Anubis
ANUBIS. The Egyptians represented the god Anubis as a black jackal (a wild dog?) crouching "on his belly," or as a man with a jackal's or dog's head. Anubis is the Greek form of his Egyptian name, Anpu; the meaning of the latter is uncertain. The cult of Anubis originated in Middle Egypt, in the seventeenth province (nome), where his worship was centered. The province's town of Hardai, which had a dog cemetery in its environs, was called Kunopolis (Cynopolis) by the Greeks. But the cult was spread all over the country.
Anubis is one of the oldest funerary deities. Originally a destroyer of corpses, he was reshaped by theologians as the embalmer of gods and men. To Anubis was entrusted the mummification of Osiris (the ruler of the dead) and his followers, and the guardianship of their burials. Later Egyptian texts referred to Anubis as the son of Osiris—the product of a relationship between Osiris and his sister Nephthys.
In funeral ceremonies, the role of Anubis as promoter of the revival of the dead was performed by a priest-embalmer. Thus their earlier enemy had become their powerful ally. During the New Kingdom and later periods, a figure of the recumbent god usually appeared atop the "mystery chests" containing the prepared viscera of the dead. In this way Anubis, "he who is over the mystery," fulfilled his duty as keeper of the internal organs that he had resuscitated.
Anubis tended not only the physical well-being of the dead but their moral nature as well. He played a prominent part in the judgment hall of the hereafter. As "magistrate of the court" he examined the deceased, whom he permitted to leave the hall if the outcome was satisfactory. He continued to be the "conductor of souls" (Gr., psuchopompos) in the cult and mysteries of Isis during Hellenistic and Roman times. Anubis was closely associated with the pharaoh, not only after his death but at his birth as well.
Bibliography
Altenmüller, Brigitte. "Anubis." In Lexikon der Ägyptologie, edited by Wolfgang Helck and Eberhard Otto. Wiesbaden, 1975.
DuQuense, Terence. Jackal at the Shaman's Gate. Thame Oxon, 1991. Anubis Lord of Ro-Setawe.
DuQuense, Terence. At the Court of Osiris. London, 1994. Anubis and judgment.
Grenier, Jean-Claude. Anubis alexandrin et romain. Leiden, 1977. Anubis in the Greco-Roman period.
Heerma van Voss, Matthieu. Een mysteriekist ontsluierd. Leiden, 1969. Anubis and the "mystery chest."
Heerma van Voss, Matthieu. Anoebis en de demonen. Leiden, 1978. Anubis as "magistrate of the court."
Leclant, Jean. "Anubis." In Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, edited by John Boardman et al. Zürich, 1981. Anubis in the classical world.
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