inhabitants of the Hellenistic and the Roman worlds
different levels. This paper is dealing with the possible 'christianisation' of the cult of H
(the dog-headed mediator between the two worlds and the escort of the souls in the aGraeco-Egyptian deity that was perhaps one of the ancestors of the dog-headed Saint C
who had been worshiped especially within the Orthodox Church.

By incorporating Greek and Roman culture, and therewith religion, the world

Egypt underwent significant, but temporary, reshaping during the Hellenisti

man period.1 Further changes came with Christianity, which was there to sta

religion reached Egypt as early as the first century and had developed consid

the IV century.2 A period from the conversion of Constantine, in 312, to the

Theodosius II, in 450, witnessed the "end of paganism". The suppression ofcults in the temples under Theodosius I in 391 put an end to the official form

religions. However, the 'ancient' gods did not disappear from the popular
the closing of their temples and shrines.3
Anubis and Hermanubis - Ancestors

In ancient Egyptian religion, Anubis was the god of embalming.4 He was usually por
trayed therianthropically with the bewigged head of the jackal on the male body of aΗ. Willems - W. Clarysse (eds.), Les Empereurs du Nil, Leuven 2000, 123-137.
See, generally, B.A. Pearson - J.E. Goehring (eds.), The Roots of Egyptian Christianity, Philadelphia 1986; Ε. Wipszycka, La christianisation de l'Egypte aux IV4-VI' siecles: Aspects sociaux etethniques, Aegyptus 68, 1988, 117-165; C.W. Griggs, Early Egyptian Christianity from its Origins
to 451 C.E., Leiden 1990.
L. Käkosy, Survivals of Ancient Egyptian Gods in Coptic and Islamic Egypt, in: W. Godlewski (ed.),

Coptic Studies, Varsovie 1990, 175-177; T. Kaizer, In Search of Oriental Cults. Methodological
Problems Concerning 'The Particular' and 'The General' in Near Eastern Religion in the Hellenistic

and Roman Period, Historia 55/1, 2006, 26-47.
On Anubis see: J. Leclant, in: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae 1/1, Zürich-München
1989, s. v. Anubis, 862-873; B. Altenmüller, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie I, Wiesbaden 1975, s. v. An

ubis, 327-333; T. DuQuesne, Anubis Master of Secrets, Discussions in Egyptology 36, 1996, 35-38.

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The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis 507

god in human form. In his zoomorphic form, the god closely resemble
god-jackal watched over the body of the deceased during the embalmin

performed the rituals over the mummy, battled with the enemies of Osir

vigil and assisted in the ceremony of 'the opening of the mouth'. He protceased in the Netherworld and guarded the burial place. Anubis was entru

weighing of the heart of the deceased on the scales of the goddess Maat. In
in the Book of the Dead as well as in the tombs, he is often depicted perf

role. From the end of the New Kingdom on, Anubis was also associated wi

In the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Anubis continued to act as the mtween the two worlds, embalmer, and the escort of souls to the afterlife.

only deity that remained with its original form until the end of the Ptol

As a god belonging to the Isis' inner circle, as a chthonic deity, he was als
nected with Sarapis.7

The role of psychopompos led to his 'assimilation' with Hermes / Mercur

Hermes with animal head was not of appeal to Greeks, and Lucian wri
about that cynocephalous god (De Sacrificiis, 14). The fusion of the twfurther expressed in the form of the name Anubis-Hermes / Hermes-Anu
well attested on epigraphic monuments.8

The 'next step' in a process of assimilation of the two deities came withof Hermanubis. The divine name Hermanubis has been recorded in a

inscription from the Serapeum on Delos (ID 2156.2s), which would be, mosits earliest attestation.9

The nature of Hermanubis was a point of interest for the ancient writerconsidered him a semi-Greek - semi-barbarian deity, whose nature has be

J. Vandier, Le papyrus Jumilhac, Paris 1961,32: L. Käkosy, Probleme des Synkretism

römischen Ägypten: Hermanubis, in: Referate der VI. Koptologischen Arbeitskon

April 1988, Halle 1990, 143-144.
See: Leclant, in: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae 1/1, 862-873; A
Lexikon der Ägyptologie I, 327-33.

On the iconography of Anubis in the Hellenistic and Roman period, see J.C. Grenandrin et remain, Leiden 1977; I. Kaplan, Grabmalerei und Grabreliefs der Römerz

71-80; Grenier, in: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae 1/1, 862-873.

Grenier, Anubis alexandrin et romain, does. 61-63; J. Grenier, in: Lexicon Iconogr

logiae Classicae, Zürich-München 1989-, V/1, s.v. Hermanubis, 265.

Grenier, Anubis alexandrin et romain, doc. 64, 175-177; Käkosy, in: Referategischen Arbeitskonferenz, 144; Grenier, in: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae

D. Stefanovic, Anubis or Hermanubis: The deity on a Gnostic Gem from the Colland Roman Antiquities in the National Museum in Belgrade, Göttinger Miszellen

Id., The Iconography of Hermanubis, in: H. Györy (ed.), Aegyptus et Pannonia II

anno 2004. In Memoriam Ldszlo Kdkosy, Budapest 2006, 271-276; A. Benaissa,

Evidence for the God Hermanubis, in: T. Gagos (ed.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Fift

Congress of Papyrology 2007, Ann Arbor 2010, 67-76.

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508 Danijela Stefano vie

by Hermes (De imaginibus, fr. 8).10 In Her

aspect of Anubis (De hide et Osiride, 61). T
widespread Graeco-Roman representationsof the Greek Hermes, such as the kerykeio

especially in Roman Alexandria, there eme

well attested in coins (depictions of this ty

Trajan to the Tetrarchic period) and sculpt

thropomorphic young god holding the sam

The Christianisation of Hermanubis ?

The Roman Hermanubis was perhaps one of the ancestors of the dog-headed Saint
Christopher11 - a cynocephalus saint, which was, similarly to Anubis / Hermanubis, apowerful ferryman for the travelers. From the end of the V - beginning of the VI century his cult is attested in Bithynia12 as well as in the monasteries of Mount Sinai. At
the St. Catherine monastery on Mt. Sinai, under Justinian's reign, an icon portraying

Christopher, a dog-headed saint, has appeared.13 His worship spread at a very early
period throughout Egypt, Syria and Palestine. Furthermore, in the Hermeneia14 of theBook of Mount Athos, which tradition dates to the late Byzantine period, Christopher

is described as "one of the cynocephaloi".I5

See also Κ. A.D Smelik - E.A. Hemelrijk, Who knows not what monsters demented Egypt worships?

Opinions on Egyptian animal worship in Antiquity as part of the ancient conception of Egypt, in:
H. Temporini und Wolfgang Haase (hg.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II, Principat,

17/4 Religion, Berlin-New York 1984, 1852-2000, 2337-2357 (Indices).
P. Saintyves, Saint Christophe: Successeur d'Anubis, d'Hermes et d'Heracles, Paris 1936; Ε. N.
Maksimow, Obarz Khristophora kinokephala, in: Drevnij Vostok Sbornik 1. Κ semidesjatpjatiletiju
akademika M. A. Korostovtseva, Moscow 1975, 76-89.
In 452, a church was dedicated to St. Christopher in Bithynia, and he was mentioned in a late IV
inscription from Cilicia (H. Gregoire, Inscriptions historiques byzantines, Byzantion 4,1927,461-465;

S. Hill, Matronianuis, Comes Isauriae: An Inscription from an Early Byzantine Basilica at Yanikhan,

Rough Cilicia, Anatolian Studies 35, 1985, 96). A basilica of St. Christopher in Arcadia bas been
dated to the V or VI century (A. Avramea, La geographie du culte de saint Christophe en Grece ä

l'epoque meso-hyzantine et l'eveche de Lacedemone au debut du Xe siecle, in: H. Ahrweiler [ed.],Geographia Byzantina, Paris 1981, 33).
J. Kreuser, Der christliche Kirchenbau. Seine Geschichte, Symbolik, Bildnerei I, Regensburg 1860,
141-150.

The Hermeneia is a term used for the detailed, systematic exposition of a scriptural work.

Z. Ameisenowa, Animal-Headed Gods, Evangelists, Saints and Righteous Men, Journal of th

Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 12, 1949,42. For Romans, and Greeks before them, dog-headpeoples had been the inhabitants of borderlands, especially India and Africa (see J. J. Cohen, Mster Culture. Seven Theses, in: J. J. Cohen (ed.), Monster Theory, Minneapolis 1996, 6; R. Lenob

Esquisse d'une idee de nature, Paris 1969, 1). Strabo (Geography 11.5.3), Pomonius Mela {Dechorographia 1.109 ), and Pliny (HN 6.19; M. Benabou, Monstres et hybrides chez Lucrece et PlinThis content downloaded from
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The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis 509

In the "Acts of Saint Bartholomew", a Gnostic document originatin

Egypt, there is a note about Christianus, a cynocephalus and anthropop

been converted by Saint Bartholomew.16 Accordingly, his name wa
Christopher.17 According to the Greek (BHG 309-11) and Latin (Bcounts, Christopher, i. e. St. Christopher, was captured in war, forced

Roman army and then, as a soldier, martyred for his faith at Antioch i

The Latin account of St. Christopher suffered tremendous evolution fdate. According to medieval tradition, a heathen king (in Canaan or

the prayers of his wife to the Blessed Virgin, had a son, whom he called

Adokimus, or Reprebus). Offerus, acquiring in time extraordinary size

resolved to serve only the strongest and the bravest. He bound himsel

a mighty king and to Satan, but he found both lacking in courage, th

the name of the devil, and the latter frightened by the sight of a cro
For a time his search for a new master was in vain, but at last he fou

told him to offer his allegiance to Christ, instructed him in the Chris

baptized him. Christopher, as he was now called, would not promise toor praying, but willingly accepted the task of carrying people, for Go

raging stream. One night he was carrying a child who continually gre

l'Ancien, in: L. Poliakov (ed.), Hommes et betes, entretiens sur le racisme, Pari

the 'stories' of the monstrous populations to illustrate manners and customs thati. e. not civilized. Even Alexander the Great, as pictured in the Romances, meamong them and dog-headed people (Pseudo-Alexander Epistola ad Aristotelem
L. Gunderson [ed.], Alexander's Letter to Aristotle about India, Meisenheim am

148-9). The association of cynocephali with the unknown has survived in a new, C(see R. Wittkower, Marvels of the East. A Study in the History of Monsters, Jourand Courtauld Institutes 5, 1942, 159-197). The dog-headed races were the sub

Christian theologians from St Augustine onwards. The stories about the martytholomew and Thomas in India were in many ways a standard 'topic' of medie

Friedman, The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought, Cambridge, MA
Liber monstrorum de diversis generibus (Ά Book of Monsters of Various Kind

'The Wonders of the East' include vivid illustrations that act as imaginative rend

about India and its people. Furthermore, Ratramus of Corbie's IX century Epis

reports the apparent capacity of the dog-headed people 'to make laws, practice ag

the privates is evidence that they are the sons of Adam and rational beings w

capable of salvation' (Patrologia Latina 121: 1153-56.). It is also worth of menti

Cantipratensis corroborated the existence of Cynocephali in his Liber de Mon
Orientis (Book of Monstrous men of the Orient, xiv).

The St. Christopher corpus has been studied by Saintyves, "Saint Christophe"; Amof the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 12, 1949, 21-45; J.B. Friedman, The

Medieval Art and Thought, Cambridge, MA - London, 1981, 70-75; D. White,
Men, Chicago 1991.

Ameisenowa, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 12, 1949, 42-45

The modern works ignore these early accounts in favour of the medieval tal
Dictionary of Saints, Oxford 1992, 97-98; Encyclopaedia of the Early Church
165; H. Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints, Dublin 1998, 101-116.

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510

it

Danijela

seemed

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the

to

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grown
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85-92.

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occurred during the final year of the reig
Friedman, The Monstrous Races, 74; Ameis

12,

1949,43^14.

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The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis 511

original Greek term "dog-headed" (kynokephalos), and some seemas "dog-like" (canineus). This was amended to read "Canaani

J. Schwartz points out that when the author of the original acc

of St. Christopher describes his origin from the land of cannib

ples, he was merely signifying that he came from the edge of t

inhabitants of the Roman empire saw it, as well as the Greeks aand the Marmaritae did indeed live in such a peripheral region.2

For the name Christopher, the same in Greek and Latin, mean

there is no evidence to support its usage as a first-name during

it was recorded in the earliest Greek passions, Christopher only

baptism, before which he had been known as Reprobus. The
ports a similar tale.

J. Metford states that the artistic representations of St. Christhe dog-headed creature in the Orthodox iconographic tradition26

the saint's admitting to have been a Canaanite before his baptism

neus ("Canaanite") was confused for canineus ("dog-like" oralso notes that this iconographic type of St. Christopher might asymbolism of the "dog," including its worldwide role as psycho

In his article on the "Anubis and the Lunar Disc" R. Ritner28 i
sentations of Anubis found beneath the feet of mummies of the

depictions Anubis elevates the lunar Osiris, newly reborn, into

the deceased, by his own identification with Osiris. According t
we are dealing here with the symbol of resurrection.

D. B. Millard notes that there are very close parallels between
the legend of St. Christopher (carrying the Christ on his should

He states that the young Moon becomes full, as the child becom

up by Anubis in one case and by St. Christopher in the other

D. Woods, St. Christopher, Bishop Peter of Attalia, and the Cohors Mar
tianae 48, 1994, 170-186.

J. Schwartz, A propos de l'iconographie Orientale de s. Christophe, Le M

The iconography of St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child in thethe fourteenth century, probably because of Western influence. It rem

popular depictions of the saint as a warrior and to the dog-headed images

tradition. See: G. Benker, Christopherus: Patron der Schiffer, Fuhrleute uVerehrung, Symbol, Munich 1975, 46; D. Mouriki, The Wall Paintings ofat Moutoullas, Cyprus, in: I. Hutter - H. Hunger (hg.), Byzanz und derdes europäischen Mittelalters, Wien 1984,171-213; V. Newall, The Dog-

Bulgarian Iconography, Macedonian Studies IV/1,1987,45. For fourteent

Christ-carrying St. Christopher in the East see: I. M. Djordjevic, Saint C

murale medievale serbe, Zograf 11,1980, figs. 1-2 and Lj. Stosic, Kult sv
na Baikanu, Patrimonium MK 7/8, 2010, 393-403.

J. C. J. Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, London 1983

R. K. Ritner, Anubis and the Lunar Disc, Journal of Egyptian Archaeo

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512 Danijela StefanoviC(Osiris) and the child (Christ) are both th

Pharaonic ideas of Anubis were incorpor

Although Millard's thesis is intriguin

ally possible that such a clear pagan ic

cism of the early Eastern Church. On th

iconography has absolutely nothing to d

god Anubis.30 Furthermore, it was sugg

see Recklinghausen's disease.31

Depictions of the dog-headed Christophsphere of Byzantine influence. In 1965
dog-headed St. Christopher, from Gre
served that the number was no doubt to increase. His list of attestations demonstrates

that the iconographic model in question was not such a rare phenomenon, but rather
formed part of the official imagery of the Orthodox Church, which was preserved in
the Greek Church until the XVIII century.34 For Loeschcke there are no proofs of theD. Β. Millard, St Christopher and the Lunar Disc of Anubis, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 73,
1987, 237-238.
D. Woods, The Origin of the Cult of St. Christopher, http://www.ucc.ie/milmart/chrsorig.html (consulted on 2012-07-29)
Newall, Macedonian Studies IV/1, 1987, 49.

For Bulgarian examples see: Newall, Macedonian Studies IV/1, 1987.
To the above mentioned list should be added examples from the Serbian churches collected by Lj.
Stosic, Lik Psoglavog Svetog Hristofora u umetnosti balkanskih naroda, in: Neohelensko nasledje

kod Srba I, Beograd 2005, 285-286.
W. Loeschcke, Neue Studien zur Darstellung des Tierköpflgen Christophoros, Beiträge zur Kunst
des christliches Ostens 3: Erste Studien-Sammlung, Recklinghausen 1965, 37; Newall, Macedoni
an Studies IV/1, 1987, 49. However, St. Christopher is not the only dog-headed saint in Christian

iconography. A late icon in the Coptic Museum in Cairo with two dog-headed figures (No. 3375),
called Ahrakas and Oghani may depict the cynocephalus servants of Saint Mercurius. Two cyno
cephali devoured the grandfather of St. Mercurius, and were preparing to eat his father when anangel appeared and surrounded them with a ring of fire. They repented and became companionsof the father, and later accompanied Mercurius into battle. The figure of the; soldier Mercurius was
especially popular in the Greek East and, like Christopher, he was said to have suffered martyrdom
during the reign of Decius. One of his wondrous feats was to kill the emperor Julian posthumously(!), more than a century after his own death. For the Coptic legend of Saint Mercurius and his dog

headed bodyguards, which survives in an Arabic translation, see R. Basset, Le Synaxaire arabejacobite (redaction copte): les mois de Hatour et de Kihak, Patrologia Orientalis 3, 1909, 337-338;
A. Piankoff, Deux Saints ä la tete du chien, Bulletin de la Societe'd'Archäologie Copte 12, 1947,57-61; Id., Saint Mercure, Abou Seifein et les Cynocephales, Bulletin de Ια Societe' d'Archeologie
Copte 8,1942,17-24; O. F. A. Meinardus, Über den armenischen Ursprung d er Kynokephaloi-Ikone

im Koptischen Museum zu Alt-Kairo, Journal of Coptic Studies 2, 1992, 91-98. There is also St.
Andrew of Cynocephali, in Kokar Kilise in Cappadocia, Turkey.

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The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis 513

existence of the dog-headed saint before the XV century, but he alsmust derive from late antiquity.35

V. Newall, speaking of possible origins of the figure in questi
Christianized version of Anubis is too speculative. The time lag iis difficult to supply evidence for such lengthy continuity. The ico

are also different and she mentions, inter alia, that the animal headfers in form from that of Anubis, as it lacks the latter's characterist

However, there are clear traces of Egyptian influence on Christia

We find on gems the figure of Hermanubis associated with the nam

Michael or Gabriel.38 Both Hermanubis and Michael had the functiopus, which prompted their fusion in the time of religious syncretismof the netherworld with the face of a dog, in the vision of Sisinnius,
a demonic form of Anubis.39

The terminus ante quem proposed by Loeschcke is not convincing

must bear in mind the Iconoclastic period (VIII century) when so ma
and icons were destroyed. On the other hand there is proof of theheaded saint even before the VIII century. On a terracotta icon f
century, Vinicko Kale / The Former Yugoslav Republic of Maced
Museum of Skopje, inv. n. 354-VI) St. Christopher and Saint Geo

in full size, dressed in short tunic, with a round mantle thrown ov
mantle is buttoned with a decorated fibula. St. Christopher holds a

hand, stabbing a snake with a man-like head, and in his left hand hgramma cross. The cross is so modeled that it is placed in the middl

is depicted in the same attitude, holds in his left hand a spear, stab

man-like head, and in the right hand he holds a big shield, placed u
the shield there is a flower or a star.40

The appearance of St. Christopher on the icon from Vinica, withshows clearly his Egyptian ancestry and his relationship to Her

Hermanubis' kerykeion and a palm leaf41 (and it is important to no

W. Loeschcke, Sanctus Christopherus Canineus, in: Edwin Redslob zum 7
1955, 9.
Newall, Macedonian Studies IV/1, 1987, 49.
See: L. Langener, Isis lactans - Maria lactans. Untersuchungen zur koptischen Ikonographie, Altenberge 1996.
C. Bonner, Studies in Magical Amulets Chiefly Graeco-Egyptian, Ann Arbor 1950, 31-38.
Ε. Amelineau, Monuments pour servir ä l'histoire de l'Iigypte chretienne, Annales du Musee Guimet

17, 1889, 180. Cf. L. Käkosy, Survivals of Ancient Egypt, in: Studio in Honorem L. Foti, Budapest
1989,272. For Anubis in the Old Coptic Papyrus Schmidt see: H. Satzinger, The Old Coptic Schmidt

Papyrus, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 12, 1975,40, line 16.

K. Balbanov - C. Krstevski, Terracota Icons from Vinica, Skopje 1991, 28; N. Proeva, Inscriptions
sur les plaques de terre cuite de Vinicko Kale en Macedoine, in: Tranquillitas: Melanges en I'honneurde Tran tarn Tinh, Quebec 1994, 500-501.
Stefanovic, Göttinger Miszellen 200, 2004, 87-92; Ead., in: Aegyptus et Pannonia III, 271-276.

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514

Danijelathe

StefanoviC

legend,

into

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University of Belgrade
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