Name
"Anubis" - Greek pronunciation the Egyptian name of this god. During the period of the Old Kingdom (from 2686 BC to 2181 BC), his name was transmitted as a combination of sounds inpw, followed by the hieroglyph for "jackal" above the sign htp (hotep– lit. "peace be upon him")
However, at the end of the Old Kingdom there appeared new form entries of this name end with the sign “jackal on a high stand.” She remained normal in the future.
Akkadian(Mesopotamian) alphabetic transcriptions (in the Amarna letters) rendered Anubis' name as "Anapa".
History of the cult
At the beginning of the dynastic period of Egyptian history (c. 3100 - c. 2686 BC), Anubis was depicted entirely as an animal, having not only a “jackal” head, but also the same body. The "Jackal God" (probably Anubis) is mentioned in stone inscriptions from the reigns of Hor-Aha, Djer and other pharaohs of the first dynasty. In the predynastic period, when Egyptians buried their dead in shallow graves, jackals and wild dogs were closely associated with cemeteries, for these scavengers would dig up the bodies of the dead and eat their meat.
The oldest known textual reference to the name "Anubis" is found in the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom era (c. 2686 - c. 2181 BC), in connection with the burial of the pharaohs.
During the Old Kingdom period, Anubis was the most important of the gods of the dead. But during the Middle Kingdom (2000-1700 BC) he was pushed into the background by Osiris. During the Roman era (from 30 BC), funerary paintings depicted Anubis holding the hand of the dead and leading them to Osiris.
Information about Anubis's "family background" also varies depending on time and sources. In early Egyptian mythology, he was recognized as the son of Ra. In the Sarcophagi Texts, written during the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181-2055 BC), Anubis is the son of either the cow-goddess Hesat or the cat-headed goddess Bastet. Another tradition portrays him as the son of the goddess Nephthys. The Greek Plutarch (c. 40-120 CE) argued that Anubis was considered the illegitimate son of Nephthys and Osiris, who was adopted by Osiris' wife, Isis:
...When Isis found out that Osiris had an affair with her sister Nephthys, confusing her with herself, and when she saw proof of this in the form of a garland of clover, left by him to Nephthys - she began to look for the child, whom Nephthys abandoned immediately after his birth out of fear of her husband Seth. When Isis, after many difficulties, found the child with the help of dogs, she took him, and he became her guardian and ally, receiving the name Anubis...
Some see this story as "an attempt to incorporate the independent god Anubis into the pantheon of Osiris." An Egyptian papyrus from the period of Roman rule (30-380 AD) calls Anubis “son of Isis.”
Anubis is known as the god of death and is the oldest and most popular of the ancient Egyptian deities.
The ancient Egyptians held Anubis in high esteem because they believed that he held great power over their physical and spiritual selves when they died.
His fame continued until the dawn of the Middle Kingdom. It was originally called by the ancient Egyptians: Inpu or Anpu.
Although the ancient Egyptian word for a royal child is inpu, it is more likely that this god's name comes from the word "imp", which means "to decay."
The Form of Anubis
Anubis looked like a man with the head of a jackal or completely in the form of a jackal.
In ancient times, animals like jackals ruled cemeteries. They dug up the freshly buried corpses, tore their flesh and ate it.
Historians believe this is what prompted the ancient Egyptians to depict the god of the afterlife as a jackal. New genetic research show that ancient Egyptian jackal not a jackal at all, but an ancient wolf.
Anubis's skin is often depicted as black, while jackals are usually brown. The reason is that the color black is a symbol of death, but it is also a symbol of the fertile and black soil of the Nile.
Anubis's area of responsibility
IN ancient history Anubis was known as the absolute ruler of the underworld (called the Duat). Later, this role passed to Osiris.
"Keeper of the Scales": One of his many roles, his task was to determine the fate of the souls of the dead. As depicted in the Book of the Dead, Anubis weighed the heart of the dead on feather scales.
The feather represents lies or truth. If the scale of justice were directed towards the heart, dead man would have been consumed by Ammit, a female demon dubbed the "devourer of the dead".
And if the scale of justice had tipped the scales, Anubis would have led the deceased to Osiris, who would have helped him ascend to heaven for a dignified existence. God of Embalming and Mummification: Anubis held an important role in overseeing the embalming and mummification of the dead.
Anubis's daughter (Kebeshet) is often seen as his assistant in the process of mummifying the dead. The ancient Egyptians believed that Anubis smeared the bodies of the dead so that they retained the sweet smell of herbs and plants.
Anubis also assisted in the "opening of the mouth" ritual to ensure good burial. This ritual was performed so that the dead person could eat and speak in the afterlife.
Protector of the Tomb: As the god of Egypt responsible for protecting the dead, many of Anubis' prayers were carved into the graves of the dead.
The history of mythology varies, but according to legend: Osiris's brother (Set) killed Osiris by luring him into a bizarre coffin, nailed it and pushed it into the Nile.
The wife and sister of Osiris (Isis) returned Osiris's body to the Phoenician shore, but the angry Set cut Osiris's body into pieces and scattered it throughout Egypt.
Anubis, Isis and Nephsis collected all the pieces (with the exception of the reproductive organ of Osiris).
Another Egyptian god, called Thoth, helped restore the body, and Anubis wrapped Osiris in linen, the effect of which gave him the title "He who practices embalming."
Anubis's parents
There are several versions of how Anubis appeared:
The son of Nephsis and Osiris is the most popular version. As the Goddess of Darkness, Nephsis would naturally be the mother of the god who supervised the embalming process as well as guiding souls to the afterlife.
Son of Nephsis and Seth: Seth is also implied to be the father of Anubis. In this version, it is believed that Nephsis disguised herself as Osiris' beautiful sister, Isis, in order to bear a son for Horus. Since Set is the God of darkness, storms and destruction, it is easy to see how Anubis could be his son.
Son of Nephsis and Ra: According to early mythological texts (Sun God) was depicted as the father of Anubis, and his mother was supposedly Bastet, the cat-headed goddess or Nephsis.
Anubis's wife was called Antup: she had the body of a woman and the head of a jackal. They also had a daughter named Kebeshet, who was the goddess of purification.
Temple of Anubis
Anubis was worshiped by all of Egypt, and his cult center was in Zinopolis, located in the 17th city (in the province) of Upper Egypt.
Cynopolis translates as “city of dogs”, and this name is very suitable for it because close connection between jackals and dogs, and the fact that some scientists believe that Anubis was indeed an ancient wolf.
In 1922, a shrine to Anubis was discovered in the tomb of King Tut. It was made of wood, plaster, lacquer and gold leaf: the statue depicts Anubis in animal form in a recumbent position, just as he is in his hieroglyph.
As evidence indicated, this sanctuary was likely used at the funeral of the great pharaoh and was aimed at helping the pharaoh in the afterlife.
Anubis in art
In addition to the statue of Anubis discovered in the tomb of King Tut, his image is often found in ancient Egyptian art.
In museums today there exist masks and figurines of Anubis dating back to the early and late Ptolemaic period (332-30 BC).
Facts about Anubis
- Anubis was the god of the dead and the underworld until the Middle Kingdom, until this role was taken over by Osiris.
- He is one of the oldest gods, dating back to the Old Kingdom.
- Anubis is the inventor and god of embalming and mummification.
- He presided over death in the underworld (the so-called Duat).
- Anubis was the Guardian of Libra, accustomed to weighing hearts dead souls. His high level anatomical knowledge thanks to embalming made him the patron of anesthesiology.
- A bedside statue of Anubis occupies a central place in the tomb.
- The priests who embalmed dead corpses wore a jackal mask.
- Greek mythology confuses with Anubis, from whom the god Hermanubis emerged.
In ancient times, according to the Pyramid Texts, the main god of the kingdom of the dead was considered Anubis(Egyptian Anupu), depicted as a lying black jackal, or a man with the head of a jackal, or in the form wild dog Sub. In Egyptian, “sab” - “judge” was written with the sign of a jackal, and apparently, “in more early period Anubis was the only judge of the dead." He was identified with the wolf god Upuat; his main epithets were Khentiamenti, "lord of Ra-setau" (the kingdom of the dead), "standing in front of the palace of the gods." Gradually from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. BC the role of the supreme ruler of the underworld passes to Osiris, and Anubis is assigned the functions of the guardian of the necropolis and protector of Osiris. A reclining black dog or jackal was depicted as guards on the doors of numerous tombs. However, the texts retain evidence of the original significance of this jackal god. In one of The magical sayings of the text addressed to the deceased pharaoh say: “You sit on the throne of Osiris... your hands are the hands of [the god] Atum, your belly is the belly of Atum, your back is the back of Atum... but your head is the head of Anubis.”
Anubis was considered the son of Bastet or the son of the white divine cow Hesat, and after the union of Anubis with Osiris, the jackal god began to be called the son (less often brother) of Osiris or the sun god, or the son of Set. Plutarch calls Anubis the son of Osiris and Nephthys. Anubis helped Isis in searching for the dismembered body of Osiris, in embalming and making his mummy in order to protect it from destruction. It was this idea that prompted the dead to pray to Anubis to take care of their bodies. Once upon a time, performing the functions of the god of the dead, Anubis counted the hearts of the dead, but having entered the circle of gods associated with the mysteries of Osiris, he began to weigh hearts, determining the moral purity of the deceased and recognizing his right to take a place in the afterlife, avoiding the fate of complete destruction in the mouth monsters. An attribute of Anubis is the scales, on one bowl of which the feather of the goddess of truth Maat is placed, on the other - the heart of the deceased.
Heraldic emblem of Anubis imj·wt(“the one that is in the shell”) was the headless carcass of a bull or its skin, with a tail in the form of a lotus, wrapping its stem around top part pole, while the forelimbs were tied to the bottom with a ribbon tied in a bow. The end of the pole rested on the bottom of a vessel similar to a flower pot. The lotus, like Anubis, was assigned a huge role in the funeral cult: “Through the lotus, the magical revival of the dead was accomplished... Considered a harbinger of the sun, it symbolized the renewal of vitality and was involved in the return of youth.” As symbols of the resurrection, lotus bouquets occupied a prominent place among the offerings in the cult of the sacrificial bull Mnevis, the sacred bull of Heliopolis. Sometimes the tail of Mnevis itself “thrives” in images, like a blossoming flower.
According to Max Müller, the symbol of Anubis could originally represent a completely different god. “In any case, this skin symbol was constantly depicted before Osiris.” The title Emi-uet (possibly "She who is in the city") meaning this symbol was "later translated as 'Embalmer' and thus redirected to Anubis." When embalming the body, a priest in a jackal mask played the role of Anubis. The skin, closely associated with ideas about posthumous rebirth, was generally the main component of the funerary cult. In ancient times, the bodies of the dead were buried in holes dug in the sand, wrapped in skins. Later, accompanied by the dog-headed gods, the jackal, Set, Anubis and Upuat (the last two were “skin gods”), the deceased king or priest, dressed in skin, walked “the path from rebirth to heaven.” The essence of the Egyptian sacraments was “the preservation of the body of the priests, specially dismembered for this purpose for the purpose of glorification.” The sacraments consisted of a number of rituals that were performed in accordance with the Book of Priests and took place in the most distant rooms of the temple, hidden from public view.
The main rite consisted of fumigating the room in order to expel evil spirits, sprinkling the body with water, joining individual pieces of the body together and calling on the soul of the deceased to return to the mummified body. Then the rebirth of Osiris in his plant and animal manifestations was described. On last stage a sacrifice was made of a cow, the skin of which was used as a cradle through which the god could be reborn as the son of his cow mother Nut, the goddess of the sky, "gaining in this rite eternal life". Anubis himself lay down on the skin, setting an example for Osiris, encouraging him to do the same and thereby be reborn. At an early stage, a person was sacrificed, later this role began to be played by "Tikenu, a man, sometimes a dwarf, wrapped in a shroud, painted in the form of a cow skin." He played the role of a human embryo, which is "born" like a newborn from the skin-cradle - the womb of the cow-mother. Even later, Tiken's place was taken by a temple servant, who imitated sleep and awakening, bringing with him the reborn soul of Osiris.
Anubis, like the other gods of Egypt, was supposed to have a family. Having entered the circle of Osiris, Anubis began to be recognized as the son of Nephthys and illegitimate son Osiris. The wife of the jackal god was Anupet, who was called the "hound", although she may have acted female form Anubis. Kebkhut, the patron goddess of the 10th nome and the city of Letopolis, was recognized as his daughter. The name of the goddess means "She who is cool" and goes back to the ideas of the early period, reflecting her connection with the sky or water. The area in the area of the first cataract was also called Kebkhu. Incarnated in the form of a snake, Kebhut was identified with the goddess Uto. The Egyptians revered her as a cool goddess, clean water, and the Pyramid Texts "distinctly characterize her as a goddess of death." It was she who was the first to meet the king after death, and the king came to life again at this meeting, but “already “purified” and taking on the image of a jackal.” “It is characteristic that this goddess, who brings death to the king and then resurrection, is his beloved.” It was believed that Kebkhut poured libations to all the dead, helping them ascend to heaven.
A number of facts suggest that the ancient rulers of the Nile Valley were subjected to ritual death by drowning. It was in this way that cows dedicated to Isis continued to be killed. “The texts name the place where these animals were drowned - kbhw. Analysis of this term and other words of the same root provides very important material. The main meaning of the verb is kbh- "to be cold", but kbh means “to cool off in the shadow of the tomb,” “to die.” About the drowned cow of Isis it was said: “She came out of Kebhu, her soul rose to the sky and united with the god Ra,” and the Pyramid Texts directly call the deceased king “who came out of Kebhu,” “passed through the lake of Kebhu”: “You came out of the lake of life , you are clean from Lake Kebhu, you are Wepuat...”
Temples were built to Anubis in many places in Egypt. The center of the cult was Lycopolis in Upper Egypt, modern Siut. Here he was worshiped under the name Upuat, Opener of the Path, that is, the path to the underworld. In the Nile Valley, the second city of Lycopolis was dedicated to him, which probably led to the Egyptians' idea of two Anubises - Anubis of the South and Anubis of the North. The funeral steles depicted two jackals guarding the deceased.
Egyptian gods Anubis and Set. War going back centuries
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From the depths of centuries, our ancestors’ ideas about the world and the world order have reached us. Their views were reflected in myths and legends, because people could not explain everything with scientific point vision, so they invented for themselves beautiful fairy tales. Egyptian mythology is one of the most complete and famous that has come down to us. It is inhabited by many different mystical creatures and deities. One of the especially revered gods in Egypt was. In hieroglyphic monuments it is called Anepu or Anoop. According to Egyptian mythology, Anubis is the son Osiris, born from Nephthys, whom Osiris mistakenly took for his wife Isis. Anubis is the patron god of the dead. He was revered in the form of a lying black jackal or a wild dog Sab (or in the form of a man with the head of a jackal or dog). Anubis-Sab was considered the judge of the gods (in Egyptian, “sab” “judge” was written with the sign of a jackal). Anubis plays one of the most important roles in the afterlife court of the gods, where he measured the truth of the scales, on one of the bowls of which the heart rested, and on the other the feather of the goddess of truth Maat.
The center of the cult of Anubis was the city of the 17th nome of Kas (Greek Kinopolis, “city of the dog”), but his veneration spread very early throughout Egypt. During the period of the Old Kingdom, Anubis was considered the god of the dead, his main epithets are “Khentiamenti”, i.e. the one who is ahead of the country of the West (the kingdom of the dead), “the lord of Rasetau” (the kingdom of the dead), “standing in front of the palace of the gods”. According to the Pyramid Texts, Anubis was the main god in the kingdom of the dead, he counted the hearts of the dead (while Osiris mainly personified the deceased pharaoh, who came to life like a god). However, gradually from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Anubis' functions pass to Osiris, to whom his epithets are assigned, and Anubis is included in the circle of gods associated with the mysteries of Osiris. Together with Isis, he searches for his body, protects it from enemies, together with Totom present at the court of Osiris.
Anubis plays a significant role in the funeral ritual; his name is mentioned throughout Egyptian mortuary literature, according to which one of the essential functions Anubis was preparing the body 
the deceased to embalming and turning him into a mummy (the epithets “ut” and “imiut” define Anubis as the god of embalming). Anubis is credited with laying his hands on the mummy and transforming the deceased with the help of magic into ah ("enlightened", "blessed"), who comes to life thanks to this gesture; Anubis arranges children around the deceased in the burial chamber of Horus and gives each a canopic jar with the entrails of the deceased for their protection. Anubis is closely associated with the necropolis at Thebes, the seal of which depicted a jackal lying over nine captives. Anubis was considered the brother of the god Bata, which was reflected in the tale of two brothers.
The Greeks equated it with Hermes, sometimes even combining his Egyptian and Greek name, called Hermanubis. Like Hermes Psychopompos among the Greeks, he, according to the beliefs of the Egyptians, was a guide of the dead to the underworld called Amentes, and together with Horus weighed their deeds before Osiris. When the Egyptian cult penetrated the Roman Empire, Anubis merged with Hermes and his images with a dog's head were accompanied by the signs of the latter. According to Plutarch, a white or yellow rooster was sacrificed to Anubis.
Ideas about Anubis influenced the formation of the image of the Christian saint Christopher the Dog-headed, who, like Anubis, was depicted with a dog’s head. IN modern world Egyptian deities are often used to create images computer games, cartoons and books, for this reason ancient images coming from the depths of centuries should be known and remembered. All modern culture is in one way or another permeated with drops of mythological images inherited from our ancestors.
Sergey Belyakov
Myths about the confrontation between the god Anubis and the god Set
P The ancient Egyptians' ideas about their deities were not the same, so there were often several interpretations of the same myth with different options. It does ancient mythology even more mysterious and rich. Perhaps the most famous legends about the confrontation between the god Anubis and the god Set were two.
The wife of the evil god Set, Nephthys, fell deeply in love with Osiris. Taking the form of Isis, she came to his bed at night, and from this connection the great god of the Duat Anubis was born.
Fearing that Seth would take revenge on her for betraying her and kill baby Anubis, Nephthys deceived her husband, assuring him that he, Seth, was the father of Anubis.
According to another version, Nephthys, out of fear of Seth, abandoned the baby as soon as he was born, and Isis found Anubis with the help of dogs and raised him, and Anubis became her friend and ally.
During the life of Osiris, his retinue was led by the good demon Imahuemankh - a man with the head of a falcon, armed with two huge, sharply sharpened knives. Another demon was subordinate to him - Jesertep, the protector of Osiris. Upout and Anubis were true friends Imahuemankha and Jesertepa. After the death of Osiris, all four entered into an irreconcilable struggle with Set.
Once Jesertep was watching the head of Seth's accomplices - the demon Demib, who was scouring the swamps of the Delta in search of the mummy of Osiris: he wanted to destroy it on the orders of his master Seth. But, sensing that he was being followed, Demib fled. Then the four, led by Imahuemankh, set off in pursuit. Demib was captured and Imahuemankh cut off his head with his sharp knife.
Seth decided to rescue the remains of his friend and give them an honorable burial. In order not to be recognized, he took the form of Anubis and in this form entered the swamps of the Delta. He passed the guards unhindered, collected the chopped body of Demib in a bag and wanted to hide just as unnoticed, but Anubis and Chorus saw him. They gave chase and overtook Seth. A battle ensued, and it is unknown how it would have ended if Thoth had not arrived in time to help Anubis and Horus. The god of wisdom and witchcraft cast a magic spell and threw Seth to the ground. Anubis tied Seth's hands and feet and placed him under Osiris as a seat. Isis then dismembered Seth by sinking her teeth into his back. And Ra said:
- Let Seth be destined as a seat for Osiris. Truly [let it be so] because of the evil that he caused to the body of Osiris.
In other nomes of Egypt, another legend was popular about the confrontation between Anubis and Set.
One day the black dog Isdes recognized Seth by the evil he had committed. But Seth managed to escape into the desert. Anubis, Isdes and Horus gave chase and overtook Seth and his accomplices. A fight ensued. Isdes killed everyone, sparing no one.
When the bloody slaughter subsided, the gods sat down to rest, but then Isdes noticed the divine juices of the body of Osiris above them. The choir immediately collected these juices in vessels, and the gods buried them in a crypt on the very mountain where Seth was killed. A guard was placed at the entrance to the crypt - a fire-breathing snake.
But while the gods were performing the funeral ritual, Seth was resurrected, turned into a panther and fled. Anubis gave chase, found Seth and, with the help of Thoth, threw him to the ground.
It was decided to put the bound Seth to a painful execution. The gods lit a fire and burned Seth in the fire from head to toe with his entire body. The smell of fat reached the heavens and it was pleasant to Ra and the gods.
After the execution, Anubis cut Set's skin, tore it off and put it on himself. Then he went to the sanctuary of Osiris and burned his mark on Seth’s skin with a hot iron.
Having learned that their leader was killed, the demons of darkness and darkness gathered a huge army, armed themselves and set out on a campaign to rescue their ruler. Anubis decided to repel the onslaught alone. With one swing of his knife, he cut off the heads of all the fighters of the enemy army. The demons' blood soaked into the ground and turned into the red mineral shesaite.
In total, there were about five legends in Egypt about the struggle of Anubis with Set. These two were the most popular at the time. They were based on the historical confrontation between the “sacred” pharaohs and the priests. Where the priests played the role of the main villains and enslavers of the Egyptian people!
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The god Anubis was depicted by the ancient Egyptians as a man with the head of a jackal. During the Old Kingdom, Anubis was the ruler of the underworld and bore the epithet Khentiamenti. From a certain period in the development of the religion of Ancient Egypt, Anubis began to be depicted as a man with the head of a dog, while the functions of the deity changed. One of the especially revered gods in Egypt was Anubis.
In ancient Egyptian mythology - the son of Osiris. The center of the cult of Anubis was the capital of the 17th Upper Egyptian nome, the city of Kinopol. Anubis himself becomes the guide of the dead through Amenti (ancient Egypt. Egyptologists note the rapid and widespread spread of this cult in the early period. Moreover, before the advent of the cult of Osiris, he was the main deity of the West.
Seth's wife Nephthys fell in love with Osiris and, taking the guise of Isis, seduced him. As a result of intercourse, the god Anubis was born. Isdes (also pronounced Astennu, Asten, Isten or Astes) is one of the patrons of the underworld (Duat, Western Desert) in Egyptian mythology, close in this regard to Anubis. In the Late Period he was identified with Anubis. Anubis helped preserve the body of Osiris.
Kebkhut was considered the daughter of Anubis, who poured libations in honor of the dead. Rite of Anubis. The god Anubis removes the heart of the deceased to weigh it at the court of Osiris. Oldest mention about Anubis is found in the Pyramid Texts during the Old Kingdom in the 23rd century BC, where he was associated exclusively with royal burials. Like other gods of antiquity, Anubis served various roles. The animals in which Anubis was depicted are inhabitants of the desert, that is, the lands bordering the land of the dead Duat.
In the Hellenistic era, Anubis was united by the Greeks with Hermes in the syncretic image of Hermanubis. This god is mentioned as a magician in Roman literature. Some scholars see traits of Anubis in St. Christopher and in medieval stories about cynoscephali (dog-headed people). The center of the cult of Anubis is the city of the 17th nome of Kas (Greek Kinopolis - “dog city”).
The priests of the God Anubis were the most healthy people in Ancient Egypt. This is because Anubis is also responsible for the opposite aspect of death - life. God of the dead and guardian of mummies - Anubis. In ancient Egypt, jackals were not liked because they often rummaged in graves.
Thus, the god of the dead Anubis took on the appearance of a dog or jackal. Wall painting (1) shows Anubis, the guardian god of mummies, in human form with the head of a dog. According to this painting, the mummifying priests also wore jackal masks made of painted clay, since the god was considered an expert in embalming. The god's sacred animals, dogs and jackals, which were kept in nearby temple buildings, were also embalmed and mummified after their death.
God is depicted here in the form of an animal lying on a mysterious box. Presumably, the box could be a sarcophagus or a container in which the entrails were stored. One spelling shows the god as a man with the head of a dog. This hieroglyph may also refer to some other god in the form of a dog, such as Upuaut, the god of Assiut, or Khontamenti, the god of Abydos.
Such statues, together with images of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys, were an important part of the grave goods of the tomb of every noble person. Together with Isis, Nephthys and Thoth, Anubis washes the body of the deceased with sacred water, which embodies the power of his daughter, the goddess Kebkhut. The image of Anubis, lying on nine foreign captives, symbolizing evil, has since ancient times been depicted on the seals of the guards of the Valley of the Kings, the imprints of which covered the walled-up entrances to the tombs of the pharaohs.
The cult of Anubis gained particular popularity in the New Kingdom and Late Times; he was often depicted in vignettes for the text of the Book of the Dead and in the paintings of the tombs of the pharaohs and their subjects. From now on, Anubis is considered the great guide of the soul of the deceased in the afterlife, the god who brings the deceased to the throne of Osiris in the great “Chamber of Two Truths.”
The cult of Anubis flourished in many cities of Upper and Lower Egypt, especially in Kinopolis and Assiut, where he was identified with the local god Upuat. Together with Egyptian religious ideas, the cult of Anubis penetrated into other countries of the Mediterranean basin. The image of God also influenced Coptic culture: the “wolf’s voice” still exists in Coptic chants, and the Coptic Museum in Cairo contains an icon depicting two saints with the heads of jackals.
Myths associated with Anubis
From the depths of centuries, our ancestors’ ideas about the world and the world order have reached us. Their views were reflected in myths and legends, because people could not explain everything from a scientific point of view, so they invented beautiful fairy tales for themselves. Anubis-Sab was considered the judge of the gods (in Egyptian, “sab” “judge” was written with the sign of a jackal). Anubis is closely associated with the necropolis at Thebes, the seal of which depicted a jackal lying over nine captives. Anubis was considered the brother of the god Bata, which was reflected in the tale of two brothers.
Conclusion: Anubis in the modern world
Like Hermes Psychopompos among the Greeks, he, according to the beliefs of the Egyptians, was a guide of the dead to the underworld called Amentes, and together with Horus weighed their deeds before Osiris. When the Egyptian cult penetrated the Roman Empire, Anubis merged with Hermes and his images with a dog's head were accompanied by the signs of the latter.
Appearance and attributes of Anubis
Ideas about Anubis influenced the formation of the image of the Christian saint Christopher the Dog-headed, who, like Anubis, was depicted with a dog’s head. In the modern world, Egyptian deities are often used to create images of computer games, cartoons and books, for this reason ancient images coming from time immemorial should be known and remembered.
During the animist period, Anubis was represented in the form of a jackal. The capital of the 17th Egyptian nome Kinopolis was the center of the cult of Anubis throughout the history of Ancient Egypt. One of its chapters describes the Judgment of Osiris, in which Anubis weighed the heart on the Scales of Truth.
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