A is for Anubis

The god of the dead. The god of funeral rights. The jackal-headed god. No matter how you think of him, Anubis has a powerful effect on stories.

Folklore

Ancient Egyptian Legends, by M. A. Murray, [1920]

Anubis.—A jackal-headed deity who presided over the embalming of the dead. He was said to be the illegitimate son of Osiris and Nephthys, and, in the form of a dog, to have protected Isis in her wanderings.

Egyptian Myth and Legend, by Donald Mackenzie, [1907]

The soul concludes by declaring that he is sinless, and expresses the hope that no ill will befall him in the Hall of Judgment. The jackal-headed god Anubis, “Opener of the Ways”, then strides from the hall and leads the soul by the hand before Osiris, who had heard the confession in silence. 

The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes

The cemetery is the place where dangerous entities lurk, dangerous people, too! Although a Greek word, the term “necropolis,” city of the dead, stems from ancient Egypt… cemeteries are places of great neutral power (think of all that swirling radiant energy!), which is able to be harnessed for good or evil, as the practitioner intends or desires… Many powerful spirits… reside in the cemetery, as does ancient Egypt’s road-openers, Anubis, the jackal-headed inventor of embalming… Accessing the power of crossroads and cemeteries is common to most magical traditions, to varying extents. Specific other traditions recognize and incorporate still other crossroads.

*More can be read in the book.

The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures by John and Caitlín Matthews

Anubis

The great jackal-headed god of ancient Egyptian mythology. He was the guardian of tombs and patron of embalming, and shared with the god Thoth the task of conducting the dead into the judgement halls of Amenti. There he weighed the hearts of the dead against the feather of truth. Anubis was originally seen as a god of the Underworld, but was replaced later by Osiris. He is generally portrayed in canine form, though the species, whether dog or jackal, has yet to be accurately identified. He is always shown with jet-black coat, which represents the discoloration of the body after it is soaked in a solution of the carbonate salt natron during the process of mummification.

Anubis sometimes appears anthropomorphically in the form of a man with an animal’s head… Anubis was seen as guarding the mummies of recently deceased people from evil forces, enabling them to make the journey to the Otherworld in safety, and his image is often found painted on the doors of tombs or the lids of sarcophagi.

*More can be read in the book.

The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes

Jackals are tricksters possessing strong associations with sex and death and are often funerary deities, the most prominent being Egypt’s Anubis, credited with inventing the mummification process. Anubis manifests as either a full-fledged jackal or as a man with a jackal’s head. He may have been Lord of the Dead prior to Osiris’ rise to prominence.

The ancient Egyptians may not have rigidly distinguished between jackals and dogs: Anubis, Lord of Embalming, Guide to the After-Life, may be understood as either species or both. His color is black, not because it is the color of death, but because for the Egyptians it represented regeneration and rebirth.

*More can be read in the book.

Further Reading:

• Anubis
• Anubis, Egyptian God of the Dead and the Underworld
• Anubis
• Anubis
• Anubis
• Anubis – Egyptian god Of Afterlife And Mummification (YouTube video)

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

Anubis: the Egyptian god of death, embalming, mummification, cemeteries and tombs, the afterlife and the Underworld. Depending on the dynasty, he changes roles and significance (seeing as upstarts such as Osiris liked to take his job and title). As one of the most ancient gods, it is peculiar that he took little to no part in Egyptian myths. (Isis, Osiris, Horus and Set like the limelight most.)

Depicted as a jackal or a man with a jackal head, his sacred animal is the African golden jackal (which is now genetically assessed as being a wolf…). He is always depicted in black: it’s a great fashion statement, the colour of the Nile River’s soil, the discoloration of a corpse after embalming, and also the colour symbolising life and regeneration.

It is believed that Ra the sun god is his parent and the serpent goddess Kebechet is his daughter. Though, to be incorporated in the Osiris myths, he suddenly became the son of Isis as she saved him (with the help of wild canines) from wherever her sister hid him from Set’s wrath – or he was Osiris’ son and adopted by his forgiving wife – or he was the son of Bast. Whatever. What is certain, though, is that he weighs souls on a special scale against the feather of Ma’at, and if the soul is unworthy, it gets devoured by Ammit the Devourer; but the worthy get escorted by Anubis to their afterlife.

Despite being well-known as Anubis, it is his Greek name. Before the Greek invasion, he was known as Anpu or Inpu (the root name meaning “to decay”). And though artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries gave him nefarious powers and magical armies, he is still the most recognisable of all the Egyptian gods with popular paintings, statues and secret temples in the deserts (such as the shrine full of mummified dogs and jackals in Anubeion).

Anubis in Modern Culture

In the movie, The Mummy Returns, the main plot point is about the deal the Scorpion king made with Anubis.

In 3067 BC, the Scorpion King leads his army to conquer the world. However, his army is defeated and exiled to the desert of Ahm Shere, where his men die of heat exhaustion. After vowing to give Anubis his soul for the power to defeat his enemies, an oasis and pyramid magically form, and the Scorpion King is given a legion of jackal-like warriors. The Army of Anubis sweeps across Egypt, but once their task is finished, Anubis claims the Scorpion King’s soul and the army returns to the Underworld.

Find out more about the movie here.

In the Grimm TV series, Anubis is a type of wesen.

When they woge, their body, unlike most canid Wesen, is almost totally hairless, and their skin color is pale beige. Their most striking feature is a long snout that ends in a dog-like nose. The shape of the skull itself changes to look much more canine than human. The mouth of the Anubis is filled with sharp teeth and long canines that, paired with clawed hands, can cause significant bodily harm. Another tell-tale aspect of their appearance is a pair of large, pointed ears that stand up and extend far above the top of the head.
Anubi possess superhuman strength, and, although weaker than Grimms, they can cause them some trouble. They are also incredibly agile, able to leap from one vertical surface to another and perform other acrobatics with ease.
Anubi are a powerful Wesen with Egyptian roots and a rich history. They are known to be protective of the dead and respectful of artifacts.

Learn more about them in the Grimm universe here.

In the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, Anubis isn’t a warrior as in the above examples.

Anubis is the Egyptian god of death and funerals. His parents are Nephthys and Set, but he was raised by Osiris and Isis. Anubis is currently the only remaining Egyptian god left on Earth, having taken on the host of Walt Stone to live a mortal life. Anubis/Walt is currently in a relationship with Sadie Kane.

Learn more about this world here.

There’s also a book featuring Anubis that came up in a Google search of Anubis in modern culture:

A Tuareg youth ventures into trackless desert on a life-threatening quest to find the father he remembers only as a shadow from his childhood, but the spirit world frustrates and tests his resolve. For a time, he is rewarded with the Eden of a lost oasis, but eventually, as new settlers crowd in, its destiny mimics the rise of human civilization. Over the sands and the years, the hero is pursued by a lover who matures into a sibyl-like priestess. The Libyan Tuareg author Ibrahim al-Koni, who has earned a reputation as a major figure in Arabic literature with his many novels and collections of short stories, has used Tuareg folklore about Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld, to craft a novel that is both a lyrical evocation of the desert’s beauty and a chilling narrative in which thirst, incest, patricide, animal metamorphosis, and human sacrifice are more than plot devices. The novel concludes with Tuareg sayings collected by the author in his search for the historical Anubis from matriarchs and sages during trips to Tuareg encampments, and from inscriptions in the ancient Tifinagh script in caves and on tattered manuscripts. In this novel, fantastic mythology becomes universal, specific, and modern.

Check it out on Goodreads.

Anubis in My Writing

Origin of the Fae: Anubis
Anubis is a death deity. He is part of what mortals know as the Egyptian Pantheon. His Realm runs parallel to Faerie. Whereas Ankou deals with the death of fae, Anubis deals with the death of humans.
Whereas others of his kind have been forgotten, he is still very busy with his line of work.
He likes to attend funerals, guide mortal souls to their afterlife and hang out with other death deities.

See him in action:

How You Remind Me (Irascible Immortals #2)

Anubis tuned out the incessant whining of the other gods of the Egyptian pantheon. He didn’t need to hear how they were forgotten, or worse, misremembered by mortals. He still had an important job to do: escorting the dead, tending to funeral rites, and other excellent things concerning death. He especially liked attending funerals in New Orleans – those mortals knew how to celebrate death!

How You Remind Me, Irascible Immortals #2, Ronel Janse van Vuuren

Where did you encounter Anubis for the first time? What do you think of him? Any folklore about Anubis you’d like to share? Check out my Pinterest board dedicated to the subject.

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