Discuss: The God anubis

[Lokun]

I've read allmost everything about egyptian myths and the gods in them. But it's one thing i can't understand...

Some books says that Anubis was the Death-god before Osiris (even that he helped Isis mummify her husband) But i've also heard that Anubis could be an illegetimate son of Osiris and Neftys(!)

So, how those this work!? Wich theory do you believe in? Or do you have a different opinion?

(Sorry for my english, and if it is something you don't understand, it's probably because i'm from a different country sweatdrop )  

[Rennie`]

All I know about Anubis is that He has a jackle (dog) head and He helps the Pharaohs and other people go to the afterlife. I know very little about Him but I will do some research later and tell you what I discover.  

[Lokun]

Thank you. biggrin

I guess the egypts maked very different stories about the gods, depending on where they lived. Or something like that... sweatdrop  

[Anknest Ra Horakhty]

Well, I think that Anubis was officially the god of Mummification, and that he was the one who protected the dead person while the person was being mummified. (Don't know if that made any sense...) sweatdrop  

[Mortiferia]

Hmm, what to say about Dad... ^_^
My information may be colored with real-life experiences of the God, but it really doesn't interfere with the more "scholarly" approach to Him. I just thought I'd inform you. XD

He has a somewhat... interesting reputation; that of being the "Grim Reaper" figure or an evil God of death. Well, He is a God of death, but in no way evil. 3nodding

He's the God of Mummification, if you wish to make Him a more "static" deity, although this isn't His only sphere of influence. He also guides the deceased through the Duat and to the Weshem-ib, or "Weighing of the Heart" ceremony, as well as being in charge of the scales for such. In His form of Wepwawet, he opens the way to the Duat for the deceased or to all new things and experiences, to changes in one's life.

However, with all this seemingly gloom-and-doom work, He's a very caring and wonderful God. And He likes His toys, shiny things, and candy, lol. Does that seem evil to you? ^_^

Usually it is agreed upon that Yinepu(Anubis) is the son of Ra, or the son of Nebthet(Nephthys) and Set. The story of Nebthet and Wesir(Osiris) as His parents was possibly started by the Greek historian Plutarch. He was either misinformed, or the story, as stories do over the years; changed.

The point though, is that the Gods can be something and then something else with the drop of a hat. There are over six creation myths(at least!), and yet they can all be considered correct. These are, after all, not to be taken as real occurences but rather ways that us humans can understand things better, just as the Gods and Goddesses are all there to make it easier for us to understand the whole of Netjer(God).

The Egyptian Gods are very, very hard to understand sometimes. But whichever way you find easiest to understand Them is perfectly alright. They understand. (Though that broad assumption doesn't exactly help poor Egyptologists with a concrete scholarly approach! sweatdrop )  

[Lokun]

Wow, Thank you!! biggrin Happy to meet someone who is as intrested in this as i am.

Anubis is the God i like the most in the egyptian faith, and i think i rather go with the theory where he is son of Ra than the other ones... sweatdrop

I totaly agree with you about his personaly, i've never seen him as an evil god. Maybe kinda lonley or severe but not evil in any way.

An other mystery about him is that even if he was an importent God, people haven't found any temple dedicated to him... eek  

[Rennie`]

Anubis:
Represented as a dog, or as a man with a dog's head, Anubis was a God of the dead, closely associated with the process of mummification and embalming. The priests who performed these rituals on the deceased are thought to have taken on the role of Anubis by wearing jackal masks. Anubis deatures in the depictions of the weighing of the heart ceremony in the Book of the Dead, assisting in the judgement of the dead. He was also considered to be a guardian of cemeteries, known in this guise as 'lord of the sacred land and 'foremost of the devine booth'. The cult of Anubis was eventually assimilated with that of Osiris, another major god of the dead.

'The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt' General edititor HELEN STRUDWICK - 2006

And that's your daddy, Mortiferia.  

[Mortiferia]

Lokun

Wow, Thank you!! biggrin Happy to meet someone who is as intrested in this as i am.

Anubis is the God i like the most in the egyptian faith, and i think i rather go with the theory where he is son of Ra than the other ones... sweatdrop

I totaly agree with you about his personaly, i've never seen him as an evil god. Maybe kinda lonley or severe but not evil in any way.

An other mystery about him is that even if he was an importent God, people haven't found any temple dedicated to him... eek

There are quite a few temples that were dedicated to Him, actually. Mostly in Cynopolis, which was His "capital". The priests were like the priests of any other Name, but it's also where they would perform mummification rituals, kind of like how Hethert's temples would often times have a birthing room. 3nodding  

[King Robert Silvermyst]

This is what I know from my studies. Nebt-Het wanted a child but feared her husband Set. So, with the blessing of her sister Isis, she consorted with Osiris to bear Yinpu. However, she feared what Set would do to Yinepu if he found out, and so Isis and Osiris took Yinepu in. Yinepu traveled with His father around the world when Osiris left Egypt in the hands of Isis. After Osiris's murder and desecration, Yinepu mummified Osiris once all pieces except one was found and put together (Isis carved the missing piece out of wood). After Isis restored Osiris who then became the God of the dead, Yinepu joined His father to assist Him in taking care of the dead and protecting them, as well as wieghing the heart. Yinepu is also the protector of children and LOVES toys as offerings...and chocolate ^.^ He can be very serious at times, and at other times, He's like a puppy  

[WebenBanu]

Lokun

Some books says that Anubis was the Death-god before Osiris (even that he helped Isis mummify her husband) But i've also heard that Anubis could be an illegetimate son of Osiris and Neftys(!)

So, how those this work!? Wich theory do you believe in? Or do you have a different opinion?

Anubis, or Inpw, was indeed the god who was most strongly associated with death and the Egyptian afterlife before Osiris (Wsyr) appeared and grew in popularity. This is fairly common with ancient Egyptian deities- you'll see one who has charge over a certain region, but as other deities are introduced to the area or grow in popularity, they re-divide the responsibilities amongst themselves; sometimes the new gods will completely take over, and even seem to "absorb" older godforms into themselves. In this case, Wsyr simply took on many of Inpw's responsibilities but did not absorb him- Inpw continued to be quite active and independent of Wsyr throughout the life of our beloved Egypt. He retained his role as guardian and guide of the dead, as he continued to lead the souls of the deceased into the great Hall of Double Ma'at, where they were evaluated and judged worthy of gaining an audience with Wsyr. Inpw also retained his title as "Foremost of Westerners" (one name for the Egyptian afterlife realm was "The Beautiful West," so those who dwelt within it were sometimes called "Westerners"), even though Wsyr also took on that title when he took over Inpw's position as "head Death god."

Another thing which would happen as gods were introduced into new territories (or grew in popularity in old territories) would be that they would begin to reveal relationships with the gods who were already in place there. There are a few ways of viewing this. One is that the Egyptians, who placed a strong value on their own family bonds, were more comfortable in relating to the new gods when they assigned them similar family relationships which were based on the old local deities with whom they already had an established rapport. So, people would ask who this new god was and someone would say, "Oh- he's god ________'s father/brother/uncle/spouse/etc." Another theory is that these gods didn't literally give birth to each other as children, but that these family relationships were metaphors for expressing a type of relationship which was shared by the deities. This divine relationship may be difficult to express in human terms, however it most closely resembles whatever type of human family relationship was given in its place- as that relationship was understood by the ancient Egyptians. In this case, it would be useful to look into ancient Egyptian family relationships to better understand what the significance of these bonds really meant to them. Another way of looking at it is that perhaps Wsyr actually is Inpw's father, but just didn't really enter into the human sphere of awareness until a while after his son did.

Most likely, the answer is a mixture of all three approaches- and probably others as well. It may be confusing to us today, but the Egyptians used a type of thinking which is known as "polyvalent logic." This is not uncommon in indigenous peoples, as I understand it- basically, polyvalent logic assumes that Truth and Reality are very big concepts, and that they can be approached from many different angles. Imagine Reality as a large tract of land, and you send people out to photograph different parts of it. They take pictures of the land in different locations, from different angles, and at different times; naturally, all of these pictures are going to look very different. Even if the photos were taken around the same basic rock formation, pictures shot from opposite angles will be reversed, pictures taken at different times of day will show different patterns of light and shadow and different hues of color, and pictures taken during different seasons will show different plants and animals in different stages of their life cycles. Some of these pictures may be so different from one another as to be unrecognizable as the same location- and yet, they are all legitimate, viable photographs of this great territory; they are all True. And this is polyvalent logic- all the photographs are accepted as the Truth about the terrain, when approached from different angles, even if the pictures seem superficially to be contradictory. cool It will be helpful to keep this style of logic in mind when studying ancient Egyptian mythology, because there are many different versions of any important myth- and many times gods are attributed family relationships which seem to conflict with the family relationship you read for them five minutes ago. wink  

[Lokun]

I found this picture 4laugh  

[Lokun]

okey... The picture didn't show up... stare  

[Lokun]

Ok, now i should work smile
 

[Rennie`]

Lokun

Ok, now i should work smile

Anubis is repeated in that scene. Is the real Anubis the one holding the scale?  

[Mortiferia]

Rennie`

Lokun

Ok, now i should work smile

Anubis is repeated in that scene. Is the real Anubis the one holding the scale?

They're both Anubis. The deceased man is also repeated in the scene, you see, and not by accident... Think of it as a comic strip.

In one scene, He is holding the hand of the deceased man, leading him to the Ma'ati(Hall of Two Truths). In the next scene, He's weighing His heart. And in the next, Horus is leading him to Osiris. It all plays out like a comic, but without the panels(which would probably make it easier to understand sometimes, lol).