Origins Of Anubis
Anubis is not actually the Egyptian name of the god of death, and mummification; it’s of Greek origin. Instead, in the Egyptian language, his name was Inpu, Anupu, Wip, or Ienpw. The first oldest known mention of the god Anubis in as far back as the third millennium BC, in texts from the Old Kingdom of Egypt. The Old King, is naturally, as the name implies, the oldest of the three kingdoms of ancient Egypt. The Middle Kingdom stretched from approximately 2050 BC and 1800 BC, and the New Kingdom ranged from around 16th century BC and the 11th century BC. The Old Kingdom is known best as the “Age of the Pyramids” for the majority were constructed during that era.
When Anubis was mentioned in the texts of the Old Kingdom, it was in reference to the burial of the king. In ancient Egypt, he had many long names in association with his role as the director of funerals, and in the death of Egyptians. He is often depicted as being the guardian of tombs; a dog on top of a building meant to be the tomb, which is because of the title “He who is upon his mountain.” The mountain being the tomb, or one of the many pyramids constructed in the Old Kingdom, and he its guardian. In reference to his ties to the process of mummification, he has another title, stating him as “He who is in the place of embalming.” This title would make Anubis akin to supervisor, or overseer to the process of embalming the corpse.
Depending on the context, Anubis assumes many different roles; at the head of funereal processions, or marches for other general purposes. This was held in common with many other Egyptian deities; there is always an occasion to worship any one of them, or thank them, for the small mercies they perceived as gifts from the gods. He was depicted in three forms, as fully human, as fully canine, or with a human body and a canine head. While depicted as fully canine, he would appear as a dog with a ribbon around his neck, and a flail, or whip held in the crook of one of his legs, while perching on top of a tomb. When rarely depicted as a man, he has entirely black skin, since black is often the colour associated with death and funerals. As the jackal-headed man, he associated with dogs because dogs were sacred to the dead to Egyptians. Dogs were often seen at the edge of the desert where the Egyptians buried their dead; although possibly they believed they were guarding the dead, instead of most likely digging up the corpses and eating them.