Anubis god of death biography of paul

Anubis was a jackal-headed ancient Egyptian god of the dead and of the transition between life and death. In the third millennium BC, Anubis was the foremost god of the dead. He was both the ruler of the dead in the underworld and the judge who determined the lot of the deceased in the afterlife.

Egyptian gods

Anubis became the embalmer and helper of Osiris — clearly a subordinate role, but still an outgrowth of his earlier one. When someone died, Anubis personally guided him or her to the underworld and along the perilous pathways the dead had to travel before they reached the court of Osiris to be judged. Anubis participated in the Judgment of the Dead , although in various facilitating roles rather than as a judge.

He also watched over tombs to protect the integrity of those who lay buried within them. He was depicted as a combination of a jackal and a wild dog, or a man with the head of such a composite canine. However, the jackal seems to have been the primary animal with which he was associated, which is fitting; as a scavenger, the jackal would have been an obvious choice for a psychopomp.

The Search for God in Ancient Egypt. David Lorton. Donald B. References: [1] Holland, Glenn S.