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Description
In art, he was usually depicted as a man with the head of a jackal and alert ears, often wearing a ribbon, and wielding a whip. On very rare occasions, Anubis was shown fully human, or slightly more frequently as fully jackal. However, Anubis was also depicted as black, rather than brown, the colour of jackals, since black was the colour that the body turned as a result of mummification.
Dogs and jackals often loitered at the edges of the desert, especially near the cemeteries where the dead were buried; in fact, it is thought that the Egyptians began the practice of making elaborate graves and tombs in order to protect the dead from desecration by jackals. In consequence, Anubis was usually thought of as a jackal, an association reinforced by certain variations of his hieroglyph, which can be translated as young dog. Thus, ancient Egyptian texts say that Anubis, like a jackal, silently walked through the shadows of life and death and lurked in dark places, watchful by day as well as by night.
Role
As ruler over the dead, he was given titles such as He who is set upon his mountain, in reference to his sitting atop desert cliffs to guard multiple necropolis, and Chontamenti (also spelt Khentimentiu, and Khentamenti), meaning Lord of the Westerners, in reference to Egyptian belief that the entrance to the underworld was towards the west, since that was the direction in which the sun set. As ruler, he was also said to have been victorious over the dark forces (described as nine bows), which also, naturally, lurk in the underworld, gaining him the title Jackal ruler of the bows.
As king of the underworld, he was also considered to be the one who weighed the heart of the dead against the feather of Maàt (the concept of truth), gaining him the title He who counts the hearts. One of the reasons that the ancient Egyptians took such care to preserve their dead with sweet-smelling herbs was that it became believed Anubis would check each person with his keen canine nose. Only if they smelled pure would he allow them to enter the Kingdom of the Dead.
Family
Originally, in the Ogdoad system, he was god of the underworld, and his name is frequently thought to have reflected this, meaning something like putrefaction. He was said to have a wife, Anput (who was really just his female aspect, her name being his with an additional feminine suffix: the t), who was depicted exactly the same, though feminine. His father was originally said to be Ra, as he was the creator god, and thus his mother was said to be Hesat, Ra's wife, who later was identified as Hathor (to whom her identity was remarkably similar). As lord of the underworld, Anubis was identified as the father of Kebechet, the goddess of the purification of bodily organs due to be placed in canopic jars during mummification.
Anubis in modern culture
- Anubis appears in the TV show Stargate SG-1 as a highly powerful and hostile "Half-Ascended" Goa'uld. He is deemed the most evil of them all, committing such atrocities that even the Goa’uld could not tolerate.
- In the MMORPG RuneScape the God Icthlarin is similar to Anubis
- Anubis is featured in the movies The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King.
- Anubis appears as 'Mister Jacquel', who co-owns a funeral parlor in Cairo, Illinois with Thoth (as 'Mister Ibis') in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.
- Anubis: Jackal God Of Death is the name of a 1997 album by Ganesha (band).
- Anubis appears in an episode of the animated TV series Gargoyles.
- Anubis is the focus of a series of erotic furry comic books produced by Radio Comix.
- Anubis is a primary character in Stephen King's made-for-TV adaptation of Lars von Trier's series Kingdom Hospital.
- The Pokémon named Lucario is visually based on the image of Anubis
- Anubismon is a Digimon in the Digimon collectible card game based on Anubis.
- Anubis is a character in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie. In that movie he was depicted as an evil entity wanting to take over the world, and he had the Pyramid of Light, one of the Millennium Items. He is also depicted on various cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game.
- Anubis appears in several computer games such as War Gods, Zone of the Enders, Broken Sword 3 and Gex 3.
- Anubis is the name of a space ship that appears in the Microsoft PC game Freelancer. The Anubis is a heavy fighter type available late in the game from the Order. It is often remarked to be the cheapest heavy fighter in the game at 1,100 credits.
- Anubis is the main character of Unreal Championship 2, and is a high-ranking member of the Desert Legion. He enters the Liandri-hosted Ascension Rites to stop Selket's plan.
- Anubis, together with Bastet, was the main villain of the "Nikopol trilogy" of graphic novels by cartoonist Enki Bilal.
- A Petpet on the virtual pet website Neopets is called the Anubis, and resembles a small version of the god.
- Anubis Cruger, a.k.a. Doggie Cruger, is a dog-like blue humanoid alien, commander of Power Rangers SPD and the Shadow Ranger.
- Doggy Kruger, stuffed counterpart of the previous one in Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, serves as commander and fights as Dekamaster.
- Anubis is the name of a battlechip in the Mega Man Battle Network Series.
- In Mega Man Zero series, there is a jackal reploid boss called Anubistepp Necromancess who comes in various versions.
- Anubis appears in the cartoon Tutenstein
- Anubis is the name of a villain who turns good in the anime series Ronin Warriors
- Anubis is one of the possible minor gods to worship in the Age of Mythology PC games
- Many forms of Anubis are included in World Of Warcraft's 1.9 patch called Ahn'Qiraj. Two Anubises guard each part of Ahn'Qiraj invasion found across Warcraft Universe
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