Gods of Ancient Egypt: Anubis Gods of Ancient Egypt: Anubis Anubis is one of the most iconic gods of ancient Egypt. Anubis is the Greek version of his name, the ancient Egyptians knew him as Anpu (or Inpu). Anubis was an extremely ancient deity whose name appears in the oldest mastabas of the Old Kingdom and the Pyramid Texts as a guardian and protector of the dead. He was originally a god of the underworld, but became associated specifically with the embalming process and funeral rites. His name is from the same root as the word for a royal child, "inpu". However, it is also closely related to the word "inp" which means "to decay", and one versions of his name (Inp or Anp) more closely resembles that word. As a result it is possible that his name changed slightly once he was adopted as the son of the King, Osiris . He was known as "Imy-ut" ("He Who is In the Place of Embalming"), "nub-tA-djser" ("lord of the scared land"). He was initially related to the Ogdoad of Hermopolis, as the god of the underworld.

In the Pyramid Texts of Unas , Anubis is associated with the Eye of Horus who acted as a guide to the dead and helped them find Osiris. In other myths Anubis and Wepwawet (Upuaut) led the deceased to the halls of Ma´at where they would be judged. Anubis watched over the whole process and ensured that the weighing of the heart was conducted correctly. He then led the innocent on to a heavenly existence and abandoned the guilty to Ammit . The ancient Egyptians believed that the preservation of the body and the use of sweet-smelling herbs and plants would help the deceased because Anubis would sniff the mummy and only let the pure move on to paradise. According to early myths, Anubis took on and defeated the nine bows (the collective name for the traditional enemies of Egypt) gaining a further epithet "Jackal ruler of the bows". The growing power of the Ennead of Heliopolis resulted in the merging of the two religious systems. However, Osiris was the King of the Underworld in the Ennead and he was more popular (and powerful) than Anubis. So Anubis was relegated to a god of mummification.

To save face it was stated that Anubis had voluntarily given up his position when Osiris died as a mark of respect. Some myths even stated that Anubis was the son of Osiris and Nephthys (who was herself associated with the funeral rites). Anubis was still closely involved in the weighing of the heart, but was more a guardian than a ruler. He became the patron of lost souls, including orphans, and the patron of the funeral rites. In this respect he overlapped with (and eventually absorbed) the Jackal God Wepwawet of Upper Egypt . During the Ptolemaic Period Anubis became associated with the Greek god Hermes as the composite god Hermanubis. Hermes was messenger of the gods, while Anubis was principally guide of the dead. Hermanubis was some times given attributes of Harpokrates. He was worshipped in Rome until the second century and was popular with Rennaisance alchemists and philosophers. Priests wore Anubis masks during mummification. However, it is not clear whether the Anubis mask was a later development influenced by the Osirian myth or whether this practice was commonplace in the earlier periods too.

Anubis was also closely associated with the imiut fetish used during the embalming ritual. Anubis was credited with a high level of anatomical knowledge as a result of embalming, and so he was the patron of anaesthesiology and his priests were apparently skilled herbal healers. Tombs in the Valley of the Kings were often sealed with an image of Anubis subduing the "nine bows" (enemies of Egypt) as "Jackal Ruler of the Bows" and it was thought that the god would protect the burial physically and spiritually. One of his epithets, "tpy-djuf" ("he who is on his mountain") refers to him guarding the necropolis and keeping watch from the hill above the Theban necropolis. He was also given the epithet "khentyamentiu" ("foremost of the westerners" i.e. the dead) because he guarded the entrance to the Underworld. He was originally thought to be the son of Ra and Hesat , Ra's wife (who was identified with Hathor ), but later myths held that he was the child of Osiris and Nephthys, or Set and Nephthys.

He was sometimes described as the son of Bast because of her link to the perfumed oils used in embalming. His wife, Anput (his female aspect) was only really referred to in association with the seventeenth nome of Upper Egypt. It is thought that they were the parents of Kebechet , the goddess of the purification. Dogs and jackals often patrolled the edges of the desert, near the cemeteries where the dead were buried, and it is thought that the first tombs were constructed to protect the dead from them. Anubis was usually thought of as a jackal (sAb), but may equally have been a wild dog (iwiw) He was usually depicted as a man with the head of a jackal and alert ears, often wearing a red ribbon, and wielding a flail. He was sometimes depicted as a jackal (such as in the beautiful examples from the tomb of Tutankhamun ) but only rarely appears as a man (one example is in the cenotaph temple of Rameses II at Abydos). His fur was generally black (not the brown associated with real jackals) because black was associated with fertility, and was closely linked to rebirth in the afterlife.

In the catacombs of Alexandria he was depicted wearing Roman dress and the sun disk flanked by two cobras. Anubis was worshipped throughout Egypt, but the center of his cult was in Hardai (Cynopolis) in the the seventeenth nome of Upper Egypt. To the east of Saqqara there was a place known as Anubeion, where a shrine and a cemetery of mummified dogs and jackals was discovered. He was also worshipped at cult centers in Abt (the the eighth nome of Upper Egypt) and Saut (Asyut, in the thirteenth nome of Upper Egypt). copyright J Hill 2010 jackal | The Ancient Egypt The Ancient Egypt Egyptian God Anubis (also known as Anpu, Inpu, Ienpw, Imeut ) was originally the God of the Dead before Osiris took over his position. Anubis is often referred to as the son of Nephthys and Set or Osiris. Representation of God Anubis Anubis was represented as a black jackal or dog, or as a man with a head of a jackal or a dog. He is depicted this way to represent his position as the God of the Dead.

He is seldom shown as fully-human but he is depicted in the Temple of Abydos of Rameses II as so. On the other hand, there is a statue of Anubis as a full jackal in the tomb of Tutanhkamun. Ancient Egypt: the Mythology - Anubis Anubis Symbols: jackal, ox-hide hanging from a pole, embalming equipment, flail, flags Cult Center: Heliopolis , Cynopolis The jackal-god of mummification, he assisted in the rites by which a dead man was admitted to the underworld. Anubis was worshipped as the inventor of embalming and who embalmed the dead Osiris and thereby helping to preserve him that he might live again. Anubis is portrayed as a man with the head of a jackal holding the divine sceptre carried by kings and gods; as simply a black jackal or as a dog accompanying Isis . His symbol was a black and white ox-hide splattered with blood and hanging from a pole. It's meaning is unknown. Anubis had three important functions. He supervised the embalming of bodies.

He received the mummy into the tomb and performed the Opening of the Mouth ceremony and then conducted the soul in the Field of Celestial Offerings. Most importantly though, Anubis monitored the Scales of Truth to protect the dead from deception and eternal death. Early in Egyptian history, Anubis was a god of the dead. This role was usurped by Osiris as he rose in popularity. The god of embalming is probably associated with the jackal due to the habits of jackals to lurk about tombs and graves. One of the reasons the early Egyptians sought to make their tombs more elaborate was to keep the bodies safe from the jackals lingering about the graves. It is only natural therefore that a god of mummification would be connected with them. By worshipping Anubis, the Egyptians hoped to invoke him to protect their deceased from jackals, and later, the natural decay that unprotected bodies endure. Anubis was the son of Nephthys , and his father was Osiris. One myth says that Nephthys got Osiris drunk and the resultant seduction brought forth Anubis. Yet another says she disguised herself as Isis and seduced Osiris and subsequently gave birth to Anubis.

Digg This! Anubis Anubis Anubis. Anubis is the Greek name of a god of Egyptian mythology whose name Inpou Anepou or "he who has the head of a jackal (or a wild dog)" in the hieroglyphic language. Associated with the funeral cult and the protection of the deceased, he is represented as a black canid (jackal or wild dog) or elongated like a man-headed canine. He accompanied the dead in the other world and protected their graves. Jackals and wild dogs roamed the desolate stretches where the cemeteries and necropolises were located. These marauders likely did not hesitate to dig up the corpses for food. So as to gain protection from these scavengers, the ancient Egyptians deified these animals and made offerings to them in order to gain their good graces. Anubis was the personification of these animals and during Pharaonic times was considered an important funerary deity.

He was often referred to by descriptive phrases such as Tï¿½py-djouf, "He who sits on the mountain"; Khenty-seh-Netjer, "President of the divine pavilion (which runs embalming) and Neb ta Djoser, "Lord of the Necropolis. From the Old Kingdom, Anubis presided over the ceremony of embalming and the opening of the eyes and mouth, thus repeating the miracle he had done for Osiris . From the Fifth Dynasty, Anubis was superseded by Osiris in this task and became the assistant. During embalming, the head priest-embalmers (the sï¿½shï¿½ta-Hery, "Higher Mysteries") wore a mask bearing the image of Anubis. On the walls of the first mastabas, one finds prayers for the survival of the body after death addressed to Anubis, and not yet Osiris. From the beginning of the Anubis cult, Anubis was both the guardian and guide of the deceased. Thus, one often finds at the entrance of the tombs two statues of Anubis, in the form of an elongated canine, facing each other.

These were meant to act as a barrier against the evil forces trying to disturb the eternal repose of the deceased. In pyramid texts, Anubis is the guide who led the deceased through the underworld to the hall of Maat , the divine court and ensured the smooth running of the weighing of the heart (the psychostasy). Also ruler of the dead, Anubis was quickly surpassed in this role by Osiris who gradually assimilated its most important powers and ended up making Anubis a second-place god. Anubis becomes the guardian of the gates of the kingdom of the dead and is sometimes depicted with a key in his hand,in his anthropomorphic form, or attached to a collar in his canine form. Anubis was the predominant funerary god and came to assimilate other related canine deities such as Wepwawet, Khentamentiou, and even the gods Ha, Amenti and Seker. The consort of Anubis is the goddess Anupet (Inpout or Anepout in Egyptian), canine goddess of funerals and the desert. His ancestry is unclear.

In some Egyptian myths, Anubis is said to be the fourth son of Ra, the son of Bastet or Hesat, illegitimate son of Osiris and Nephthys, or at a later age, that of Osiris and Isis. The most common tradition, narrated in the myth of Osiris, is that Anubis was in fact the result of illegitimate relations between Osiris and his sister Nephthys (wife of Seth). The latter, fearing the wrath of her husband, hid his offspring in the swamps. Although she knows her husband's infidelity, Isis (Osiris' wife) took the child, raised Anubis and made him one of her most faithful allies. After Seth had killed Osiris and scattered his remains, Anubis helped Isis and Nephthys to rebuild his body and presided over the first mummification. According to the papyrus Jumilhac (VI, 6-7), Anubis took its name from his mother Isis. We learn that his name "was pronounced with respect to wind, water and desert," which three words are the symbolic representations of the three hieroglyphs that make up the root name of Anubis.

Egypt: Anubis, God of Embalming and Guide and Friend of the Dead Contact Us About us Tour Egypt aims to offer the ultimate Egyptian adventure and intimate knowledge about the country. We offer this unique experience in two ways, the first one is by organizing a tour and coming to Egypt for a visit, whether alone or in a group, and living it firsthand. The second way to experience Egypt is from the comfort of your own home: online. Egypt: Anubis, God of Embalming and Guide and Friend of the Dead Anubis, God of Embalming and Guide and Friend of the Dead By Caroline Seawright Anubis (Inpew, Yinepu, Anpu) was an ancient Egyptian god of the underworld who guided and protected the spirits of the dead. He was known as the 'Lord of the Hallowed Land' - the necropolis - and Khenty Amentiu, 'Foremost of the Westerners' - the Land of the Dead was thought to be to the west, where the Egyptians buried their dead.

(Khenty Amentiu was the name of a previous canine deity who was superseded by Anubis.) The worship of Anubis was an ancient one - it was probably even older than the worship of Osiris . In the pyramid texts of Unas, his role was already very clear - he was associated with the Eye of Horus and he was already thought to be the guide of the dead in the afterlife, showing them the way to Osiris. In the text, it was written that "Unas standeth with the Spirits, get thee onwards, Anubis, into Amenti, onwards, onwards to Osiris." He was generally depicted as a black jackal-headed man, or as a black jackal. The Egyptians would have noticed the jackals prowling around the graveyards, and so the link between the animal and the dead was formed in their minds. (It has been noticed by Flinders Petrie that the best guides to Egyptian tombs are the jackal-trails.) Anubis was painted black to further link him with the deceased - a body that has been embalmed became a pitch black color. Black was also the color of fertility, and thus linked to death and rebirth in the afterlife.

Anubis was also seen as the deity of embalming, as well as a god of the dead. To the Egyptians, Anubis was the protector of embalming and guardian of both the mummy and the necropolis. Anubis was often identified by the word sab, 'jackal' rather than ' dog ' (iwiw). Though to the Egyptians there was not a great deal of difference between the two canines, so there is some confusion over which animal Anubis actually was. The animal is sometimes referred to as the 'Anubis animal' as it is unknown which exact species of canine that Anubis actually was based on. When the Osiris worship came to power, Osiris took over many of Anubis' jobs as caretaker and protector of the dead. As this happened, Anubis became 'He Who is Before the Divine Booth', the god of embalming who presided over the funerary rituals. The funerary stm priests would wear a mask of the jackal god during the mummification process, symbolically becoming the god for the rituals.

The preliminary stages of mummification involved the opening - the violation - of the body, an action that only Anubis himself would have been allowed to perform. The priest who took on this role was called the 'Overseer of the Mysteries' (hery seshta). It was thought that he would be magically become the funerary god himself and so be able to legitimately cut open the corpse for the mummification process. He is sometimes called the son of Nephthys and Set or of Nephthys and Osiris. In one train of thought, it was believed that Isis raised him, as Set might murder his wife's illegitimate son, and so he grew up a friend and follower of Osiris. He was thought to have a daughter known as Kebechet (Kabechet, Kebehut), who was depicted as a snake or ostrich carrying water. She was the goddess of freshness and purification through water who washed the entrails of the deceased and brought the sacred water to Anubis for his tasks. She was thought to give water to the spirits of the dead while they waited for the mummification process to be complete.

She was probably related to mummification where she would fortify the body against corruption, so it would stay fresh for reanimation by the deceased's ka . It was believed that Anubis was the one who invented the process of mummification. Anubis helped Isis bring her husband back to life again after Set had killed him. He embalmed the body of the god, swathed it in the linen cloths that had been woven by the twin goddesses, Isis and Nephthys , making sure that the body would never decay or rot. The wakening of the dead was also thought to be a function of Anubis. He would appear by the mummy, and awaken the soul . The mummy was removed from the sarcophagus when it arrived at the door of the tomb and was placed upright against the wall by a priest wearing the mask of Anubis, thought to have become the god himself. The ' Opening of the Mouth ' ceremony was then performed. It consisted of a number of rituals that would turn the mummy (or a statue of the dead) into an inhabitable vessel for the deceased's ka . The ceremonies involved purification, sensing and anointing of the mummy along with incantations.

The mummy was touched by ritual objects on various body parts to restore the senses - the spirit would then be able to see, hear, speak and eat as a living being. Some of the tools for this ritual have been found in predynastic Amratian graves, so it is probable that at least some of the rituals involved in the 'Opening of the Mouth' had evolved from this early time. After the deceased had been placed into the tomb and sealed up, it was thought that Anubis would lead the deceased to the afterlife, along with another god, Wepwawet (Upuaut). The two are very similar, though Wepwawet was also another ancient jackal or wolf god, appearing on the Narmer palette. He was not just a god of the dead, but he was a warrior god who opened the way to victory for the pharaoh. The 'Opener of the Ways' helped Anubis to guide the dead to the Halls of Ma'ati . It was here that Anubis, as 'He Who Counts the Hearts', watched over of the weighing of the heart and the judging of the deceased.

Here it was his duty to see that the beam of the scales was in its proper place, and that the weighing was done correctly. He would then pass judgment on the deceased and Thoth would record the pronouncement. Anubis would protect the innocent from the jaws of Ammut , but would give the guilty to her to meet the final death. According to E.A. Wallis Budge in The Gods of the Egyptians Anubis shared the duty of guiding the dead through the afterlife with another jackal-headed god ... "Opener of the Ways"). These two gods both "opened the ways", although Anubis was the opener of the roads of the North and Wapwawet the opener of the roads to the South. Budge goes on to say that Anubis was the personification of the summer solstice, and Wapwawet of the winter solstice. A strange fetish, known as the imiut fetish, was linked to Anubis. It was a headless stuffed skin (usually of a great feline), tied by its tail to a pole which was planted in a pot.

Known as the 'Son of the hesat-Cow' (the cow that produced the Mnevis bull was linked to the cow goddess Hesat), another title of Anubis, they is evidence of this fetish as early as the 1st Dynasty. They were linked to the funerary cult, depicted in the Chapel of Anubis at Hatshepsut's mortuary temple and actual golden fetishes being left in the tomb of Tutankhamen. These emblems of Anubis were placed at the western ends of the corridors, one on each side of the outermost shrine at Tutankhamen's tomb. The pots were made of Egyptian 'alabaster' and the poles represented the water lily water lily (lotus) stem and bud while the tip of the skin's tail had a papyrus flower attached and the pole and fetish itself were gilded. Other fetishes have been found made of real animal skin that have been wrapped in bandages. In early times there was a god, Imiut, who was known as 'He Who is in His Wrappings' who became a form of Anubis.

The fetish was probably linked with mummy wrappings though it also appears to have been related to the royal jubilee festival. Anubis the Dweller in the Mummy Chamber, Governor of the Divine House ... saith:- Homage to thee, thou happy one, lord! Thou seest the Utchat. Ptah-Seker hath bound thee up. Anubis hath exalted thee. Shu hath raised thee up, O Beautiful Face, thou governor of eternity. Thou hast thine eye, O scribe Nebseni, lord of fealty, and it is beautiful. Thy right eye is like the Sektet Boat, thy left eye is like the Atet Boat. Thine eyebrows are fair to see in the presence of the Company of the Gods. Thy brow is under the protection of Anubis, and thy head and face, O beautiful one, are before the holy Hawk. Thy fingers have been stablished by thy scribe's craft in the presence of the Lord of Khemenu, Thoth, who hath bestowed upon thee the knowledge of the speech of the holy books.

Thy beard is beautiful in the sight of Ptah-Seker, and thou, O scribe Nebseni, thou lord of fealty, art beautiful before the Great Company of the Gods. The Great God looketh upon thee, and he leadeth thee along the path of happiness. Sepulchral meals are bestowed upon thee, and he overthroweth for thee thine enemies, setting them under thy feet in the presence of the Great Company of the Gods who dwell in the House of the Great Aged One which is in Anu. -- The Speech of Anubis from the Papyrus of Nu and the Papyrus of Nebseni To the east of Ankh-Tawy (Saqqara) there was a place known as Anubeion, one of Anubis' cult centers. The burials of mummified dogs and jackals took place there. Although he was worshiped all over Egypt, he had other cult centers at Abt, the 12th Nome, Zawty (Asyut) and the city of Hardai (Cynopolis) in the 17th Nome where a vast number of dog mummies were buried at dog cemeteries.

As protector of the necropolis, Anubis was known as 'He Who is Upon the Mountain'. The Egyptians believed that the god would keep watch over the tombs and graves from a high vantage point in the desert, ready to rush down to protect the deceased from desecration. Images of Anubis as a seated jackal above nine prisoners were stamped on many of the seals to tombs in the Valley of the Kings. They symbolize Anubis' protection against thieves and evil doers who entered the necropolis. He protected not only the souls of the dead, but their eternal resting place, too. General Travel Egyptian God-Anubis The jackal headed God Cult Center: Thinis, Lycopolis, quickly spreading throughout Egypt. Attributes: Guardian of the Necropolis (cemetery). He was the guide of the dead as they made their way through the darkness of the underworld. As a patron of magic, it was believed he could foresee a persons destiny, in this role he was the announcer of death. Anubis was the patron of embalming. He was also the keeper of poisons and medicines.

He provided unguents and rare herbs to help Isis and Nephthys with the embalming of Osiris. Anubis then performed the funeral of Osiris, which would be the model for all funerals to come. As he received the mummy into the tomb, he performed the 'Opening of the Mouth' ceremony. In the "Hall of Maat", Anubis appears on behalf of the diseased. It was Anubis who saw that the beam of the great scale was in the proper position as he supervises the weighing of the heart of a deceased person against the feather of Maat. The god of knowledge, Thoth , records the results. It is also Anubis that protects the dead from Ammut , the 'Devourer'. Representation: A man with the head of a jackal. A dog or a jackal. Relations: Son of Nephthys and Osiris , some believe him to be the son of Seth . Later adopted by Isis . Egyptian god of the dead, represented as a black jackal or dog, or as a man with the head of a dog or jackal. His parents were usually given as Re in combination with either Nephthys or Isis.

After the early period of the Old Kingdom, he was superseded by Osiris as god of the dead, being relegated to a supporting role as a god of the funeral cult and of the care of the dead. The black colour represented the colour of human corpses after they had undergone the embalming process. In the Book of the Dead, he was depicted as presiding over the weighing of the heart of the deceased in the Hall of the Two Truths. In his role as psychopomp he was referred to as the "conductor of souls". The Greeks later identified him with their god Hermes, resulting in the composite deity Hermanubis. His principal sanctuary was at the necropolis in Memphis and in other cities. Anubis was also known as Khenty- Imentiu - "chief of the westerners" - a reference to the Egyptian belief that the realm of the dead lay to the west in association with the setting sun, and to their custom of building cemeteries on the west bank of the Nile. The next god is Aten.

Anubis (Egyptian deity) - Credo Reference Topic Page: Anubis (Egyptian deity) Definition: Anubis from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide In Egyptian mythology, the jackal-headed god of the dead, son of Osiris. Anubis presided over the funeral cult, including the weighing of the heart and embalming, and led the dead to judgement. Summary Article: ANUBIS from Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology Image from: The Libation of the Dead, detail from the interior of the sarcophagus of Amenemipet, a priest of the cult of Amenophis (Amenhotep) I, depicting Anubis and the goddess Maat pouring water over the head of the pharaoh, Thebes (painted plaster on wood) in The Bridgeman History of Science In ancient Egypt the jackal-headed god Anubis was originally the most important deity linked to funerals and death. Over time, however, this role was taken over by the god Osiris, and Anubis became associated with preserving dead bodies and guiding the dead in the underworld.

In the sacred texts of the ancient Egyptians, both the cow goddess Hesat, who was the deity of childbirth, and the cat goddess Bastet, goddess of music, were named as the mother of Anubis. Later it was said that Anubis was the son of Nepthys, the wife of Seth, the evil god of storms and chaos. In this account of the god's origins, Anubis's father was either the sun god Re or the vegetation god Osiris, although Seth was also suggested as a possible father. When Anubis was born, Nepthys hid him in marshes on the banks of the Nile River to save the infant from Seth. Isis, the mother goddess and sister of Nepthys, discovered Anubis and, in this version of events, raised him. However, records from the first millennium BCE refer to Anubis as the son of Sekhmet and Osiris. Sekhmet was a lion goddess who, according to one myth, was sent by the supreme god to destroy all life on earth. She was mostly a destructive deity who could bring plague and violence, but she could also be persuaded to cure sickness.

Usually Sekhmet was identified as the alter ego of either Hathor, goddess of love, or Bastet. Yet whatever his origins, Anubis belonged to the second generation of gods who came after the creator and the four primeval deities: Tefnut, goddess of moisture; Shu, god of air; and their children—Geb, the earth god, and Nut, the sky goddess. A statue of Anubis, created around 1340 BCE. Anubis is one of the most familiar of all ancient Egyptian deities. Anubis's changing role Some scholars believe that Anubis was originally Egypt's most important deity associated with burials, because of prayers addressed to him in the Old Kingdom (c. 2575–c. 2130 BCE). The Pyramid Texts, the oldest surviving body of Egyptian religious and funerary writings, which date back to the Old Kingdom, describe Anubis as the judge of the dead. However, by the end of the Middle Kingdom (c. 1938–c. 1630 BCE), Osiris had replaced Anubis as chief god of the cult of the dead.

From then on, Anubis's main role was to assist in the preservation of the body. According to the myth of the resurrection of Osiris, after the god's death and dismemberment at the hands of Seth, the goddess Isis, who was Osiris's wife and sister, set out to restore his body. Anubis aided Isis in her task, and he embalmed Osiris's body when it was reassembled. By the time of the New Kingdom (c. 1540-c. 1075 BCE), Anubis had become a familiar figure in coffin paintings, where he was shown bending over the bodies of the dead. In addition to his role in preserving the dead, Anubis helped judge the dead, and he led honest souls to Osiris's throne. Representations of Anubis Anubis is usually depicted with the body of a man and the head of a jackal. Sometimes he is portrayed entirely as a jackal wearing a band of cloth around his neck and sometimes holding a royal scepter. Although the oldest mentions of Anubis call him a jackal, some scholars think that the original animal might have been a wild dog.

Many centuries later the Romans thought he was a dog and referred to "barking Anubis." However, neither jackals nor Egyptian wild dogs are black, which is the color of the jackal parts of Anubis in all representations. During the second and first millennia BCE, jackals and wild dogs would have been a common sight in Egypt, scavenging around the edges of settlements and disturbing burials and even dismembered corpses—especially in the days before mummification. Egyptologists are unclear as to exactly why the scavenger animals were used to represent the god of mummification and the guardian of the necropolis (large, sacred burial grounds). Mummification The preservation of the body was extremely important in ancient Egyptian religion. Although it was believed that a human being had more than one soul—some of the ancient Egyptian texts list up to five souls—their survival in the afterlife was linked to two factors: the continued existence of the body and the remembrance of the name. The body was the primary vessel that contained the soul, although a statue or other image could be used as a substitute. Moreover, Egyptians believed that the body must continue to exist with all its important parts intact or it would not function.

Scholars think that this belief led to the development of a process of mummification in which organs that were believed to be vital were removed from the body, dried, and then put back into the corpse. For the ancient Egyptians the most important organs were the heart, which they believed controlled emotion, memory, and thought; and the lungs, liver, intestines, and stomach. Organs that the modern world recognizes as vital, such as the spleen, kidneys, pancreas, and brain, were not recognized by the Egyptian priests as essential to the deceased in the afterlife. Egyptian Coffins The earliest coffins found in ancient Egyptian sites were square, and the unmummified body was placed inside in a curled-up position. Later coffins were rectangular and the body was wrapped in linen. The expensive ones were decorated with texts of magical spells and occasionally with paintings, usually showing the tomb owner receiving offerings. Only a few mummies and coffins from early ancient Egypt have survived. There is, however, a mummy of a woman whose fingers and toes were wrapped individually, and pieces of fabric were sewn to the front of the mummy to make it look as if she were wearing a sleeveless gown.

By the 17th century BCE, coffins were shaped roughly like a wrapped body, with a face painted on the head end of the coffin. They were lavishly decorated with scenes of gods as well as magical spells. Anubis appears often in these paintings, either in scenes of the weighing of the heart or in paintings that depict the body being mummified. The only pictures that exist of the mummification process come from coffins. From these, it is known that a priest wearing an Anubis mask performed certain rituals in the mummification process and burial. In one painting, priests in ordinary clothing are guiding another priest who wears an Anubis mask. The jackal-head mask housed today in the Museum of Hildesheim, Germany, suggests why this guidance was necessary. The mask, which is made of wood, goes completely over the wearer's head, and the face of the jackal is above the head of the person wearing it. The eyeholes, instead of being at the eyes, are in the neck of the mask, where they would be hidden by the shadow of the muzzle. Over the centuries refinements improved the mummification process.

For example, from about the 18th century BCE onward, special jars, called canopic jars, were made to hold the preserved lungs, liver, intestines, and stomach of the deceased. The lids of the jars were occasionally made to resemble the dead person whose organs were to be put inside, as in the case of canopic jars from the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamen (c. 1370-1352 BCE). However, it was more common to make the lids in the likenesses of the four sons of Horus, the falcon-headed sky god. They were Hapi, Imsety, Qebehsenef, and Duamutef. Hapi, not to be confused with the Nile god of the same name, is depicted as a baboon-headed deity who was in charge of the lungs. Imsety is represented as having a human face and was protector of the liver. Qebehsenef, shown with the head of a falcon or hawk, guarded the intestines. The fourth son, Duamutef, was god of the stomach and, like Anubis, was jackal-headed.

Another Anubis-like deity Anubis was often confused with other canine or jackal-headed gods and divinities. For example, the god Wepwawet, whose name means "Opener of the Ways," is depicted almost identically to the jackal-headed Anubis. The only difference is that Wepwawet is shown with a gray or white head, a feature that led some people to describe Wepwawet, incorrectly, as a wolf. This misidentification began with the Romans, who called the city in which Wepwawet's cult center was based Lycopolis, or "City of the Wolf." The Egyptian Book of the Dead (c. 16th century BCE)—a collection of spells and prayers used by ancient Egyptians as a guidebook for the souls of the dead on their travels through the underworld—describes Wepwawet as a protective deity who led the souls of the deceased to the underworld. The close resemblance between the two gods led over time to the personalities merging, and their many titles may have been interchangeable.

These included "First among the Westerners" (westerners was another term for the dead), "Lord of the Necropolis," and "Lord of Abydos." Abydos was one of the most ancient settlements in the Nile Valley. See also: ANIMAL-HEADED FIGURES; BOOK OF THE DEAD; DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE; EGYPT; GEB; HORUS; ISIS; NUT; OSIRIS; RE; SETH. Further reading Chamberlain, Andrew T., and Michael Parker Pearson. Earthly Remains: The History and Science of Preserved Human Bodies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Faulkner, Raymond, trans. The Egyptian Book of the Dead. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2000. Spence, Lewis. Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends. New York: Dover Publications, 1991. Citation The Abydos Triad, Osiris, Isis and Horus, and Seth Osiris wearing the atef crown Source: Egypt by Irmgard Woldering Osiris, god of the dead and the Duat [ 1 ], was one of the most important deities in ancient Egypt.

A fertility god in the Pre-Dynastic Period, he had by about 2400 BCE become also a funerary god and the personification of dead pharaohs. With his sister-consort Isis and their son Horus, he formed the great triad of Abydos (Abdu, about 520 km south of Cairo). He was credited with teaching the skills of agriculture to the Egyptians. The Osiris myth The only complete account of the Osiris myth occurs in Plutarch's Of Isis and Osiris, Egyptian text fragments support much of his version. Osiris was the son of the earth-god Geb and the sky-goddess Nut . Thou art the eldest son of the womb of Nut. Thou wast begotten by Keb (Geb), the Erpat. From the Hymn to Osiris Un-Nefer Translated by E.A.Wallis Budge In the temple of Denderah he is given his full royal titulary and personal details like size and ancestry: Osiris who has appeared as king on the throne of his father. Horus, strong of arm.

Hu as general of Upper Egypt, Sia as general of Lower Egypt After Jean Yoyotte, Une notice biographique du roi Osiris, BIFAO 77 (1977), p.145 According to another tradition mentioned by Diodorus Siculus Osiris was the founder of Thebes, rather than just being born there.[ 6 ] When he was twenty-eight Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth, according to one tradition because he had had an affair with Seth's wife Nephthys, but Isis recovered the fourteen scattered parts of his body, reassembled them, restored him to life and was impregnated by him. However, Osiris did not return to rule this world, but remained in the underworld as king, the Khentamenti (First of the Westerners, i.e. the dead–originally an epithet of Anubis ), while his posthumous son Horus became king of the living. His sister [Isis] hath protected him, and hath repulsed the fiends, and turned aside calamities (of evil). She uttered the spell with the magical power of her mouth. Her tongue was perfect, and it never halted at a word.

Beneficent in command and word was Isis, the woman of magical spells, the advocate of her brother. She sought him untiringly, she wandered round and round about this earth in sorrow, and she alighted not without finding him. She made light with her feathers, she created air with her wings, and she uttered the death wail for her brother. She raised up the inactive members of whose heart was still, she drew from him his essence, she made an heir, she reared the child in loneliness, and the place where he was not known, and he grew in strength and stature, and his hand was mighty in the House of Keb. The Company of the Gods rejoiced, rejoiced, at the coming of Horus, the son of Osiris, whose heart was firm, the triumphant, the son of Isis, the heir of Osiris. From the Book of the Dead Translated by E.A.Wallis Budge Osiris, whose death had been unlawful, was "justified", i.e. was declared free of wrongdoing, and regained life. He came to represent the resurrection into eternal life that Egyptians sought by having their corpses embalmed and swathed like that of their beneficent god.

Iconography Osiris is depicted mummified in green stone statues, but in pictures the color of his skin suggests that he was a black god. His body is customarily wrapped in white funeral cloths. In his hands he holds the crook and flail of kings and the scepter of the gods. The Ani Papyrus (ca.1250 BCE; at the British Museum) of the Book of the Dead shows a green Osiris enthroned, sitting in judgment over the dead, who recite before him their 42 negative confessions , asserting that they had lived blameless lives. Grant thou to me glory in heaven, and power upon earth, and truth-speaking in the Divine Underworld, and [the power to] sail down the river to Tetu in the form of a living Ba-soul, and [the power to] sail up the river to Abydos in the form of a Benu bird, and [the power to] pass in through and to pass out from, without obstruction, the doors of the lords of the Tuat.

From the Hymn to Osiris Un-Nefer Translated by E.A.Wallis Budge Associations with other divinities Possibly the first god Osiris became identified with was Anedjti , a ruler deity and fertility god from Busiris, whose insignia, the crook and the flail, he adopted. Like other gods, Osiris was at times equated with Re, or, as in the following passage from the Book of the Dead, with his fertilizing phallus: It is Osiris. Others, however, say that his name is Ra, and that the god who dwelleth in Amentet is the phallus of Ra, wherewith he had union with himself. From the Book of the Dead Translated by E.A.Wallis Budge Self-fertilisation, a recurring motif in creation myths based on a single god bringing forth the rest of the creation, is also attributed to Amen . The Greeks identified Osiris with Dionysos, and other gods as well: Osiris is considered at times to be one with Serapis, at times with Dionysos, with Pluto, with Ammon, occasionally with Zeus, often with Pan.

Some claim Serapis to be the same as the one called Pluto by the Greeks. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, Vol.1 chapter 25 The black bull god Kemwer (Kemur) of Athribis was variously identified with Osiris and Khenti-kheti .[ 7 ] Osiris came to be considered the father of Anubis taking over that god's role as lord of the underworld. The association of the hare, Egyptian wn, with Osiris-Wennefre, who also carries the epithet of Wen (wn), is based on a misunderstanding of 19th century Egyptologists. There is no apparent ancient Egyptian connection between this animal and the god. Isis Isis was the mother goddess of fertility and nature. Her worship was combined with that of her brother and husband, Osiris, and her son Horus. After the murder of Osiris she rescued his body Isis Source: Jon Bodsworth This is the land ------ the burial of Osiris in the House of Sokar. ------ Isis and Nephthys without delay, for Osiris had drowned in his water. Isis [and Nephthys] looked out, [beheld him and attended to him].

Horus speaks to Isis and Nephthys: "Hurry, grasp him ---." Isis and Nephthys speak to Osiris: "We come, we take you ---." ------ [They heeded in time] and brought him to [land. He entered the hidden portals in the glory of the lords of eternity]. -------. [Thus Osiris came into] the earth at the royal fortress, to the north of [the land to which he had come. And his son Horus arose as king of Upper Egypt, arose as king of Lower Egypt, in the embrace of his father Osiris and of the gods in front of him and behind him.] From the Shabaka Stone [ 3 ] Sometimes she is depicted wearing on her head the horns of a cow, encircling either a lunar or solar disk, which were generally attributes of Hathor . Her worship originated in Egypt, and by Hellenistic times she had assimilated the attributes of the major Greek divinities Demeter and Aphrodite. By the period of the Roman Empire, she had become the most prominent deity of the Mediterranean basin, as her temple at Pompeii attests.

Isis Source: Jon Bodsworth Isis who had saved her son Horus from death was the great healer of mankind: The Egyptians report of Isis that she was the inventor of many remedies and very knowledgeable in medicine. Therefore her greatest joy, even now after she had become immortal, was still to make people well, and to those who implored her she explained remedies in their dream, clearly revealing her presence to every petitioner needing help. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, Vol.1 chapter 25 The Isis cult focused on the celebration of the mysteries associated with the death and resurrection of Osiris. In The Golden Ass (ca.155 AD), Lucius Apuleius, an African priest of Isis, left an excellent account of her appearance and mystery cult; in a dream or during initiation, Apuleius saw Queen Isis rise with the moon from the sea. In this text she has many titles, including Queen of Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld, and Mother of Wheat. During the early centuries CE the cult of Isis vied with the newly founded Christian religion for dominance. Despite persecutions of her followers, the Isis cult continued well into the 6th century.

Horus Source: Jon Bodsworth In Egyptian mythology Horus was the god of light. He personified the life-giving power of the sun, which was one of his eyes, the other being the moon, the wadjet . Horus was usually represented as a falcon-headed man wearing a sun disk as a crown. Horus was the child of Osiris and Isis and the brother of Seth. He avenged his father's murder by killing Seth or, alternatively, in his struggle against Seth for the succession of Osiris he was judged by the gods to be in the right and was declared ruler of Egypt.

In the Shabaka Stone version the two were finally reconciled: Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "I have appointed Horus, the firstborn." Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "Him alone, Horus, the inheritance." Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "To his heir, Horus, my inheritance." Geb's words to the Nine Neteru: "To the son of my son, Horus, the Jackal of Upper Egypt --- Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "The firstborn, Horus, the Opener-of-the-ways." Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "The son who was born --- Horus, on the Birthday of the Opener-of-the-ways." Then Horus stood over the land. He is the uniter of this land, proclaimed in the great name: Ta-tenen, South-of-his-Wall, Lord of Eternity. Then sprouted the two Great Magicians upon his head. He is Horus who arose as king of Upper and Lower Egypt, who united the Two Lands in the Nome of the Wall, the place in which the Two Lands were united.

Reed and papyrus were placed on the double door of the House of Ptah. That means Horus and Seth, pacified and united. They fraternized so as to cease quarrelling in whatever place they might be, being united in the House of Ptah, the "Balance of the Two Lands" in which Upper and Lower Egypt had been weighed. From the Shabaka Stone [ 3 ] The reigning kings of Egypt were believed to be incarnations of Horus. In a variant legend Horus was the son of Re (or Amen-Re). He was popular as Harpocrates ( MdC transliteration Hr-pA-Xrd, Horus the child) among the Greeks and the Romans, who worshipped him as the god of silence - represented in this context as a child with his finger held to his lips, and a god of fertility shown bearing a horn of plenty, or riding on a ram. According to Plutarch his birth was celebrated by offerings of lentils: they bring to him as an offering the first-fruits of growing lentils, and the days of his birth they celebrate after the spring equinox.

Plutarch, Moralia: Isis and Osiris, chapter 65 Other forms of Horus were Hor-sematawy (translit. Hrw-smA-tAwj, Uniter of the Two Lands, Greek Harsomtus), two gods of the morning sun: Harakhte (translit. Hrw-Axt.j, Horus of the Horizon) and Harmakhis (translit. Hrw-m-Axt, Horus in the Horizon), Horus of Edfu (translit. Hrw bxdt.j ), the tutelary Harendotes (translit. Hr-n-D-jt=f, Protector of his Father) who defeated Seth to become avenger of his father Osiris and heir to his patrimony, Harpare of the triad of Medamud (translit. Hr-pA-ra, Horus the Sun) who was the son of Montu , Harsiese (translit. Hr-aA-Ast, Horus son of Isis ). As Herwer (translit.

Hr-wr, Horus the Elder, Greek Haroeris) he either belonged to the generation of Osiris and Isis, was their child or was the son of Hathor by Re. At times he was identified with Shu . As Har-Sopdu he became Lord of the East. The connection of Horus with sight was a close one. There was the seeing Horus, Hormerty (Horus Khenty-irty; i.e. Horus of the two eyes), a warrior god defending the solar barque of Re against Apophis and represented by the ichneumon and Horus Khenty-en-irty who had no eyes, was represented by an eyeless shrew, lived in the Underworld where he tortured the evil dead as punishment. Horus the Elder was said to have a green, with which the Egyptians meant red (cf.

Red or Green Crown of Lower Egypt), eye which represented the sun, and a lesser white eye, the moon.[ 8 ] (Set, Setekh, Setesh, Seti, Sutekh, Setech, Sutech) Seth and a pharaoh New Kingdom This statue has been heavily restored and may reflect the notion the restorers had of Seth's looks rather than what the ancient Egyptians thought. Source: Jon Bodsworth The Egyptian god of chaos who embodied the principle of hostility - he was the adversary of the god Osiris - or of outright evil, even if his role was not altogether negative: Only he could withstand the stare of the Serpent of Chaos and only he had the weapons to which its flint scales were vulnerable. He was associated with foreign lands where Maat, the rule of justice, was unknown. During the second dynasty Seth became closely connected with Ash, the original god of the Upper Egyptian city of Ombos, whom he substituted as that city's chief deity. [ 4 ] For a while during the third millennium BCE, Seth replaced Horus as the guardian of the pharaohs.

As the story of Seth's murder of Osiris and his eighty year war against Horus gained currency, Horus was restored to his preeminence [ 2 ]. During that war Seth tore out the left eye of his adversary but lost a foreleg and his testicles. ...the combat which took place on the day when Horus fought with Seth, during which Seth threw filth in the face of Horus, and Horus crushed the genitals of Seth .... This storm was the raging of Ra at the thunder-cloud which [Seth] sent forth against the Right Eye of Ra (the Sun). Thoth removed the thunder-cloud from the Eye of Ra, and brought back the Eye living, healthy, sound, and with no defect in it to its owner. From the Papyrus of Ani A council of the gods declared Horus the victor, and made him ruler of the kingdoms of Lower and Upper Egypt.

Seth had to give back the eye of Horus and was killed according to one tradition, according to another he joined the sun god Re and became the voice of the thunder, according to a third he was reconciled with Horus Seth was the one of Nubet and his connection to royalty is, according to some interpreters, reflected in the so-called Golden Horus name of the pharaonic titulary , thought to mean rather "Horus over the one of Nubet", i.e. Seth.[ 5 ] The Book of the Dead refers to Seth as the "Lord of the northern sky", responsible for clouds and storms. Seth fighting Apophis Her-Uben B Papyrus, 21st dynasty Source: S. M. elSebaie, The Destiny of the World: A Study on the End of the Universe in the Light of Ancient Egyptian Texts, Toronto 2000, p.58 The souls of ordinary deceased Egyptians where sometimes seized by him, but Seth protected Re against the serpent Apophis on his nightly voyage through the underworld. Later he was - strangely - identified with this enemy of his.

Throughout history Seth's reputation grew steadily worse, until he became Seth, the abominable. In the Book of victory over Seth the god is expelled from Egypt. Magic is invoked against him, his effigy is burned, and he is delivered to the Devourer. Even his mother Nut is driven to repudiate her son: "Is there a mother who consumes her child? Is there a woman who draws her knife against him who emerged from her?" I have opened (my) mouth in order to eat, I have drawn (my) knife in order to commit slaughter against that wretched Seth and his following, (against him) who was not mild, who grasped in evil against the eldest of my body, of mild manners, who emerged with the royal serpent on his head from (my) body, who was crowned before he was born, (against him) who created evil against the body cleaver, who was hard hearted against the benefactor, who brought about unequalled crimes. The Book of the Victory over Seth Seth was usually depicted in human form with a head of indeterminate origin, said to resemble that of an aardvark with a curved snout, erect square-tipped ears and a long forked tail.

Sometimes he was represented in entirely animal form with a body similar to that of a greyhound. He was said to be the son either of Nut and Geb or of Nut and Ra, and the brother of Isis, Osiris and Nephthys. Nephthys was sometimes given as his consort, although he is more commonly associated with the foreign, Semitic goddesses Astarte and Anat. Despite his reputation, he had an important sanctuary at Ombus in Upper Egypt, his reputed birthplace, and had his cult was also prominent in the north-eastern region of the Nile delta. Animals sacred to Seth were the desert oryx, the crocodile, the boar, and the destructive hippopotamus. The pig was taboo in Seth's cult. The Hyksos introduced Baal into Egypt where he came to be identified with Seth; the Greeks equated Seth with Typhon. [1] Duat: Realm of the Dead, often translated as underworld, should not be confused with the dark Greek underworld where the dead existed as nameless shadows, though as the centuries passed by, this was a view also held in Egypt. The Duat was inhabited by the stars. These were followers of Osiris and contained the dead.

[3] The excerpts from the Shabaka Stone text were taken from The Shabaka Stone: Our Guide to the Memphite Theology, at [4] George Hart, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Routledge 2005, p.33 [5] Hart 2005, p.143 [6] Anne Burton, Diodorus Siculus, Brill, 1973, p.8 [7] Manfred Lurker, The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, Routledge, 2004, p.42 [8] Geraldine Pinch, Handbook of Egyptian mythology, ABC-CLIO, 2002, p.131 <a href="deitieslist.htm" target="_top">List of deities</a> [2] A satirical view of the dispute: The contendings of Horus and Seth A Hymn to Osiris and the Legend of the Origin of Horus The book of the victory over Seth The Abydos stela of Ramses IV The Shabaka Stone Ancient Egyptian bestiary: Jackals Ancient Egyptian bestiary:

 Jackals <a href="../ifwindow.htm" target="_blank">Search</a> Printout For best results save the whole webpage (pictures included) onto your hard disk, open the page with Word 97 or higher, edit if necessary and print.

Printing using the browser's print function is not recommended. Jackals Jackals Canis aureus, slender built relations of the dog , are opportunistic scavengers and night hunters of insects and small mammals, playing an important ecological part. One of their characteristics is their high pitched nocturnal howling. The Egyptian jackal, Canis aureus lupaster is according to new gentic research not a subspecies of C. aureus at all but rather a member of the wolf family.[ 1 ] Anubis , the god responsible for the preservation of the dead , is generally depicted with a jackal's or some other canine's head. He also supervises the weighing of the deceased's heart . Another instance of jackals populating the underworld is mentioned in the Book of Gates, where twelve jackal-headed deities guard the rectangular Sea of Life. Khentamenti, First of the Westerners–i.e. of the denizens of the realm of the setting sun, the deceased–was the jackal or perhaps dog-headed god of the necropolis of Abydos. During the late First Intermediate Period he came to be identified with Osiris , Lord of the West.

A Roman Period manual describes how a jackal ate part of the corpse of Osiris, but spat it out again: Wepwawet hid the Mutilated One (i.e. Osiris) in the crypt of his house (i.e. temple) When Horus became aware of it he hurried [in order to free the way] for his father Osiris. The accomplices of the Evil One (i.e. Seth) had hurried to him (i.e. Wepwawet), (as) he (i.e. a jackal) had licked the liquid of putrification of the venerable mummy (i.e. Osiris) Therefore it is a jackal which is over his figure, he had spat out that which he had swallowed before. The venerable shape was put together again and the efflux of the god kept safe, [after he (i.e. the jackal)] had mutilated the relic of his (i.e. Horus') father Osiris. F.

Feder (ed.), Mythological Manual for the Upper Egyptian nomes 7-16 After a transliteration and German translation on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae website: Altägyptisches Wörterbuch, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschafte => späte Ritualbücher => Tempelbibliotheken => Bibliothek des Sobektempels von Tebtynis => pFlorenz PSI inv. I 72 => Mythologisches Handbuch für die oberägyptischen Gaue 7-16 In New Kingdom tombs a brick decorated with a jackal was inserted in the eastern wall connected with the Horus son Duamutef (Each of the other three walls also had a symbol: to the west a djed pillar, a torch to the south and an ushebti to the north). Upuaut was another god in canine shape, thought to have been a jackal or a wolf . [1] accessed 26th November 2012

Question: Which Egyptian god of the dead and son of Osiris had the head of a Jackal?
Answer: ANUBIS