Egyptian Pantheon
Anubis
Also known as Anpu, Inpu, Anup
- mummification
- death
- cemeteries
- embalming
- judgment
God of mummification and the afterlife. Guardian of tombs and guide of souls to judgment. He oversees the weighing of the heart ceremony.
About Anubis
Guardian of the Dead
Anubis is the jackal-headed god who presided over mummification, embalming, and the passage of souls to the afterlife. In the earliest periods of Egyptian religion, he was the supreme lord of the underworld before Osiris rose to prominence.
The Sacred Embalmer
Anubis invented the art of mummification when he helped Isis prepare the body of Osiris after his murder by Set. His priests wore jackal masks during embalming rituals, acting as earthly embodiments of the god. The black color associated with Anubis represents both the fertile Nile soil and the discoloration of mummified bodies.
Weighing of the Heart
His most crucial role is in the Hall of Two Truths, where he conducts the weighing of the heart ceremony. He places the deceased's heart on one side of the scales and the feather of Ma'at on the other. If the heart is heavy with sin, it is devoured by the demon Ammit, and the soul ceases to exist. If balanced, the soul proceeds to paradise.
Cult Centers
Anubis was worshipped throughout Egypt, with his primary cult center at Cynopolis ("City of Dogs"). Jackals and wild dogs roaming cemeteries may have inspired his association with death.
Origin story
Anubis's parentage varies across Egyptian traditions. In older myths, he was the son of Ra and Hesat, or of Ra alone. The most well-known version makes him the illegitimate son of Osiris and Nephthys. When Nephthys bore Anubis, she abandoned him in the desert, fearing Set's wrath. Isis discovered the infant and raised him as her own, and he became fiercely loyal to the Osirian family. This connection explains why Anubis assisted Isis in mummifying Osiris and why he serves as protector of the dead king.
Across traditions
Parallel figures
Figures who play a role like Anubis's in other traditions.
GreekHermesIllustrationBoth are psychopomp gods who guide the souls of the dead; the syncretic deity Hermanubis directly merged the two in the Greco-Roman period
Compare Anubis and Hermes side by side
AztecXolotlIllustrationBoth are canine-associated death gods who guide souls through the underworld
Compare Anubis and Xolotl side by side
Worship and cult
Temples, festivals, and practices recorded for Anubis
The jackal on the tomb and the priest in the jackal mask. He weighs, wraps, and guards. Cult is the funeral industry of Egypt, not a city-god's procession first.
Sacred sites
- Cynopolis
- Embalming workshops attached to necropolises
Festivals
- Opening of the Mouth
- Mummification rites
Family
Relationship sources
On Isis and Osiris (De Iside et Osiride) — Osiris parent of Anubis
Plutarch · Frank Cole Babbitt, Plutarch, Moralia, Volume V (1936), Loeb Classical Library; LacusCurtius transcription · On Isis and Osiris 14 (356E–F)
On Isis and Osiris (De Iside et Osiride) — Nephthys parent of Anubis
Plutarch · Frank Cole Babbitt, Plutarch, Moralia, Volume V (1936), Loeb Classical Library; LacusCurtius transcription · On Isis and Osiris 14 (356E–F)
In the atlas
Where Anubis appears
In the museums
Anubis in art
Real objects in public collections, released into the public domain by the museums that hold them. Dates refer to when each object was made. Objects made within the tradition come first, later depictions after.
(opens the museum record)Ancient object
Anubis (opens the museum record)
A cast metal statuette the museum catalogs simply as Anubis, god of embalming and the dead, in his jackal-headed form. Such figures were dedicated by worshippers concerned with proper burial and the afterlife.
(opens the museum record)Ancient object
Statue of Anubis as a recumbent canid (opens the museum record)
A limestone statue of Anubis as a recumbent canid, originally painted black, the color associated with fertile Nile silt and rebirth. Statues of this type guarded tombs and funerary equipment.
Sources and further reading
Ancient sources
Quotations, paraphrases and verification notes. Each passage states what has been checked.
“Anubis, who dwelleth in the region of the embalmed, the chief of the holy house, layeth his hands upon the lord of life”
Book of the Dead, Papyrus of Nebseni · Chapter 151, opening clause in note 1 to Plates XXXIII–XXXIV
Translation: E. A. Wallis Budge
Budge, The Book of the Dead: Papyrus of Ani (1895), note quoting the Nebseni papyrus; excerpt stops before the parenthetical gloss. English excerpt checked against the cited transcription on 2026-09-23; no original-language text is supplied. This replaces the previously unverified passage.
Read sourceSource notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Plutarch, Isis and Osiris (trans. Babbitt)
Appears in
Ancient and classical works featuring this figure.
Jackal-headed master of embalming who guides the soul and balances the scale in the Hall of Truth (Spells 26, 125)
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Parallels are editorial comparisons across traditions: a shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.
Family relationships come from the atlas's kinship records. Ancient sources often disagree on divine genealogy.
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Genealogy
Family tree
Anubis's parents, consorts, children and rivals, as recorded in the atlas.