Anubis

 

Egypt

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Egyptian Gods

Anubis

Anubis

Anubis is revered in the town of Cynopolis, in Middle Egypt, and also has a sanctuary in Memphis.

The God Anubis, the jackal-God, is one of the most ancient deities of Egypt. Keeper of the necropolises, where wild dogs often prowl, digging up the corpses, Anubis is represented either as a lying down dog (the older form) or in the form of a hybrid, uniting a human body and a dogs head with long, pointy ears. It is thought that Anubis could be illegitimate son of Osiris and his sister Nephthys. Together with Isis and Nephthys, in what was the first mummification, he participated in rituals that would bring life back to Osiris. In order to perpetuate the myth, during the embalmments, the priests would sport the mask of Anubis and reconstruct the scene of Osiris' mummification.

But before being admitted to the underground world, the dead being was subjected to the terrible test of the weighing of the heart of which Anubis had the dubious honour of announcing the results. If the weight of the heart was equal to that of the feather of justice, i.e. free from sin, the deceased would be admitted to Osiris' heaven; if not he or she would be delivered to the Great Devourer, a hybrid monster.

Anubis is revered in the town of Cynopolis, in Middle Egypt, and also has a sanctuary in Memphis.

Category : Egyptian Gods
items Date : 01/08/2009
Author of items : Charles Rossignol