Anubis

God of Embalming

Cult Center: Thinis, Lycopolis, quickly spreading throughout Egypt.

Attributes: Guardian of the Necropolis (cemetery). He was the guide of the dead as they made their way through the darkness of the underworld. As a patron of magic, it was believed he could foresee a persons destiny, in this role he was the announcer of death.

Anubis was the patron of embalming. He was also the keeper of poisons and medicines. He provided unguents and rare herbs to help Isis and Nephthys with the embalming of Osiris. Anubis then performed the funeral of Osiris, which would be the model for all funerals to come. As he received the mummy into the tomb, he performed the 'Opening of the Mouth' ceremony.

In the "Hall of Ma'at", Anubis appears on behalf of the diseased. It was Anubis who saw that the beam of the great scale was in the proper position as he supervises the weighing of the heart of a deceased person against the feather of . The god of knowledge,Thoth, records the results. It is also Anubis that protects the dead from Ammut, the 'Devourer'.

Anubis invented embalming to embalm Osiris, the first mummy. He was the guide of the dead. Ma'at was the Goddess of justice, order and truth. 

The Ancient Egyptians believed that when you died, you travelled to the Hall of the Dead. There Anubis weighed your heart against the feather of Ma'at. First, he steadied the scales to make the weighing fair. If your heart was heavier than the feather then it was eaten by a demon. We still talk of "a heart as light as a feather" to mean care-free, and "heavy-hearted" to mean sad. 

The feather of Ma'at was an ostrich plume. She wore it on her head. The chief justice of Egypt began court hearings by wearing the feather of Ma'at. Judgment was symbolized by handing the feather to the successful party in token of a favourable decision. 

Representation: A man with the head of a jackal. A dog or a jackal.

Copyright © 2010 Tim Stouse
Last modified: December 10, 2010

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