Anubis was interested in funeral customs and afterlife care. He was frequently shown as a jackal or as a man with a jackal’s head. The Egyptians would have seen jackals scavenging around cemeteries, which is probably how the relationship between jackals and death and funerals came about.
Prior to Osiris being well-known as the ruler of the afterlife in the Old Kingdom (c. 2575–2130 BCE), Anubis was regarded as the main deity of the dead. The dead king’s body was embalmed and wrapped by Anubis, who afterward became the patron god of embalmers, according to the Osiris myth.
Guardian of the dead
Anubis was the god of embalming and the protector of cemeteries. Before Osiris rose to prominence, Anubis was the chief god of the dead; later he became the one who prepared the body and guided the soul. In the Osiris myth he helps Isis wrap Osiris as the first mummy, which is why embalmers worked under his protection, and a priest wearing an Anubis mask may have led parts of the funeral.
The weighing of the heart
In scenes from the Book of the Dead, Anubis stands by the great scales, checking the balance as the heart of the dead person is weighed against the feather of Maat, while Thoth writes down the verdict. A heart heavier than the feather was eaten by the monster Ammit. His black colour stood for the fertile Nile mud and for rebirth, not for death or evil.
Where to see Anubis
The royal necropolis seal of the Valley of the Kings shows a recumbent jackal above nine bound captives; it was stamped on the doors of Tutankhamun’s tomb. The most famous Anubis is the gilded jackal on a shrine-shaped chest found in Tutankhamun’s treasury, now displayed with the king’s treasures at the Grand Egyptian Museum. At Hatshepsut’s temple on the Luxor West Bank, the Chapel of Anubis keeps some of the brightest paintwork in Egypt, and Anubis appears in almost every tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Quick facts
- Domain: embalming, cemeteries, guiding the dead
- Sacred animal: the jackal or wild dog
- Cult centre: Cynopolis (Hardai) in Middle Egypt
- Related deities: Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, Thoth
Continue with our ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses guide.