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Anubis
***Anubis*** is probably the Egyptian deity whose appearance is best known to the general public: a black jackal, or a man with a black jackal's head. Though biologically it has been shown that "jackals" in Egypt are, in fact, not jackals, but a kind of wolves – so perhaps one should call Anubis a black wolf or man with a black wolf's head. The Old Egyptians defined him as *“sab”*, "jackal", rather than *“iwiw”*, "dog". On the other hand, they do not seem to have distinguished much between the various canines, so there is some confusion about what kind of animal Anubis really is.
Being an ancient deity, Anubis has played different roles throughout centuries and millennia, each of them related to death. The oldest text that mentions him is “The Pyramid Texts”, assumed to be from 2400-2300 BC. There, he is connected with a Pharaoh's funeral. He was the god of the Underworld until that role was taken over by Osiris, he was the one who led souls to the afterlife, and he took part in the "weighing of the heart", in order to determine who would be allowed to go further after death. Anubis was also the god of embalming and mummification. Moreover, he was considered to protect graves and tombs. Anubis was, incidentally, also associated with some aspects of medicine; his priests had great knowledge of herbal medicine. To be allowed to proceed to "paradise", the deceased must be regarded as "pure" when Anubis sniffed at the mummy. It was held that sweet spices for embalming increased the chance.
Black is the colour of mummification; embalmed bodies turned black. It is also the colour of rebirth in Egyptian colour symbolism. Black sludge of the Nile which every year cyclically came with the floods was what made the Nile valley so fertile; a prerequisite for life in Egypt. Anubis is the Greek form of the name. In Egypt he was called *Anpu* or *Inpu* and had several names, such as Imeut ( "He who is at the place of embalming"). The major site of the Anubis cult was *Hardai* (Cynopolis), and to some extent *Abt* and *Zawty* (today's Asyut), all in Upper Egypt. Then there is *Anubeion* with a very large number of dog mummies. It is located outside of Saqqara and was also a centre of the Anubis cult. Copyright © 2020 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved. All my articles about Egypt and Egyptology can be found here. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/index-over-my-articles-at-read-cash-5f7c1e34#egyptology Interested in history, legends and myths, join my community History, Myths, Legends & Mysteries (be45). https://read.cash/c/history-myths-legends-mysteries-be45 You find all my writings on Read.Cash, sorted by topic, here. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/index-over-my-articles-at-read-cash-5f7c1e34
21 comments
Wow . Believe me I didn't know about this Egyptian tradition or history. Thank you for bringing it for us
Nice, then I have introduced you to something for you new. I hope you enjoy it.
Yes . Thank you for it 😊
Sometimes I wonder so much myth and mythology is mixed with Egyptian culture that it becomes difficult to discern between truth and false. But as it has survived for so long therefore some truth must be there.
Yes, nothing last that long without having some truth in it. I also think that the division between different disciplines we are used to, was alien to them. Everything was interconnected, even mythology expressed something about reality. This is so complex that we still cannot fully understand them. Hopefully more texts from that time will be found. Judging from Greek observers is misleading, the Greeks had too primitive a mind to understand more than the surface of he Egyptian culture.
One of the very well known figures of ancient Egypt. I know Anubis from history but I was not competent in terms of its history. Thanks mate 😌
Well, most people recognise Anubis, but few know very much about him.
It always reminds me of a Doberman and partly a windhound. I guess it stands for a way of afterlife and healing... I wonder what wolves looked like according to the Egypts. 👍💕
Windhound, I think that is the same as greyhound in English. That's a good observation. You will see more of that in a couple of subsequent articles about dogs and other doglike deities in Egypt.
Sorry, I missed your last question there. Their view of wolfs seems to have been something similar to a greyhound. Such a deity was worshipped in a city the Greeks called Lycopolis, wolf city, today's Asyut (more on that in my next article). On the whole, they seem to have made no clear distinction between wolfs and jackals.
Thanks to his article I found out that anubis was male, he always related that he was female, anubis' position has caught my attention a lot, and instead of a wolf, he looks like a dogwerman dog,
Wolfs, jackals and dogs, the disticntion between them was vague.
Anubis is Hades or Pluto in greek n roman mythology, god of the underworld
It's not really that simple. The major Egyptian deities were far more complex than anything the Greeks ever had. Their relation to death was also more complex. Even the meaning of Duat, the Underworld, is not so simple as to say it is the realm of death.
Yes, but there's a similarity when u based it on the story, just saying, 'coz to me, it's like the same
Okay; yes I understand what you mean.
Have u seen the movie, Gods of Egypt? Thanks for sharing this article, i am fan of this kind of thing n this is a good article
I have no seen it. Is it good?
Yes, it is, the story's about the Gods of Egypt, had watched it many times n u should try n watch it
Indeed, I will.
Very good; an interesting addition to your Egyptian article collection. Thank you.