Anubis   

Also known as: Anpu ~ Ienpw ~ Yinepu           Pronunciation: uh-noo'-bis

Anubis, God of the Dead, represented with a head of a jackal or simply as a jackal opened the road to the other world and presided over embalmments. The origin of this god's role lay in the fact that jackals could be heard howling in the desert to the west of the Nile at sunset-at the time when burials took place.
After a funeral, Anubis would take the deceased by the hand and introduce him into the presence of the sovereign judges where the soul of the deceased would be weighed. Anubis was the Guardian of Offerings brought to the ceremony by heirs of the deceased and he also guarded the mummy from evil forces in the night. When the body was embalmed, a priest wearing a jackal mask acted as Anubis's representative. He also was the guardian of the Sacred Esoteric Mysteries.

     His mother was Nephthys and that his father was, according to some, Set; from another point of view he was the son of Ra.
       His worship is very ancient, and there is no doubt that even the earliest times his cult was general in Egypt; it is probable that it is older than that of Osiris. In the text of Unas he is associated with the Eye of Horus, and his duty as the guide of the dead in the Underworld on their way to Osiris was well defined.
In the vignette of the Funeral Procession the mummy is received by Anubis, who stands by the Book of the Dead the god is seen standing by the side of the mummy as it lies on its bier, and he lays his protecting hands upon it. In the speech which is put into the mouth of Anubis, he says, "I have come to protect Osiris." In the text of Unas the nose of the deceased declares, My lips are the lips of Anpu." From various passages it is clear that one part of Egypt at least Anubis was the great god of the Underworld, and his rank and importance seem to have been as great as those of Osiris.
     The duties of Anubis were guiding the souls of the dead round about the Underworld and into the kingdom of Osiris was shared by Anubis with another god whose type and symbol was a jackal, and whose name was Ap-uat, i.e., the "Opener of the ways.
      The function of each god was to "open the ways," and therefore each might be called Ap-uat, but, strictly speaking, Anubis was the opener of the roads of the North, and Ap-uat the opener of the roads of the South' in fact, Anubis was the personification of the Summer Solstice, and Ap-uat of the Winter Solstice.

Information obtained from   http://www.crystalinks.com/

  The name of Anubis  in hieroglyphs

back to Egyptian Deities

back to The Jade Fox F A Q's
This information, charts, merchandise and books available at The Jade Fox