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Anubis, is the Greek name for the ancient god in Egyptian
mythology whose hieroglyphic is more accurately spelt
Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu, or Inpw).
Prayers to Anubis have been found carved on the most ancient
tombs in Egypt, indeed the Unas text (line 70) associates
him with the Eye of Horus.
Lord of the Dead
Originally, in the Ogdoad system,
he was god of the underworld, and his name is frequently thought
to have reflected this, meaning something like putrefaction.
He was said to have a wife, Anput, who was really just his
female aspect, her name being his with an additional feminine
suffix (the t), who was depicted exactly the same (though
feminine). His father was originally said to be Ra, as he
was the creator god, and thus his mother was said to be Hesat,
Ra's wife, who later was identified as
Hathor (who her identity was remarkably
similar to). As lord of the underworld, Anubis was identified
as the father of Kebechet, the
goddess of the purification of bodily organs due to be placed
in canopic jars, during mummification.
Dogs and jackals often loitered at 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. In consequence, Anubis was usually
thought of as a jackal, an association reinforced by certain
variations of his hieroglyph, which can be translated as young
dog. Thus, ancient Egyptian texts say that Anubis, like a
jackal, silently walked through the shadows of life and death
and lurked in dark places, watchful by day as well as by night.
In art, he was usually depicted as a man with the head of
a jackal, and alert ears, often wearing a ribbon, and wielding
a whip. On very rare occasions, Anubis was shown fully human,
or slightly more frequently as fully jackal. However, Anubis
was also depicted as black, rather than brown, the colour
of jackals, since black was the colour that the body turned
as a result of mummification.
As ruler over the dead, he was given titles such as He who
is set upon his mountain, in reference to his sitting atop
desert cliffs to guard multiple necropolis, and Chontamenti
(also spelt Khentimentiu, and Khentamenti), meaning Lord of
the Westerners, in reference to Egyptian belief that the entrance
to the underworld was towards the west, since that was the
direction in which the sun set. As ruler, he was also said
to have been victorious over the dark forces (described as
nine bows), which also, naturally, lurk in the underworld,
gaining him the title Jackal ruler of the bows.
As king of the underworld, he was also considered to be the
one who weighed the heart of the dead against the feather
of Maàt (the concept of truth), gaining him the title
He who counts the hearts. One of the reasons that the ancient
Egyptians took such care to preserve their dead with sweet-smelling
herbs was that it became 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.
Embalmer
Following the merging of the Ennead and Ogdoad
belief systems, as a result of the identification of Atum
with Ra, and their compatibility, Anubis
became considered a lesser god in the underworld, giving way
to the more popular Osiris. Indeed,
when the Legend of Osiris and Isis
emerged, it was said that when Osiris
had died, Anubis stood down from his position out of respect
for Osiris.
Since he had been more associated with beliefs about the
weighing of the heart, than had Osiris,
Anubis retained this aspect, and became considered more the
gatekeeper of the underworld, the Guardian of the veil (of
death). As such he was said to protect souls as they journeyed
there, and thus be the patron of lost souls (and consequently
orphans). Rather than god of death, he had become god of dying,
and consequently funeral arrangements. It was as the god of
dying that his identity merged with that of Wepwawet,
a similar jackal-headed god, associated with funerary practice,
who had been worshipped in Upper Egypt, whereas Anubis' cult
had centred in Lower Egypt.
As one of the most important funerary rites in Egypt involved
the process of embalming, so it was that Anubis became the
god of embalming, in the process gaining titles such as He
who belongs to the mummy wrappings, and He who is before the
divine [embalming] booth. High priests often wore the Anubis
mask to perform the ceremonial deeds of embalming. It also
became said, frequently in the
Book of the dead, that it had been Anubis who embalmed
the dead body of Osiris, with the
assistance of the other main funerary deities involved - Nepthys,
and Isis. Having become god of embalming,
Anubis became strongly associated with the (currently) mysterious
and ancient imiut fetish, present during funerary rites, and
Bast, who by this time was goddess
of ointment, initially became thought of as his mother.
However, as lesser of the two gods of the underworld, he
gradually became considered the son of Osiris,
but Osiris' wife, Isis,
was not considered his mother, since she too inappropriately
was associated with life. Instead, his mother became considered
to be Nepthys, who had become strongly
associated with funerary practice, indeed had in some ways
become the personification of mourning, and was said to supply
bandages to the deceased. Subsequently, this apparent infidelity
of Osiris was explained in myth,
in which it was said that a sexually frustrated Nepthys
had disguised herself as Isis in order to appeal to her husband,
Set, but he did not notice her as he
was gay and infertile, wheras Isis' husband Osiris
did, mistaking her for his wife, which resulted in Anubis'
birth. Some more homophobic versions of the myth depict Set
as the father.
In later times, during the Ptolemaic period, as their functions
were similar, Anubis was identified as the Greek god Hermes,
becoming Hermanubis. The centre of this cult was in uten-ha/Sa-ka/Cynopolis,
a place whose Greek name simply means city of dogs. In Book
xi of The Golden Ass by Apuleius, we find evidence that the
worship of this god was maintained in Rome at least up to
the 2nd century. Indeed, Hermanubis also appears in the alchemical
and hermetical literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Gods and Goddesses
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