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Statuette of Anubis 7th-1st century B.C. Cast bronze Height: 14 cm Anubis, one of the gods of the dead, was depicted as a jackal or a man with a jackal's head. While Osiris was regarded as the ruler of the underworld, Anubis's chief activity was thought to be making mummies and performing funeral rites. The mental link between the jackal and burial probably arose because these animals were constantly seen wandering among tombs and in the desert cemeteries. The priests who participated in embalming and funerals were identified with Anubis and wore jackal's head masks. Anubis took part in the judgement by Osiris, bringing the deceased into the courtroom. It was Anubis who after Osiris's death made his mummy, thus initiating the practice of embalmment. In later Egyptian tradition he was regarded as a son of Osiris, while the Greeks identified him with Hermes, who also acted as a guide to the dead.
Copyright © 2011 State Hermitage Museum
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