Whether a wild dog,
jackal or some sort of hybrid, Anubis is the embodiment of the canids which
lived in and around the cemeteries on the edge of the desert. Widely known as
the jackal-headed god, Anubis has been associated with the necropolis since the
earliest times.
The tombs in the Valley of the Kings were sealed with
stamps depicting Anubis, the god of the necropolis, guarding bound prisoners.
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The "sekhem", a
baton/sceptre, symbolises the divine power of the mortuary god Anubis and is
often seen behind the reclining canid. In the picture Anubis can be seen
holding the sekhem.
Legend has it that it was Anubis who wrapped the
body of Osiris, the husband of Isis. As a result of this he known as the parton
of embalmers. He has a number of epithets associated with him such as "He of
the funerary wrappings" and "Lord of the hallowed land (necropolis)".
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Anubis takes an active part inthe proceedings after death,
as shown in the book of the Dead. Most notably he leads the deceased into the
presence of Osiris and assists in the ceremony of the weighing of the heart.
The heart of the deceased was weighed against Maat's feather thus deciding his
or her fate in the afterlife.
In the Late and Roman Periods Egyptians would pay to have
animals associated with the gods mummified as a means of accessing the deities.
A mummified dog would have been a prayer in concrete form to the god Anubis.
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