welcome to this ancient egyptian cemetery where just around midnight in 8000 bc
vicious snapping and snarling sounds fill the hot night air wild dogs fight over the remains
of a freshly buried corpse tearing at the flesh of the deceased which has been embalmed with cinnamon
cumin and plants a formidable supernatural figure casts a shadow over the carnage he has the body of
a man and the head of a wild jackal his burnished black muscles gold-plated collar and yellow eyes
gleam in the moonlight he snarls displaying his fiercest countenance and the canine grave robbers
whimper scammering away with their tails tucked between their legs this is anubis the egyptian god
of death he is the beloved egyptian wolfman beloved cult hero and one of the hardest working
gods in egypt this alleged son of the sun god ra god of life is ironically the protector and keeper
of all things dead this humanoid bearing the head of a golden african wolf is coroner embalmer and
graveyard security guard he is the personal escort of human souls to the land of the dead but only if
the light brush of his feather of truth detects a human with a light heart deserving of heaven
let's explore 10 very weird things that you may not know about anubis the egyptian god of death
anubis is an ancient pop culture superhero anubis was the cultish hero of egyptian
culture from 3100 bc to 1650 bc to say that anubis had a strange supernatural legacy in
ancient egypt is a bit of an understatement in art and sculpture he is often depicted as
a standing or kneeling man with a jackal's head holding golden scales and his ostrich feather
on tomb walls he is usually seen tending to the mummy of a king or mingling with osiris thoth
and other gods in the hall of truth the sacred place where the fate of each soul is decided
his iconic anthropomorphic figure with its manly physique and wolfish head
is still to be found in everywhere but especially in museum gift shops whether you see him as an
enduring death deity or tourist trap knick-knack you will find the legend of anubis fascinating
anubis was a secret love child originally anubis was assigned ra the god of the sun as a parent but
there is some confusion as to who his real mother might be one's first thought is that his mother
might be some kind of wolf goddess or even a real female jackal but it is not so from 2181 to 2055
bc anubis was thought to be the son of either the cow goddess hessat or the cat-headed bestat two
anthropomorphic beauties stowed away in ra's harem this made sense as anubis ii was anthropomorphic
half human and half animal boasting a jackal's head however all that changed after the greeks
invaded egypt in 332 bc and the greek philosopher plutarch started spreading rum plutarch spiced up
the supernatural soap opera by maintaining that anubis was actually the love child of nephthys
and osiris the god of fertility and resurrection nephthys was the identical twin sister of isis
who happened to be osiris spouse osiris's excuse for the infidelity was that nephthys
looked the same as isis to him in the dark now nephthys was pregnant with a jackal-headed child
fearing the wrath of her husband said and for good reason seeing as he was the god of storms and
warfare nephthys abandoned the canine-headed baby with a garland of clover given to her by osiris
her sister isis searched for the infant accompanied by a band of dogs
and recognized the clover necklace she named the baby anubis took him home and raised him as her
own where he became as loyal as a guard dog and a mysterious god of the afterlife in his own right
anubis would feed your heart to a monster
anubis was a keeper of a large white ostrich feather named ma'at which translates to mean truth
one of his more interesting duties was to conduct a ritual called the weighing of hearts or as some
prefer the wing of souls anubis would use a gold balancing scale to weigh the heart of a deceased
person against the weight of this feather if the person's heart weighed more than the feather then
he or she would not be allowed to enter the realm of the underworld known as the dot souls lighter
than a feather would ascend to heaven but those heavier would be devoured by a hideous monster
known as amit ahmed was a somewhat unpleasant funeral deity whose nicknames were devourer
of the dead and eater of hearts she lived near the scales of justice in the hall of two truths
and the hellish lake of fires she had the jaws of a crocodile the four quarters of a lion and the
hindquarters of a hippopotamus once she swallowed your heart your soul was destroyed forever
anubis is the avenger behind the mummy's curse it is anubis who is thought to be the creator
the all-pervasive and deadly mummy's curse that seemed to end the life of every archaeologist
or grave robber who ever dared to step inside an ancient egyptian tomb after all anubis is the god
of mummification with hundreds of demons at his beck and call and his biggest pet peeve is grave
robbers bad luck illness and death seem to be the fate of anyone who invades egypt's sacred sites
with some of misfortunes being more explicable than others yet whether it be due to rare bacteria
radiation or murder one can help but relate these deaths back to the ancient egyptian curses written
on the tomb walls and many of them endorsed like vengeful chits by the spiritual symbols of anubis
anubis gave the leopard his spots the fact that anubis was a love child did not sit well with
seth who did eventually find out about osiris and nephthys's affair the realization that
anubis was the apple of his wife's eye and indeed all of egypt drove set mad with rage
his wife's infidelity inspired him to slice and dice the cheater osiris into a thousand pieces
and throw them into the river nile the stricken weeping isis gathered them and gave them to
anubis anubis then used magic and mummification to reassemble his father and put him back together
again he then waved his signature sachem scepter a paddle with a picture of a reclining dog on it
over the mummy to restore his father to his godly wholeness and eternal life the vengeance
crazed sed then disguised himself as a leopard and attempted to desecrate the mummy of osiris
anubis then used a flaming brand to char sets feline skin all over with spots and then skinned
him alive anubis then wore his set scarred pelts as a warning about what would happen to those
who dare desecrate the dead he further championed his wrath by outfitting the priests in his temple
in leopard skins fun fact the scars left by anubis as he branded the pelt of set
are the basis for an old egyptian legend that explains how the leopard got his spots
anubis has a half-brother that you've never heard of strangely set's real son with nephthys was
also born with a canine head although not a jackal but a wolf with grayish white fur
his name was wep wimpowitch's job was to pose on a prowl of abode and scout the horizon for enemies
he also kept the pharaoh safe while he was out hunting to this day people often
confuse the two sons of nephthys even though they are two very different dog-like gods
eventually wepowet also became associated with death since battle led so many needing
to cross the bridge from world to the next his job was to open up the sky on the horizon so
the great souls could ascend to heaven he is also different than anubis in that he
carries a bow and arrow rather than a papyrus paddle with hieroglyphics on it it is also a
little strange that web huawei never attempted revenge on anubis for flying his father alive
eight million mummified dogs honor anubis trigger warning if you love animals you may
not love this incredibly weird thing about anubis whose followers filled underground tunnel systems
with approximately eight million mummified dogs jackals and foxes anubis was considered to be so
powerful that wealthy egyptians would pay for the embalming and coffins for these creatures
these donations and sacrifices were a way of persuading anubis to favor them in the afterlife
and escort them to heaven these underground catacombs were big business particularly in
saqqara south of cairo where dogs were raised specifically to be sacrificed to anubis
and many of them were puppies the underground tunnel in saqqara has a main aisle with 48
tunnels veering off it making it the largest of antiquated animal catacombs in the world
anubis has his own city the city of the dog there were temples and tombs dedicated to
anubis all over egypt but the center of anubis was in upper egypt in the city of
sibnopolus which in greek means the city of the dog this adulation of anubis showed how much the
ancient egyptians wanted their bodies to be respected after death the temples of anubis
were attended by priests who impersonated him by wearing jackal masks made out of wood
they were experts in anatomy botany and chemistry who dissected and mummified both animals and
humans however these divine forensic experts were not just keepers of the mummies they were also the
creators of the amulets tomb paintings and written spells that were used to summon his protection
anubis was regularly called on to assist with defense vengeance and various forms
of personal and physical resurrection by those willing to donate to the priests of the temple
anubis is a wicked neo-pagan deity anubis has lived on as a deity in many magical traditions
that live on today especially in alexandrian magic which is a british wiccan tradition based on how
the greeks interpreted egyptian rituals numerous neo-pagan religions and sex still celebrate the
specter of anubis his energies are a symbol of miraculous healing resurrection and life
beyond death his name is invoked in healing bring lover back and turn time back spells
his help is also summoned as an astral protector and to help one see the truth
anubis is still a star of popular culture there is something so compelling about the character
anubis the jackal-headed overseer of funerals and the afterlife that he often appears as an
inspiration or character in movies tv series and video games the character of anubis has
been portrayed in many different sci-fi roles films including 2014 pyramid the mummy returns
immortal record of ragnarok and countless manga features anubis also appears as a character in
several television series including stargate sg1 stephen king's kingdom hospital power rangers spd
monster high gargoyles kane chronicles and many more gaming characters styled after anubis play
roles in quest of sakhara moba smite war gods pray for gods and fight gods the pokemon character
lucario is also partly based on anubis it is indeed ironic that the god of eternal life in
ancient egypt now endures eternally on screen as a character in so many of today's artistic creations
perhaps this attests to the power of myth and how these tales that affect our collective unconscious
or maybe it is also a reflection of just how much today's society loves anthropomorphic characters
anubis is god spelled backwards our society also worships dogs especially an underdog that
uses magic and ritual to bring back the dead and redeem the wrong in fact the ancient greeks that
took over greece in 350 bc did not like the god anubis at first and used to call him the barker
the dog-headed boy that grew to be the majestic and mystical leader of the underworld in both
egyptian and greek cultures is also an inspiration to us today anubis is a character that encourages
us to be light of heart lest we be consumed by our own darkness a being that accompanies our spirit
from this world to the next is indeed loyal beyond death and can be considered man's best friend