The idea that the ancient Egyptians were OVERLY OBSESSED with death is actually a myth. They weren't THAT obsessed with death, but it did play an important role in the lives of the Egyptians. I guess it makes sense that in order to understand life, it would be important to understand death as well. Hence, the ancient Egyptians knew a lot about death and believed that the soul was immortal and needed help to reach the afterlife after it left its body.
Considering how important death was, it makes sense that Anubis, the jackal-headed god of death and mummification, would be a very important figure for the ancient Egyptians. Anubis was the son of the gods Nephthys and Osiris. The story goes that Nephthys looked a lot like Osiris's sister-wife Isis, and so tricked him and gave birth to Anubis. Sometimes this affair is said to be the inciting incident for Set's reign of terror over Egypt. Sometimes, it happens because Set is jealous of Osiris and Isis and so neglects his wife Nephthys, causing her to seduce Osiris. Whatever the outcome or reason, Anubis is born as the son of Osiris and Nephthys and hence, is rejected by his stepfather Set.
Anubis leaves home and soon encounters his aunt Isis, who had just lost her husband Osiris and was trying to find his body. She took in Anubis and taught him magic. Once he had learnt, they parted ways and Anubis left for the Duat/the underworld. Anubis became the king of the dead and the god of death. He judged the dead souls on how good or bad they were in their life. Eventually, Isis and Nephthys found Osiris's dead body. They asked Anubis for help with resurrecting Osiris. So Anubis preserves Osiris's body and brings him back to life, making Osiris the first mummy; and making Anubis the inventor and god of mummification. Outside of that, Anubis doesn't really have any other stories about him.
Now, just because he didn't have many stories doesn't mean he wasn't widely worshipped. He was one of the most popular Egyptian deities. His historical development goes as far back as before "Egypt" became official. The Egyptians have always buried their dead in tombs with many treasures to help the soul in the afterlife. Unfortunately, the buried goods attracted the attention of thieves. So, to scare the thieves away, the carved and painted black jackals on the walls of the tomb. Jackals were often seen near tombs and would scavenge and eat the remains of any dead body it finds. After connecting jackals with death, they began to worship a god with the head of a jackal in order to protect them from jackals. This figure would become Anubis.
Anubis's head is specifically the head of an African golden jackal (as of 2015, due to observation and study, scientists have renamed it to wolf). At first, he was just depicted as a full jackal but soon morphed into a human with the head of a jackal. Anubis was the all-powerful king of the underworld and the god of the dead. He would judge souls and reward or punish them in the afterlife based on their deeds. But, with the discovery and invention of mummification and embalming, Anubis also became the god of mummification. embalmers would often wear Anubis/jackal masks while preserving or wrapping a body.
Anubis was highly popular and worshipped all throughout Egypt as the god of death and the dead. At first, Anubis didn't have any parentage, so they made him the son of Ra, the most-important sun god. Eventually, He was given the whole Osiris-Nephthys birth story. As time moved on, Osiris would replace him as king of the underworld, and Anubis was reduced to a psychopomp and balancer of souls. When the Romans conquered Egypt, they syncretized Anubis with Hermes and Hades. In fact, a new god, Hermanubis, was formed. He's basically Hermes and Anubis combined.
Anubis has been depicted in many different ways throughout pop culture. Sometimes he's a mysterious god who's tortured by the sins he committed for whatever reason. Sometimes he's a good guy and sometimes he's just neutral. Sometimes he's the divine sexy teenage love interest of the main character. Often he's portrayed as the sinister god of death and a merciless villain. This has ZERO precedent in the mythology and I wish it would stop. I hope to portray a nice version of him in the future.
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| Anubis: Picture credit link |
So that's my thoughts on Anubis. What do you think about him? Who do you think is a better king of the Egyptian underworld, Osiris or Anubis? What is your favourite portrayal of Anubis and why? Feel free to comment down below! (Comment responsibly. Constructive criticism is welcome)
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