Anubis was an important deity within the Egyptian pantheon. He was represented as a canine-headed man, most likely a jackal. He was depicted from the Early Dynastic Period solely as a jackal. The association with the dead existed from this period, as Anubis was known as a protector of graves. Jackals were a common feature of Early Dynastic necropolis’s, whose shallow graves were frequently foraged by the wild animal. From the Old Kingdom, Anubis was the primary god associated with the afterlife, however this changed from the Middle Kingdom, when Osiris become more popular. Anubis however was still associated with the afterlife – he was the god of embalming bodies until the Middle Kingdom, and had an important role in the transition between life and death. He ushered souls into the afterlife, and tended to the weighing scale during the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony– which determined whether a soul would be allowed to enter the realm of the dead.
To find out more about the Ancient Egyptian amulets please see our relevant blog post: Egyptian Amulets and their Meanings: Ancient Egyptian Gods.
