Mythology

Before the rise of Osiris, Anubis was the most important Egyptian funerary god. Originally he appears to have been primarily concerned with the burial and afterlife of the king, though eventually this role was extended to incorporate all the dead. One Egyptian text derives the name of Anubis from a verb meaning ‘putrefy’, and his name was also linked to a word for ‘king’s son’, perhaps in relation to Osiris, but these are probably later, contrived etymologies, and the original meaning of the name is unsure. The god’s association with the dead probably originated in the habit of desert canines scavenging in the shallow graves of early cemeteries, and, as was common in Egyptian protective magic, the form of the threat was then utilized in order to provide protection for the dead. During the Old Kingdom the prayers carved on funerary stelae and on the walls of the mastaba tombs were addressed directly to him, and in the Pyramid Texts he is mentioned dozens of times in connection with the king’s burial. Eventually the cult of Anubis was assimilated to that of Osiris who was said to be the father of Anubis who in turn was said to have wrapped the body of the underworld god, thus tying his role in mummification to the worship of Osiris. Differing myths have survived regarding the parentage of Anubis, however. In the Coffin Texts he is the son of the cow goddess Hesat, and also the son of Bastet. According to other stories he was the son of Seth or of Re and Nephthys while Plutarch records the tradition that he was the son of Nephthys but by Osiris and was subsequently adopted by Isis as her own son.

The central, mortuary character of Anubis is well illustrated in the epithets which were given to him. There were many of these, but some of the most frequently used titles of the god summarize much of his essential nature.

Foremost of the westerners: Because the majority of the Egyptians’ cemeteries were constructed on the western bank of the Nile - the symbolic direction of the setting sun and the underworld - the deceased were referred to as ‘westerners’. Thus, the epithet kJ'ienty-imentiu, ‘foremost of the westerners’, refers to the role of Anubis as the leader of the dead. The title was taken from the earlier canine deity of that name that Anubis superseded at Abydos.

Lord of the sacred land: The epithet neb-ta-djeser or ‘lord of the sacred land’ is similar in signifying the supremacy of Anubis over the desert areas where the necropoleis were located. The word djeser is often translated pure, so this epithet sometimes appears in translation as ‘lord of the pure land’. In addition to this general epithet Anubis also bore many titles relating him to specific areas in Egypt such as ‘lord of the White Land’, meaning the area of Gebelein.

He who is upon his sacred mountain: Anubis tepy-dju-ef ‘who is upon his mountain’, is a title probably based on the image of the jackal god watching over the burials of the dead from the heights of the desert cliffs overlooking the necropoleis. The expression was a general one relating to the high desert areas to the west of the Nile rather than any particular mountain.

Ruler of the bows: In the Pyramid Texts there is a reference to ‘the Jackal, the Governor of the Bows,...Anubis’ (PT 805), which refers to the so-called ‘nine bows’ - nine ethnically differentiated figures depicted as literal bows or as bound captives who represented the enemies of Egypt. This expression underlies the motif used in the seal which was placed upon the entrances to the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings in the New Kingdom and which showed the figure of Anubis crouching above the nine bows, symbolizing the god’s control of evildoers who might endanger the burial or the underworld enemies of the dead.

Mammalian Deities

(Opposite left) Anubis in fully anthropomorphic form. 19th dynasty. Temple of Setlios I, Ahydos.

(Opposite right) Anuhisin his typical hybrid form. 19 th dynasty. Tomb of Tawosret, Valley of the Kings, western Thebes.

(Above) Anubisattends the mummy of the deceased. Detail, painted sarcophagus. 22nd dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

He who is in the place of embalming'. Anubis imy-ul - ‘who is in the place of embalming’ - specifically referred to the role of Anubis in the embalming process and as master of the per wabet, the ritual tent or pavilion where embalming was carried out. Mythologically it was Anubis who embalmed the body of Osiris and the deceased king and who then protected it along with the containers in which the internal organs were preserved - a process known to have been carried out from at least the beginning of the 4th dynasty.

Faremost of the divine booth. The epithet khenty-sekh - netjer can symbolically refer to either the embalming booth or the burial chamber, or even to the shrine in which the coffin and sarcophagus were placed in New Kingdom royal burials. The god is often depicted in this role in his zoomorphic form atop funerary chests, and the statue of Anubis seated upon a gilded model shrine wdiich was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun symbolized this epithet specifically.

During the Graeco-Roman Period Anubis was transformed in a number of ways and took up new roles, becoming something of a cosmic deity reigning over the earth and sky and being related to arcane wisdom as the bringer of light to humanity. In his original mortuary role he was also associated whth the Greek Hekate and with Hermes Psy-chopompos who, in Greek mythology, conducted the souls of the deceased to the shores of the River Styx.