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Anubis (; ), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian (), is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the Duat, underworld in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a Canis, canine or a man with a cynocephaly, canine head.
Like many ancient Egyptian deities, Anubis assumed different roles in various contexts. Depicted as a protector of graves as early as the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty (), Anubis was also an Embalming, embalmer. By the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC) he was replaced by Osiris in his role as lord of the underworld. One of his prominent roles was as a psychopomp, god who ushered souls into the afterlife. He attended the weighing scale during the "Weighing of the Heart", in which it was determined whether a soul would be allowed to enter the realm of the dead. Anubis is one of the most frequently depicted and mentioned gods in the List of Egyptian gods, Egyptian pantheon; however, few major myths involved him.
Anubis was depicted in black, a color that symbolized regeneration, life, the soil of the Nile, Nile River, and the discoloration of the corpse after embalming. Anubis is associated with Wepwawet, another Egyptian god portrayed with a dog's head or in canine form, but with grey or white fur. Historians assume that the two figures were eventually combined. Anubis' female counterpart is Anput. His daughter is the serpent goddess Kebechet.
"Anubis" is a Greek rendering of this god's Egyptian language, Egyptian name. Before the Greeks in Egypt, Greeks arrived in Egypt, around the 7th century BC, the god was known as ''Anpu'' or ''Inpu.'' The root of the name in ancient Egyptian language means "a royal child." ''Inpu'' has a root to "inp", which means "to decay." The god was also known as "First of the Westerners," "Lord of the Sacred Land," "He Who is Upon his Sacred Mountain," "Ruler of the Nine Bows," "The Dog who Swallows Millions," "Master of Secrets," "He Who is in the Place of Embalming," and "Foremost of the Divine Booth." The positions that he had were also reflected in the titles he held such as "He Who Is upon His Mountain," "Lord of the Sacred Land," "Foremost of the Westerners," and "He Who Is in the Place of Embalming."
In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom (), the standard way of writing his name in Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieroglyphs was composed of the sound signs ''inpw'' followed by a jackal over a ''Hotep, ḥtp'' sign: i-n:p-w-C6 A new form with the jackal on a tall stand appeared in the late Old Kingdom and became common thereafter: i-n:p-w-E16
Anubis' name ''jnpw'' was possibly pronounced , based on Coptic ''Anoup'' and the Akkadian language, Akkadian transcription () in the name "Reanapa" that appears in Amarna letters, Amarna letter EA 315. However, this transcription may also be interpreted as ''rˁ-nfr'', a name similar to that of Prince Ranefer of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty.
In the Ptolemaic Egypt, Ptolemaic period (350–30 BC), when Egypt became a Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic kingdom ruled by Greek pharaohs, Anubis was merged with the Greek mythology, Greek god Hermes, becoming Hermanubis. The two gods were considered similar because they both psychopomp, guided souls to the afterlife. The center of this Cult (religious practice), cult was in ''uten-ha''/''Sa-ka''/ Cynopolis, a place whose Greek name means "city of dogs." In Book XI of ''The Golden Ass'' by Apuleius, there is evidence that the worship of this god was continued in Ancient Rome, Rome through at least the 2nd century. Indeed, Hermanubis also appears in the alchemy, alchemical and Hermeticism, hermetical literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Although the Greeks and Ancient Romans, Romans typically scorned Egyptian animal-headed gods as bizarre and primitive (Anubis was mockingly called "Barker" by the Greeks), Anubis was sometimes associated with Sirius in the heavens and Cerberus and Hades in the underworld. In his dialogues, Plato often has Socrates utter oaths "by the dog" (Greek language, Greek: ''kai me ton kuna''), "by the dog of Egypt", and "by the dog, the god of the Egyptians", both for emphasis and to appeal to Anubis as an arbiter of truth in the underworld.
As ''jmy-wt'' (Imiut or the Imiut fetish) "He who is in the place of embalming", Anubis was associated with mummification. He was also called ''ḫnty zḥ-nṯr'' "He who presides over the god's booth", in which "booth" could refer either to the place where embalming was carried out or the pharaoh's burial chamber.
In the Osiris myth, Anubis helped Isis to embalm Osiris. Indeed, when the Osiris myth emerged, it was said that after Osiris had been killed by Set, Osiris's organs were given to Anubis as a gift. With this connection, Anubis became the patron god of embalmers; during the rites of mummification, illustrations from the ''Book of the Dead'' often show a wolf-mask-wearing priest supporting the upright mummy.
By the Late Period of ancient Egypt, late pharaonic era (664–332 BC), Anubis was often depicted as guiding individuals across the threshold from the world of the living to the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife. Though a similar role was sometimes performed by the cow-headed Hathor, Anubis was more commonly chosen to fulfill that function. Greek writers from the Egypt (Roman province), Roman period of Egyptian history designated that role as that of "psychopomp", a Greek term meaning "guide of souls" that they used to refer to their own god Hermes, who also played that role in ancient Greek religion, Greek religion. Funerary art#Ancient Egypt and Nubia, Funerary art from that period represents Anubis guiding either men or women dressed in Greek clothes into the presence of Osiris, who by then had long replaced Anubis as ruler of the underworld.
In the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, early dynastic period, he was depicted in animal form, as a black canine. Anubis's distinctive black color did not represent the animal, rather it had several symbolic meanings. It represented "the discolouration of the corpse after its treatment with natron and the smearing of the wrappings with a resinous substance during mummification." Being the color of the fertile silt of the Nile, River Nile, to Egyptians, black also symbolized fertility and the possibility of rebirth in the afterlife. In the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom, Anubis was often portrayed as a man with the head of a jackal. The African wolf, African jackal was the species depicted and the template of numerous Ancient Egyptian deities, including Anubis. An extremely rare depiction of him in anthropomorphism, fully human form was found in a chapel of Ramesses II in Abydos, Egypt, Abydos.
Anubis is often depicted wearing a ribbon and holding a ''nḫ3ḫ3'' "crook and flail, flail" in the crook of his arm. Another of Anubis's attributes was the ''jmy-wt'' or imiut fetish, named for his role in embalming. In funerary contexts, Anubis is shown either attending to a deceased person's mummy or sitting atop a tomb protecting it. New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom tomb-seals also depict Anubis sitting atop the nine bows that symbolize his domination over the enemies of Egypt.
File:Anubis, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 20220618 1030 6992.jpg, Statue of Anubis
File:KV17, the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I of the Nineteenth Dynasty, Valley of the Kings, Egypt (49845804653).jpg, Wall relief of Anubis in (KV17) the tomb of Seti I, 19th Dynasty, Valley of the Kings
File:ThebanTomb335.png, alt=Fresco of a mummy lying on a bier. Women stand at the head and foot of the bier, while a winged woman kneels in the register above, Isis, left, and Nephthys stand by as Anubis embalms the deceased, 13th century BC
File:Hermitage hall 100 - Egyptian hall 46.jpg, Anubis receiving offerings, hieroglyph name in third column from left, 14th century BC; painted limestone; from Saqqara (Egypt)
File:Tutankhamun jackal.jpg, The ''Anubis Shrine''; 1336–1327 BC; painted wood and gold; 1.1 × 2.7 × 0.52 m; from the Valley of the Kings; Egyptian Museum (Cairo)
File:Anubis, Anzio, Villa Pamphili, 1st-2nd century AD, Pario marble - Museo Gregoriano Egizio - Vatican Museums - DSC00818.jpg, Statue of Hermanubis, c. 100–138 AD, from Rome
File:Casa degli Amorini Dorati. Fresco. 09.JPG, Anubis, Harpocrates, Isis and Serapis, antique fresco in Pompeii, Italy
File:Stela of Siamun and Taruy worshipping Anubis MET 90.6.128 01.jpg, Stela of Siamun and Taruy worshipping Anubis
File:The King with Anubis, Tomb of Haremhab MET DP234736.jpg, The king with Anubis, from the KV57, tomb of Horemheb; 1323-1295 BC; tempera on paper; Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Anubis Amulet MET DP109371.jpg, Anubis amulet; 664–30 BC; faience; height: 4.7 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Recumbent Anubis MET DP228716.jpg, Recumbent Anubis; 664–30 BC; limestone, originally painted black; height: 38.1 cm, length: 64 cm, width: 16.5 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Statuette of Anubis MET 38.5 EGDP022863.jpg, Statuette of Anubis; 332–30 BC; plastered and painted wood; 42.3 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Name
"Anubis" is a Greek rendering of this god's Egyptian language, Egyptian name. Before the Greeks in Egypt, Greeks arrived in Egypt, around the 7th century BC, the god was known as ''Anpu'' or ''Inpu.'' The root of the name in ancient Egyptian language means "a royal child." ''Inpu'' has a root to "inp", which means "to decay." The god was also known as "First of the Westerners," "Lord of the Sacred Land," "He Who is Upon his Sacred Mountain," "Ruler of the Nine Bows," "The Dog who Swallows Millions," "Master of Secrets," "He Who is in the Place of Embalming," and "Foremost of the Divine Booth." The positions that he had were also reflected in the titles he held such as "He Who Is upon His Mountain," "Lord of the Sacred Land," "Foremost of the Westerners," and "He Who Is in the Place of Embalming."
In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom (), the standard way of writing his name in Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieroglyphs was composed of the sound signs ''inpw'' followed by a jackal over a ''Hotep, ḥtp'' sign: History
In Egypt's Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, Early Dynastic period (), Anubis was portrayed in full animal form, with a "African golden wolf, jackal" head and body. A jackal god, probably Anubis, is depicted in stone inscriptions from the reigns of Hor-Aha, Djer, and other pharaohs of the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty. Since Predynastic Egypt, when the dead were buried in shallow graves, jackals had been strongly associated with cemeteries because they were scavengers which uncovered human bodies and ate their flesh. In the spirit of "fighting like with like," a jackal was chosen to protect the dead, because "a common problem (and cause of concern) must have been the digging up of bodies, shortly after burial, by jackals and other wild dogs which lived on the margins of the cultivation." In the Old Kingdom, Anubis was the most important god of the dead. He was replaced in that role by Osiris during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom (2000–1700 BC). In the History of Roman Egypt, Roman era, which started in 30 BC, tomb paintings depict him holding the hand of deceased persons to guide them to Osiris. The parentage of Anubis varied between myths, times and sources. In early mythology, he was portrayed as a son of Ra. In the Coffin Texts, which were written in the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055 BC), Anubis is the son of either the cow goddess Hesat or the cat-headed Bastet. Another tradition depicted him as the son of Ra and Nephthys. More commonly, however, he is recognized as the offspring of Osiris and Isis.In later periods, particularly during the Ptolemaic era, Anubis was sometimes described as the son of Isis and Serapis, a Hellenized form of Osiris designed to appeal to Egypt's growing Greek population. The Greek Plutarch (c. 40–120 AD) reported a tradition that Anubis was the illegitimate son of Nephthys and Osiris, but that he was adopted by Osiris's wife Isis: George Hart (Egyptologist), George Hart sees this story as an "attempt to incorporate the independent deity Anubis into the Osiris myth, Osirian pantheon." An Egyptian papyrus from the Egypt (Roman province), Roman period (30–380 AD) simply called Anubis the "son of Isis." In Nubia, Anubis was seen as the husband of his mother Nephthys.
In the Ptolemaic Egypt, Ptolemaic period (350–30 BC), when Egypt became a Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic kingdom ruled by Greek pharaohs, Anubis was merged with the Greek mythology, Greek god Hermes, becoming Hermanubis. The two gods were considered similar because they both psychopomp, guided souls to the afterlife. The center of this Cult (religious practice), cult was in ''uten-ha''/''Sa-ka''/ Cynopolis, a place whose Greek name means "city of dogs." In Book XI of ''The Golden Ass'' by Apuleius, there is evidence that the worship of this god was continued in Ancient Rome, Rome through at least the 2nd century. Indeed, Hermanubis also appears in the alchemy, alchemical and Hermeticism, hermetical literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Although the Greeks and Ancient Romans, Romans typically scorned Egyptian animal-headed gods as bizarre and primitive (Anubis was mockingly called "Barker" by the Greeks), Anubis was sometimes associated with Sirius in the heavens and Cerberus and Hades in the underworld. In his dialogues, Plato often has Socrates utter oaths "by the dog" (Greek language, Greek: ''kai me ton kuna''), "by the dog of Egypt", and "by the dog, the god of the Egyptians", both for emphasis and to appeal to Anubis as an arbiter of truth in the underworld.
Roles
Embalmer
As ''jmy-wt'' (Imiut or the Imiut fetish) "He who is in the place of embalming", Anubis was associated with mummification. He was also called ''ḫnty zḥ-nṯr'' "He who presides over the god's booth", in which "booth" could refer either to the place where embalming was carried out or the pharaoh's burial chamber.
In the Osiris myth, Anubis helped Isis to embalm Osiris. Indeed, when the Osiris myth emerged, it was said that after Osiris had been killed by Set, Osiris's organs were given to Anubis as a gift. With this connection, Anubis became the patron god of embalmers; during the rites of mummification, illustrations from the ''Book of the Dead'' often show a wolf-mask-wearing priest supporting the upright mummy.
Protector of tombs
Anubis was a protector of graves and cemeteries. Several epithets attached to his name in Ancient Egyptian literature, Egyptian texts and inscriptions referred to that role. ''Khenti-Amentiu, Khenty-Amentiu'', which means "foremost of the westerners" and was also the name of a different Khenti-Amentiu, canine funerary god, alluded to his protecting function because the dead were usually buried on the west bank of the Nile. He took other names in connection with his funerary role, such as ''tpy-ḏw.f'' (Tepy-djuef) "He who is upon his mountain" (i.e. keeping guard over tombs from above) and ''nb-t3-ḏsr'' (Neb-ta-djeser) "Lord of the sacred land", which designates him as a god of the desert necropolis. The Jumilhac papyrus recounts another tale where Anubis protected the body of Osiris from Set. Set attempted to attack the body of Osiris by transforming himself into a leopard. Anubis stopped and subdued Set, however, and he human branding, branded Set's skin with a hot iron rod. Anubis then flaying, flayed Set and wore his skin as a warning against evil-doers who would desecrate the necropolis, tombs of the dead. Priests who attended to the dead wore leopard skin in order to commemorate Anubis' victory over Set. The legend of Anubis branding the hide of Set in leopard form was used to explain how the leopard got its spots. Most ancient tombs had prayers to Anubis carved on them.Guide of souls
By the Late Period of ancient Egypt, late pharaonic era (664–332 BC), Anubis was often depicted as guiding individuals across the threshold from the world of the living to the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife. Though a similar role was sometimes performed by the cow-headed Hathor, Anubis was more commonly chosen to fulfill that function. Greek writers from the Egypt (Roman province), Roman period of Egyptian history designated that role as that of "psychopomp", a Greek term meaning "guide of souls" that they used to refer to their own god Hermes, who also played that role in ancient Greek religion, Greek religion. Funerary art#Ancient Egypt and Nubia, Funerary art from that period represents Anubis guiding either men or women dressed in Greek clothes into the presence of Osiris, who by then had long replaced Anubis as ruler of the underworld.
Weigher of hearts
One of the roles of Anubis was as the "Guardian of the Scales." The critical scene depicting the weighing of the heart, in the ''Book of the Dead'', shows Anubis performing a measurement that determined whether the person was worthy of entering the realm of the dead (the underworld, known as ''Duat''). By weighing the heart of a deceased person against Maat, ''ma'at'', who was often represented as an ostrich feather, Anubis dictated the fate of souls. Souls heavier than a feather would be devoured by Ammit, and souls lighter than a feather would ascend to a heavenly existence.Portrayal in art
Anubis was one of the most frequently represented deities in Art of ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian art. He is depicted in royal tombs as early as the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty. The god is typically treating a king's corpse, providing sovereign to mummification rituals and funerals, or standing with fellow gods at the Weighing of the Heart, Weighing of the Heart of the Soul in the Hall of Two Truths. One of his most popular representations is of him, with the body of a man and the head of a jackal with pointed ears, standing or kneeling, holding a gold scale while a heart of the soul is being weighed against Ma'at's white truth feather.
In the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, early dynastic period, he was depicted in animal form, as a black canine. Anubis's distinctive black color did not represent the animal, rather it had several symbolic meanings. It represented "the discolouration of the corpse after its treatment with natron and the smearing of the wrappings with a resinous substance during mummification." Being the color of the fertile silt of the Nile, River Nile, to Egyptians, black also symbolized fertility and the possibility of rebirth in the afterlife. In the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom, Anubis was often portrayed as a man with the head of a jackal. The African wolf, African jackal was the species depicted and the template of numerous Ancient Egyptian deities, including Anubis. An extremely rare depiction of him in anthropomorphism, fully human form was found in a chapel of Ramesses II in Abydos, Egypt, Abydos.
Anubis is often depicted wearing a ribbon and holding a ''nḫ3ḫ3'' "crook and flail, flail" in the crook of his arm. Another of Anubis's attributes was the ''jmy-wt'' or imiut fetish, named for his role in embalming. In funerary contexts, Anubis is shown either attending to a deceased person's mummy or sitting atop a tomb protecting it. New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom tomb-seals also depict Anubis sitting atop the nine bows that symbolize his domination over the enemies of Egypt.
Worship
Although he does not appear in many myths, he was extremely popular with Egyptians and those of other cultures. The Greeks linked him to their god Hermes, the god who guided the dead to the afterlife. The pairing was later known as Hermanubis. Anubis was heavily worshipped because, despite modern beliefs, he gave the people hope. People marveled in the guarantee that their body would be respected at death, their soul would be protected and justly judged. Anubis had male priests who sported wood masks with the god's likeness when performing rituals. His cult center was at Cynopolis in Upper Egypt but memorials were built everywhere and he was universally revered in every part of the nation.See also
* Abatur, Mandaean uthra who weighs the souls of the dead to determine their fates * * Anput * ''Anubias'' * Bhairava * HadesReferences
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
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