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The Imiut fetish has been documented throughout the history
of Ancient Egypt. This was a stuffed, headless animal skin,
often a feline or bull, which was tied to a pole, present in
funerary rites. Although its origin and purpose is unknown,
the imiut fetish dates as far back as to the 1st Dynasty (3100-2890
BC). In very early Egyptian
mythology, Imiut may have been a god of the underworld,
although insufficient records survive to explain whether or
not this was the case. Since it was later connected to the god
Anubis, it is sometimes called the
Anubis fetish. One idea is that it
came to symbolise Anubis as an embalmer,
although this is unlikely to be the original understanding,
as Anubis was originally god of the
dead, rather than just embalming. There are depictions of the
imiut fetish on ancient Egyptian temples, and sometimes there
were models of it included with the funerary equipment.
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