Mike's journal

Anubis, the canine deity of mummification and the guardian of the Dead. The name Anubis is a Hellenic corruption of the Egyptian name Yinepu or Anpu. Like Osiris, his cult is quit old and prayers were attributed to him as early as in the oldest mastabas of the Old kingdom. He is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts in his most celebrated role as a guardian and protector of the dead.
It is safe to say that before the rise of Osiris, Anubis was the God of the Underworld. He is counted as a mysterious deity, whose translation of his name remains uncertain of which translation is the right one. Is it Royal Child or something else. What is interesting about this deity is that as one of Egypt’s oldest deities, who handed the Underworld over to Osiris, he would later be known as a son of Osiris. A remarkable change for a deity who was once ruler of the Underworld, now he is the son of the current leader. We don’t know that much of him, but we do know his symbols being the jackal, ox-hide hanging from a pole, embalming equipment, flail, flags and his cult centres were Heliopolis and Cynopolis.
The question of which animal Anubis represents is hard to answer. We don’t know the real answer to it. We know the animal is canine and most likely to represent a wild dog or jackal or perhaps a hybrid of both. Like with Seth, alterations can smudge the lines of reality. The deep black colour Anubis's animal is not reflective of its actual coat but is instead symbolic of his position as a funerary deity. The reason for Anubis's animal being canid is based on what the ancient Egyptians themselves observed of the creature -- dogs and jackals often haunted the edges of the desert, especially the cemeteries where the dead were buried. As mentioned previously, Anubis began in the position that Osiris would later command. In the earliest period of Egyptian religion Anubis was clearly the lord of the dead and Osiris the embalmed god while Anubis performed the act of embalming. Titles that were invested unto Osiris -- such as Khenty-Imentiu or "Foremost of Westerners" -- were originally Anubis'. As the drama of Osiris' death and vindication unfolded over the centuries, Anubis assumed the role of the guide who holds steady the scales on which their hearts are measured against the feather of Ma'at as "He Who Counts the Hearts". Should the heart be light as the feather, the soul would then be lead by Anubis (or, in some cases, Harseisis) to be presented to Osiris. Should the heart be heavy, it is fed to Ammit and the soul destroyed. As Imy-ut, or “He Who Is In The Place Of Embalming”, Anubis is the embalmer who washes the entrails of the dead and guards over their physical bodies as the places that house them. Priests who wore the masks of Anubis were responsible for the opening of the Mount ceremony that reawakened a dead person’s senses. In a reflection of the royal seal used on the tombs of the Valley of the Kings depicting pharaoh's victory over the "nine bows" (enemies of Egypt), Anubis is shown recumbent over nine bows meant to be hostile forces of the Underworld who he -- as "Jackal Ruler of the Bows" -- has triumphed over.
Anubis's parentage is a mystery. In one tradition, he is the son of Nebt-het (Nephthys) and Ra. In yet another, from the Coffin Text period, the cow goddess Hesat is his mother and, from the same source, Bastet is even accounted as his mother (most likely a pun on the ointment jars that comprise her hieroglyphs, the same jars that were used during the embalming process Anubis was lord of). The Pyramid Texts even supply Anubis with a daughter in the form of the goddess Qeb-hwt ("Cooling Water"), a celestial serpent or ostrich, Who purifies and quenches the monarch. Anubis is depicted most often as a man with the head of a black canid with alert, pointed ears. He is also represented by a full black canid wearing ribbons and holding a flagellum in the crook of its arm. Very rarely is he ever shown fully human, though there are some cases (such as in the temple of Ramesses II of Abydos) of this. Perhaps the most famous representation of Anubis, the gold-gilded wooden canid found in the tomb of Tutankhamen, was doubtlessly placed there as a protector of the dead and guardian of the tomb. I’m no practitioner, but I do think that Anubis could very well be seen as a God of the Dead and Underworld besides Mummification. The reason I think so is because, people rarely these days get mummified, so Anubis could evolve to a deity of the Afterlife which he once was. Whether people see him as the son of Osiris or not, it does not really matter. It does matter how people perceive him. Recently Anubis gained some global attention through the second Mummy movie where he’s depicted as a dark deity who made a pact with the scorpion king that he would command his army in return that he must gave his soul.
In reality, Anubis isn’t like that. Than again, that is what I like to call the “curse” of Christian thinking that everything must be black and white. Like that is the world is made up of. I must admit that ever since I came into contact with Egyptian mythology and its deities, the only deity that really fascinated me was Anubis. Don’t get me wrong, Ra and Osiris and Seth are also interesting, but Anubis is my favourite here.

any comments are appreciated