Anubis
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Anubis (Jnpw) was one of the foremost funerary deities of ancient Egypt, the importance of the jackal-headed god in facilitating the burial and transition to the afterlife—first of royalty, later for all people—readily witnessed in the veneration accorded him throughout Egyptian history and culture.
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Origins and Mythology
Prior to the ascent of Osiris to national pre-eminence as the foremost funerary deity, Anubis fulfilled that role—that a jackal god, like his earthly counterparts, should frequent the desert wastelands in which the dead were buried, should not be unexpected. In many ways, the association must have been obvious to early Egyptians, a potentially destructive threat to the buried deceased being absorbed by protective magic, transforming the jackal into a helpful deity.
The etymology of the name of Anubis remains somewhat confused, depriving us of some clues as to the god's origins and original conception. A number of later explanations appear in Egyptian sources: one text linked the name with a verb meaning "to rot, to putrefy", while others linked his name with an alternative word for a "king's son".
The cult of Anubis was ultimately assimilated within that of Osiris, subsequently held to be the father of Anubis and who in turn was embalmed and mummified by his jackal-headed son in his transformation as god of the underworld.
A number of alternative myths purport to describe the parentage of Anubis: the Coffin Texts, for example, cite the cow goddess Hesat as his mother, as well as the cat goddess Bastet. Other stories have Anubis as the son of Seth or the offspring of Re and Nephthys. The Greek writer Plutarch much later recorded the notion that Anubis was the son of Nephthys and Osiris, later adopted by Osiris' wife Isis as her own son.
The female counterpart of Anubis was a goddess called Input, who—although enjoying the importance of her spouse—nonetheless attracted her own cult in the 17th Upper Egyptian nome.
Function
- ḫnty-jmnty.w (khenty-imentiu) - "Foremost of the Westerners": refers to the role of Anubis as leader of the "westerners"; that is, those that resided in the West, in the direction of the setting sun and the underworld, namely, the deceased (most ancient Egyptian cemeteries were established on the western desert edge of the Nile valley). This particular epithet was transferred from the earlier canine deity, Wepwawet, subsequently superseded by Anubis at Abydos.
- tp.y ḏw=f (tepy-dju-ef) - "He Who is Upon His Mountain"
- nb t3-ḏsr (neb ta-djeser) - "Lord of the Sacred Land / Lord of the Pure Land"
- jm.y-wt (imy-wut) - "He Who is in the Place of Embalming" - clearly refers to the central role of the Anubis in embalming, the master of of the pr.(w) w3b.t, a ritual canopy or tent where the process was effected.
- ḫnty-sḥ-nṯr (khenty-sekh-netjer) - "Foremost of the Divine Booth"
- ḥq3-pḏ.wt - "Ruler of the Bows" - the Pyramid Texts refer to "the Jackal, the Governor of the Bows, .... Anubis" [ PT 805], an allusion to the Nine Bows, the symbolic enemies of Egypt, who stood representative of evil influences who might jeopardise the well-being of the dead. Anubis' control over these malevolent forces is apparent in this epithet, and explains the god's appearance within the motif employed in the seal placed upon the plastered doorways to the New Kingdom royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, as well as clay sealings used to seal various objects, such as the shrines of Tutankhamun in his Valley tomb (at right).
From the New Kingdom period onwards, Anubis is frequently depicted in editions of the Book of Dead as performing the "Opening of the Mouth" ceremony on the mummy and statues of the deceased, as well as escorting the spirit of the deceased into the presence of Osiris in the underworld. Subsequently, the god is often shown weighing the heart of the deceased against the feather of truth (Maʿat) in the presence of Thoth (as scribe) and Osiris (as judge).
 Book of the Dead of Hunefer, Opening of the Mouth Scene |
 Book of the Dead of Any, Judgement Scene |
Forms and Iconography
Frequently referred to as the foremost 'jackal' god of ancient Egypt on the basis of his head and erect ears, it should nonetheless be noted that whilst closely resembling a jackal in his zoomorphic form—and sharing the term s3b employed by the Egyptians for jackals and other canines—the full iconography of Anubis does diverge subtly, but significantly from a pure jackal form. As such, while the Anubis 'animal' does display the essential characteristics of dogs (elongated snout, five-clawed frontal paws and four-clawed hind paws), the tail is normally wide and club-shaped—and displayed at a lower posture—much like those of the jackal, fox or wolf. It has been suggested, accordingly, that the Anubis animal may in its origins represent a form of dog-jackal hybrid. The colouring of the animal's coat is consistently black, perhaps doubly symbolic of the fertile soil of the Nile Valley (redolent of regeneration) and associated with the discolouration of the human corpse after preparation for burial. In zoomorphic form, Anubis is normally depicted lying stretched, head and ears erect, tail hanging vertically, on top of a small shrine; a collar and tie may be worn around the neck. Frequently, a sekhem-sceptre or flail, or both, may be positioned as if to rise from the animal's back.
Anubis is normally portrayed therianthropically with the bewigged head of the Anubis animal (jackal) on the male body of a god in human form—occasionally, the god may also sport a tail. Aside from this distinctive appearance, Anubis is usually without any specific attributes or emblems. Fully anthropomorphic depictions of the god do exist, but are rare. In very late depictions of the god, such as might be found on catacomb walls in Alexandria, Anubis can be dressed in military armour (invoking his protective role), or with the lower portion of his body in serpent form that might reflect some of the god's later aspects.
Cult and Worship
Although a national deity whose cult was recognised throughout Egypt—as revealed by the his numerous chapels and depictions in mortuary temples and tombs—Anubis also possessed a localised focus as the chief god of the 17th Upper Egyptian nome in Middle Egypt, known to the Greeks as 'Cynopolis' ('the city of the dogs', modern el-Qeis).
A number of other localised cult centres existed for the deity: the chapel of Anubis in the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, for example, might represent the continuation of an earlier cult or shrine of the god in that location, whilst also demonstrating the continued veneration of Anubis as a discrete being long after his assimilation within the larger cult of Osiris.
The Memphite necropolis at Saqqara seems also to have developed as a focal point for the cult of Anubis in the Late and Ptolemaic Periods, most likely as a result of the burgeoning activity of embalmers, for whose profession Anubis represented the patron deity. A large sanctuary was constructed on the desert ridge at north Saqqara, long-termed the Anubeion by modern Egyptologists.
Bibliography
- Altenmüller, H., "Anubis", LdÄ I, pp.327-333.
- Doxey, D.M., "Anubis", OEAE I, pp.97-98.
- DuQuesne, T. [2005], The Jackal Divinities of Egypt, London: Darengo Publications, 2005.
- Evans, Linda [2008], "The Anubis Animal: A Behavioural Solution?", GM 216 {2008], pp.17-24.
- Leitz, C. [2002], "Inpw", in Lexikon der Ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen, volume 1, Leuven: Peeters, 2002, pp.390-398.
- Ritner, R.K. [1985], "Anubis and the Lunar Disc", JEA 71 (1985), pp.149-155.
