anubis was a god present in the religiosity of the Ancient Egypt and he was considered the god of the dead and of mummification. He was thought to protect the tombs and the dead in the beyond, but he ended up losing some of these attributes to Osiris. The Egyptians portrayed him with the head of a jackal, and reproductions of this god's image were found in Egyptian tombs.
Lookalso: Thor — an important god of Norse mythology
Summary about Anubis
Anubis was an Egyptian god depicted with a jackal's face.
He was considered the god of the dead and mummification.
Over time, these attributes of Anubis were related to Osiris.
Anubis was also considered the guide of the dead in the afterlife and the protector of the tombs.
The first representation of Anubis dates back to around 3100 BC. Ç.
Who was Anubis?
Anubis was an important egyptian god, considered the first god of the dead present in the religiosity of this people. He was also known for being the god of mummification and the one who guided the dead in the beyond. The Egyptians represented this god in a human body, however, having the head of a jackal.
The Egyptians portrayed Anubis with a black head, which represented the decomposition of the body, but it was also a color related to rebirth, with the fertile soil close to the Nile had this color.
inastic, which extended from 6100 BC. Ç. to 3500 a. C.D developed sometime in the Pre-period that the long-standing cult of Anubis. It is believed but historians claim that the cult of Anubis was probably already carried out and representations of this god were made in Egyptian tombs around 3100 BC. C., first As
As mentioned, Anubis was the first god of the dead in egyptian religiosity, but, Over time, Anubis' attributes came to be related to Osiris. (another important Egyptian deity), as well as his connection with the dead and mummification. This generated some confusion about the two gods and also caused changes in the myths involving Anubis.
Anubis has no significant roles in Egyptian myths. The rise of Osiris caused Anubis to become the son of Osiris and Nephthys, but there are variations in mythology that claim he was the son of Hesat and Bastet, for example. With the rise in importance of Osiris, Anubis was converted into a kind of helper of this god who protected the tombs and guided the dead in the afterlife.
The Egyptians believed that Anubis he was one of the gods who were present at the Courtinosiris, place where the dead were judged and where it was defined if they would enjoy the afterlife or if they would be devoured by a monster. Osiris played a role in the balance that weighed the dead man's heart (representing his actions) and a feather (representing the concept of justice).
for being the guardian of the tombs, it was believed that Anubis took revenge on all those who violated these sites. The Egyptians referred to Anubis as Anpu or Inpu. Anubis, in turn, is a term from the Greek language.
Regarding the birth of Anubis, there is an Egyptian myth that narrates this event. His birth would have been the result of a relationship between Osiris and Nephthys, goddess of the night. She had affection for Osiris, finding him very handsome. So she disguised herself as Isis (Osiris' wife) and slept with this god.
Nephthys became pregnant with Osiris, giving birth to the god Anubis, but she later abandoned him as she feared her husband Set would discover the betrayal. Isis discovered that Nephthys had become pregnant with Osiris and went after the child, rescuing him and raising him as if he were her own child. Set also discovered what had happened and, enraged, decided to take revenge by murdering Osiris.
readalso: Hades — the Greek god of the underworld
cult of anubis
One of the places that centralized the cult of Anubis in Ancient Egypt was the city of Saka, which was in Upper Egypt. Furthermore, there were shrines to Anubis scattereds Por all egyptian territory. This god's relationship with death made him the patron god of Memphis, a city that had necropolises scattered throughout Egypt. In Memphis, Anubis was the patron of embalming. The cult of Anubis was very popular in Egypt and reached other peoples, such as the Cushites.
These were not the only existing forms of worship of this god by the Egyptians:
there were priests who used jackal-shaped masks during rituals in places of worship;
amulets were used in reference to this god;
there were images of Anubis in the tombs in his honor.
Still, the Egyptians' devotion to Anubis was marked by the fact that a series of epithets were dadThe to that god in reference to his attributes. He was called by the Egyptians "the first of the West". “Western” was a word used to refer to those who lived in the afterlife. He was also known, among many other nicknames, as the "master of secrets", for he knew what awaited the dead in the beyond.
As we can see, both the epithets and the references to this god in Egyptian culture reinforced his association with death and its relation to burial practices and the beliefs of Egyptians in the afterlife death.
Video lesson on the religion of Ancient Egypt
By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher
