Anubis

Anubis, whose hieroglyphic name more closely translates as Anpu, Anupu, or Inepu, is the Greek name for the Ancient Egyptian god of death and dying, and sometimes god of the underworld. His name means “Royal Child” or “Young Dog.” There is some speculation that the name of Anubis may have been derived from an Egyptian word meaning “to putrefy.” Some of the titles of Anubis were “He Who is Set Upon His Mountain” (to guard the necropolis from the heights of the desert cliffs), “He Who Counts the Hearts,” “Guardian of the Veil,” “He Who is Before the Divine Booth” (of embalming), “Jackal Ruler of the Bows” (signifying his victory over the nine bows meant to be hostile forces of the Underworld), “He Who Belongs to the Mummy Wrappings,” and “Lord 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.)

His mother is Hesat or Bastet with an unknown father, or Nephthys, and his father is variously said to be Set, Ra or Ausare (Osiris). His daughter is Qeb-hwt, also known as Kebechet. In later times, Anubis was combined with the Greek god Hermes to form Hermanubis. As their functions were similar, they were combined by the Greeks into a single form. Hermanubis also appears in alchemical and hermetical literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The center of his cult was in Suten-ha/Sa-ka/Cynopolis.

He has the head of a jackal or some other kind of dog, and the jackal is his symbol. Very rarely is Anubis ever shown fully human. The reason for Anubis’s animal being canine is based on what the ancient Egyptians themselves observed of the creature – dogs and jackals often haunted the edges of the desert, especially near the cemeteries where the dead were buried. In fact, it is thought that the Egyptians began the practice of making elaborate graves and tombs to protect the dead from desecration by jackals. A statue of Anubis, jackal-form, was found in Tutankhamen’s tomb. When pet dogs died, they were mummified and buried in temples dedicated to Anubis.

In art, he is depicted as a man with a canine head and alert ears, often wearing a ribbon and wielding a whip.

Another symbol of Anubis was the imiut. This was a stuffed, headless animal skin, often a feline or bull, which was tied to a pole. Although its origin and purpose is unknown, the imiut dates as far back as to the 1st Dynasty (3100–2890 B.C.E.) Since it was connected to Anubis, it is sometimes called the “Anubis fetish.” One idea is that it symbolizes Anubis as an embalmer. There are depictions of the imiut on ancient Egyptian temples, and sometimes there were models of it included with the funerary equipment.

The Book of the Dead says, “Anubis, who is upon His hill, hath set thee in order, and He hath fastened for thee thy swathings, thy throat is the throat of Anubis and thy face is like that of Anubis.”

Roles in mythology

Anubis was originally the lord of the underworld, however following the rise of the cult of Osiris he becomes the gatekeeper. In the Horus story he stands down his position out of respect for Osiris in order to allow him to take over.

Anubis was the guardian of the dead, who protected the souls as they journeyed to the Underworld. Anubis was considered to be the patron of orphans and lost souls. Ancient Egyptian texts say that Anubis silently walked through the shadows of life and death and lurked in dark places. He was watchful by day as well as by night. He also weighed the heart of the dead against the feather symbol of Ma'at, the goddess of truth. One of the reasons that the ancient Egyptians took such care to preserve their dead with sweet-smelling herbs was that it was believed Anubis would check each person with his keen canine nose. Only if they smelled pure would he allow them to enter the Kingdom of the Dead.

A very ancient deity, Anubis reined over divination and the funerary arts. High priests often wore the Anubis mask to perform the ceremonial deeds of Anubis, the Embalmer. Anubis was always shown as a black jackal or dog, even though real jackals and dogs are typically brown. To the Egyptians black was the color of regeneration, death, and the night. It was also the color that the body turned during mummification.

Worship of Anubis is likely older even than that of Osiris. Prayers to Anubis have been found carved on the most ancient tombs in Egypt. The Unas text (line 70) associates him with the Eye of Horus. In the Book of the Dead, he embalms the body of Osiris, wraps it in linens made by Aset (Isis) and Nephthys, and protects the body by laying his bare hands on it.

The wife of Anubis is the goddess Anput, whose symbol is also a jackal. For many years Anput was thought to be just another name for Anubis — a strange idea when one considers that Egyptian names ending in t are usually feminine.

In Book xi of The Golden Ass by Apuleius, we find evidence that the worship of Anubis was maintained in Rome at least up to the 2nd century.

Anubis is worshiped by some Neopagans.

Other names

• Anpu
• Ienpw
• Khentamentiu
• Yinepu

Anubis in modern culture

• Anubis appears as 'Jaquel', co-running a funeral parlor in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.
• Anubis appears in an episode of the animated TV series Gargoyles.
• Anubis appears in the TV show Stargate: SG-1 as a hostile alien.
• Anubis is the focus of a series of erotic furry comic books produced by Radio Comix.
• Anubis is a primary character in Stephen King's made-for-TV adaptation of Lars von Trier's series Kingdom Hospital.
• Anubis appears in the Nintendo 64 game 'War Gods'.
• Anubis also appears in the PlayStation 2 games Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner (as an Orbital Frame) and Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (to direct and aid the hero in his quest).
• Anubismon is a Digimon in the Digimon Card Game based off of Anubis.
• Anubis is a character in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie. In that movie he had the Pyramid of Light one of the Millennium Items.
• Anubis is also the first name of the character, Anubis Kruger, who is the mentor of the current Power Rangers incarnation: "Power Rangers SPD." He is featured as a dog-like creature with a humanoid body.
• Anubis also appears in the computer adventure game "Broken Sword 3 – The Sleeping Dragon".

See also

• Egyptian mythology
• Imiut
• Xolotl

External link

• Some information in this article was taken from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism website at http://www.touregypt.net/ANUBIS.htm

Papio anubis is the scientific name for the savannah baboon. The name is taken from Anubis because the baboon is commonly thought of as dog-headed.