Anubis is a deity of Ancient Egypt with the head of a jackal, the god of death

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

One of the most mysterious ancient Egyptian gods is Anubis. He is in charge of the realm of the dead and is one of its judges. When the Egyptian religion was just beginning to exist, God was perceived as a black jackal that devours the dead and guards the entrance to their kingdom.

Appearance

A little later, not so much remained of the original image of the god of death. Anubis is the god of the kingdom of the dead in the ancient city of Siut, above him in the religion of the Egyptians is only a god in the guise of a wolf named Upuatu, to whom the deity from the kingdom of the dead obeys. It was believed that it was Anubis who transferred the souls of the dead between worlds.

But where the deceased would go, Osiris decided. 42 judge-gods gathered in his chamber. It was their decision that depended on whether the soul would enter the Fields of Ialu or be subjected to spiritual death forever.

Scales of Anubis

The mention of this god is reflected in the Book of the Dead, compiled for the fifth and sixth dynasties of the pharaohs. One of the priests described his own stay with his wife at Anubis. The book says that he and his wife bowedkneel before divine judges. In the chamber where the fate of the soul is decided, special scales are installed, behind which stands the god of death Anubis. He puts the priest's heart on the left bowl, and on the right - the feather of Maat - a symbol of truth, reflecting the righteousness and infallibility of human deeds.

Anubis-Sab is another Egyptian name for this god. It means "divine judge". The annals contain information that he had magical abilities - he could see the future. It was Anubis who was responsible for preparing the deceased for death. His duties included embalming and mummifying the body. After that, around the body, he exhibited children, each of them had vessels with the organs of the deceased in their hands. This ritual was performed to protect the soul. Worshiping Anubis, during the preparation of the body, the priests put on a mask with the face of a jackal. The correct conduct of all the rites guaranteed that at night the mystical deity would protect the body of the deceased from the influence of evil spirits.

Greco-Roman faith

When the cults of Isis and Serapis began to develop actively in the Roman Empire, the perception of the deity of Ancient Egypt with the head of a jackal changed a little. The Greeks and Romans began to consider him a servant of the supreme gods, comparing the god of the dead with Hermes. In those days, it was believed that he patronizes anesthesiologists, psychologists and psychiatrists. This opinion appeared after attributing additional qualities to Anubis. It was also believed that he was able to show the right path to the lost, to lead him out of the labyrinth.

Ancient Egyptian god of death

Mainly portrayedAnubis with the body of a man and the head of a jackal. His main mission was to transport the soul to the afterlife. There are records that he appeared to people during the period of the Old Kingdom, taking the form of the Duat. According to legend, the goddess Nephthys was his mother, and the goddess Inut became his wife.

Most of all, Anubis was worshiped in Kinopol - the capital of the seventeenth Egyptian nome. In one of the cycles of descriptions of the gods, the patron of the dead helped Isis in search of parts of Osiris. But at the time of animistic ideas, Anubis appeared before the inhabitants in the form of a black dog.

Over time, the Egyptian religion developed, and Anubis changed his image. Now he was portrayed as a man with the head of a dog. Cinema center became the center of worship of the god of death. According to Egyptologists, the spread of the cult was extremely fast for those times. According to the inhabitants of the Old Kingdom, this deity was the owner of the underworld, and his name was Khentiamentiu. Before the appearance of Osiris, he was the main one in the whole West. Other sources indicate that this is not his name, but the name of the place where the temple of worship of Anubis is located. The literal translation of this word sounds like "the very first inhabitant of the West." But after the Egyptians began to worship Osiris, many functions of the Duat were transferred to the new supreme god.

New Kingdom period, 16th-11th century BC

In Egyptian mythology, Anubis is the god of the dead, the son of Osiris and Nephthys, the sister of Isis. The mother hid the newborn god from Set, her lawful spouse, in the swamps of the Nile. Later found itIsis, the mother goddess who raised Anubis. After some time, Set, turning into a leopard, killed Osiris, tearing his body into pieces and scattering it around the world.

Helped Isis collect the remains of Osiris Anubis. He wrapped his father's body in a special cloth, and according to legend, this is how the first mummy came into being. It was thanks to this myth that Anubis became the patron of necropolises and the god of embalming. Thus, the son wanted to keep his father's body. According to legend, Anubis had a daughter, Kebhut, who made libations in honor of the dead.

Name

During the period of the Old Kingdom from 2686 to 2181 BC, the name Anubis was written in the form of two hieroglyphs, the literal translation of which sounds like "jackal" and "peace be upon him." After that, the name of the god began to be written as "a jackal on a high stand." This designation is still used today.

Cult history

In the period from 3100 to 2686 BC, Anubis was represented as a jackal. His images are also on the stone from the era of the reign of the first dynasty of the pharaohs. Previously, people were buried in shallow pits, which were often torn apart by jackals, which may be why the Egyptians associated the god of death with this animal.

The most ancient references to this god are considered to be indications in the texts of the pyramids, where Anubis is found in explanations of the rules for the burial of pharaohs. At that time, this god was considered the most significant in the realm of the dead. Over time, his influence weakened, and already during the Roman era, the ancient god Anubis was depicted together with the dead, whom he led by the hand.

As for the origin of this god, the information also changed over time. Considering early Egyptian mythology, one can find references to the fact that he is the son of the god Ra. The found texts of the sarcophagi report that Anubis is the son of Bastet (goddess with a cat's head) or Khesat (goddess-cow). After some time, Nephthys, who abandoned the baby, began to be considered his mother, after which he was adopted by her sister Isis. Many researchers believe that such a change in the god's bloodline is nothing more than an attempt to make him part of the bloodline of the god Osiris.

When the Greeks ascended the throne, the Egyptian Anubis was crossed with Hermes and turned into the single god of the dead Hermanubis due to the similarity of their missions. In Rome, this god was worshiped until the second century AD. Later, references to it could be found in the alchemical and mystical literature of the Middle Ages and even the Renaissance. Despite the opinion of the Romans and Greeks that the Egyptian gods are too primitive, and their images are unusual, it was Anubis who became part of their religion. They compared him to Sirius and revered him as a Cerberus living in the realm of Hades.

Religious functions

The main function of one of the gods of Egypt, Anubis, was to guard the graves. It was believed that he guards the desert necropolises on the western banks of the Nile. This is evidenced by the texts carved on the graves. He also embalmed and mummified corpses. Rites were held in the burial chambers of the pharaohs, where the priests, putting onmask of a jackal, performed all the necessary procedures so that at night God would protect the body from evil forces. According to legend, Anubis saved the bodies of the dead from enraged forces, using a red-hot iron rod for this.

Set in the form of a leopard tried to tear the body of Osiris, and Anubis saved him by branding his biological mother's husband. Since then, it is believed that this is how the leopard got spots, and the priests, visiting the dead, put on their skins to scare away evil spirits. The Egyptian god Anubis also led the souls of the dead to the judgment of Osiris, just like the Greek Hermes, brought the dead to Hades. It was he who decided whose soul was heavier on the scales. And how he weighed the soul of the deceased, it depended whether it would go to heaven or go into the jaws of the terrible monster Amat, which was a hippopotamus with lion's paws and a crocodile's mouth.

Image in art

It was Anubis that was most often depicted in the art of Ancient Egypt. At the very beginning, he was represented as a black dog. It is worth noting that the shade was purely symbolic, it reflected the color of the corpse after rubbing it with soda and resin for further mummification. In addition, black reflected the color of the silt in the river and was associated with fertility, foreshadowing rebirth in the world of the dead. Later, the images changed to represent the god of death Anubis in the form of a man with the head of a jackal.

There was a ribbon around his body and he was holding a chain in his hands. As for funerary art, he was depicted as a participant in mummification, or as sitting on the grave and guarding it. by the mosta unique and unusual image of Anubis was found in the tomb of Ramesses II in the city of Abydos, where the face of God was completely human.