Anubis

funerary rites and embalming

Anubis oversees mummification and guides souls safely into the realm of Osiris.

💡 Did you know? The black jackal was chosen because such animals lingered in cemeteries.

the weighing of the heart

Anubis places the heart of the dead on the scales: against the feather of truth.

💡 Did you know? Priests often wore a black jackal Anubis mask during embalming.

of mummification

Anubis is said to have made the first mummy: that of the murdered Osiris.

💡 Did you know? So he preserved the body for resurrection and became the guardian of all the dead.

jackals prowled the cemeteries

Jackals lingered at burial grounds; Anubis was to protect the dead from such scavengers.

💡 Did you know? Black was also the colour of the fertile Nile silt and thus of rebirth.

guardian of the tombs

Anubis watched over the necropolises and warded off tomb robbers and evil powers.

💡 Did you know? His epithet was „He who is upon his mountain“: the watchman over the city of the dead.

as a son of Nephthys

In many tales Anubis is the son of Nephthys, raised by Isis.

💡 Did you know? Before the rise of Osiris, Anubis was himself Egypt's foremost god of the dead.