Instruction

Anubis was always depicted with the head of a jackal and the quite athletic body of a man-man. He was distinguished by large pointed ears and an elongated nose. On the papyri that have come down to us, the eyes of Anubis are written in the same way as the eyes or the priests were written: they are large and open, framed by traditional tattooing.

2 types of images of Anubis are known - canonical, with a black body (black color was supposed to resemble a mummified human body and the earth), and "new" - with a sandy-colored body, dressed in a (loincloth) and a trapezoid apron. There was always a klaft on the head - a headdress of the highest nobility in the form of a thick scarf, the two free ends of which fell on the chest in the form of twisted bundles.

The famous urei - twisted, which seemed to be ready to jump on the enemy, crowning the head and wrists of the pharaohs, were alien to the image of Anubis, only colored ribbons are visible on the hands, which spoke of his special significance and modesty.

U had a separate hieroglyph denoting this god, in translation the hieroglyph means “knowing secrets”. In the tombs of the dead, a figurine of the god Anubis was certainly placed - a figurine of a jackal-shaped dog carved from stone or wood, lying with its paws stretched forward.

Anubis served as a guide for dead people to the afterlife. In order to get after acceptable conditions, the Egyptians tried not to anger Anubis - after all, a meeting with him, according to myths, was for every person.

It is interesting that Anubis was not always a guide to the world of the dead, that is, the second character. For a long time, it was he who belonged to the leading role, he judged people who fell into another world, he was the king of the dead. Over time, this function passed to his father, Osiris, and Anubis in Egyptian mythology took second place, becoming an important but not the main character. According to the myths, Osiris took over the functions of a judge, removing this burden from the shoulders of his son, the changes that took place made Anubis a step below his father.

The head of the jackal, with which Anubis is depicted, is most likely used because it was the jackals who hunted on the edge of the desert, near the necropolis, throughout Egypt. The head of Anubis is black, which indicates his belonging to the world of the dead. However, in some myths you can find a description of God with a dog's head.

The city of Kinopolis is considered the center of worship of Anubis, although Anubis was honored everywhere. According to mythology, it was Anubis who laid the foundation for mummification, literally collecting the body of his father piece by piece: swaddling the remains in a miraculous fabric, he contributed to the subsequent resurrection of his parent. That is, it was Anubis who could turn the mummy into a revived substance, a kind of enlightened, exalted being that could live in the afterlife.

Mummies, just waiting for a magical transformation, Anubis protected from evil spirits, which in Ancient Egypt feared, considering the main enemies in world of the dead. A correctly performed mummification ceremony became a guarantee that in the afterlife, in the life that follows earthly existence, Anubis will resurrect the deceased, giving him his patronage and protection.

The culture of Ancient Egypt fascinates both researchers and creative individuals who are trying to connect fictional worlds with pharaohs, deities, tombs, sarcophagi and mummies. mystical god Anubis, leading souls to the halls of the underworld, has become popular not only in the country of deserts and the flooding Nile, but also in the modern world.

History of creation

In almost every religion there are prerequisites for animism - the belief in the animation of nature. During the period of animistic representations, from 3100 to 2686 BC, Anubis was strongly associated with the jackal or the dog Sab (some see it as similar to the Doberman). But since religion did not stand still, the image of the guardian of the underworld was soon modernized: Anubis was depicted with the head of an animal and with a human body.

All metamorphoses of the associate of death can be evidenced by images on stones that have been preserved since the reign of the first dynasty of the pharaohs: drawings and hieroglyphs tell how the deity of the pantheon changed functionally and externally.

Perhaps jackals became associated with Anubis, because in those days people were buried in shallow pits, which these animals often tore apart. Ultimately, the Egyptians decided to put an end to this arbitrariness through deification. In addition, the inhabitants of the hot country believed that jackals roaming the graves at night would protect the dead after sunset.

The name Anubis was also coined by the Egyptians for a reason. Initially (from 2686 to 2181 BC), the god's nickname was written in the form of two hieroglyphs. If you translate the symbols literally, you get "jackal" and "peace be upon him." Then the meaning of the name Anubis was transformed into the phrase "jackal on a high stand."

The cult of the god quickly spread throughout the country, and the capital of the seventeenth Egyptian nome, Kinople, became the center of the veneration of Anubis, as mentioned by Strabo. Archaeologists have found the most ancient references to the patron saint of the dead in the texts of the pyramids.

As you know, all kinds of rituals were associated with the burial of the pharaohs, which included the technique of embalming. Anubis is just the same found in manuscripts, which indicated the rules for the burial of the deceased owner of the Egyptian throne. The priestesses who prepared the corpse for burial wore masks of Anubis made of painted clay, as the god was considered an expert in this field.

In the Old Kingdom (during the reign of the III-VI dynasties), Anubis was considered the patron of necropolises and cemeteries, and was also the keeper of poisons and medicines. Then the deity with the head of a jackal was considered the most significant of the entire list.

The guide of the dead enjoyed such popularity until it appeared, to which most of the functions of the owner of the Duat (the underworld) passed, and Anubis remained a guide and served as a servant, weighing hearts at the court of the dead. Animals, dedicated to god were kept in buildings adjacent to the temples. When they died, they were also mummified and sent to another world with all the honors and rituals.

Mythology

In the mythology of ancient Egypt, the underworld is called the Duat. In the views of the Predynastic period, the realm of the dead was in the eastern part of the sky, and the souls of the dead Egyptians inhabited the stars. But later the concept of the Duat changed: the god Thoth appeared, who transports souls on a silver boat. Also, the underworld was located in the Western Desert. And between 2040 and 1783 B.C. there was a concept that the realm of the dead is underground.

According to legend, Anubis is the son of Osiris, the god of rebirth and the underworld. Osiris was depicted as a mummy wrapped in a white cloth, from under which one can see green skin.

This god reigned over Egypt and patronized fertility and winemaking, but was killed by his brother Seth, who wanted to usurp power. The jackal-headed god Anubis gathered the chopped parts of his father together, embalmed and swaddled. When Osiris resurrected, he became in charge of the kingdom of the dead, giving Horus the opportunity to rule the world of the living.

The mother of Anubis is Nephthys, whose essence is practically not disclosed in religious literature. In mythological texts, she appears in all funeral magical rites and the mysteries of Osiris, participates in the search for his body and guards the mummy.

This goddess is considered by researchers as an aspect of Black Isis or as the goddess of death. Sometimes she was called the Lady of the Scrolls. According to legend, Nephthys was the author of mournful texts, therefore she was often associated with the goddess Seshat, who manages the duration of the reign of the pharaohs and manages the royal archives.

The woman is considered the legal wife of Set. Falling in love with Osiris, she assumed the form of Isis and seduced him. This is how Anubis was born. In order not to be convicted of treason, the mother abandoned the baby in the reed beds and thereby doomed her son to certain death. Thanks to a happy accident, Isis found the foundling. Anubis was reunited with his own father Osiris, albeit in an unusual way.

The ancient Greek writer and philosopher believed that in fact the conductor of the dead is the son of Set and Nephthys, who was found and raised by Isis. Some scholars also believe that Anubis was descended from the evil, ferocious deity Set and was the rightful master of the realm of the dead. When Osiris appeared in the pantheon, Anubis became his companion. Therefore, a new branch was invented in mythology, representing Anubis as the illegitimate son of Osiris.

• Anubis appears both in book pages and in films and animated works. According to rumors, in 2018, a tape dedicated to this god will be presented to the court of avid moviegoers. The role of the main character will be played by Dr. George Henry, whose soul ended up in the monastery egyptian god.
• In ancient Egypt, there was a "Book of the Dead", which contained religious hymns. She was placed in the tomb of the deceased to help the soul overcome the barriers of the other world.

• Filmmakers and writers use the image of Anubis in their works, and artists try to put it on a sheet of paper. Simple lovers of mysticism and ancient religious motifs perpetuate the image of Anubis on their skin, and everyone invents the meaning of the tattoo and its characteristics for himself.
• Each deceased fell into the court of Osiris, who sat on a throne with a rod and a whip. His assistants Anubis and Thoth weighed the heart, which the Egyptians considered the symbol of the soul. On one cup was the heart of the deceased (conscience), and on the other Truth. As a rule, it was a feather or a figurine of the goddess Maat.

• If a person led a pious lifestyle, then both scales were on an equal footing, and if he committed sins, then the heart prevailed in weight. After the judgment, the unrighteous were eaten by Amat, a lion with the head of a crocodile. And the righteous went to heaven.
• Some ask the question: "Is Anubis an evil or a good god?" It is worth saying that he cannot be placed in a categorical framework, because during the trial he is guided by justice.

According to some researchers, there were five thousand gods in ancient Egypt. Such a huge number of them is due to the fact that each of the many local cities had their own gods. Therefore, one should not be surprised at the similarity of the functions of many of them. In our list, as far as possible, we tried not only to give a description of one or another celestial, but also to indicate the center in which he was most revered. In addition to the gods, some monsters, spirits, and magical creatures are listed. Our table gives the characters in alphabetical order. The names of some gods are designed as hyperlinks leading to detailed articles about them.

The table of gods can be used at school to prepare 5th grade students.

Top 10 Gods of Ancient Egypt

Amat – horrible monster with the body and front legs of a lioness, the hind legs of a hippo and the head of a crocodile. It lived in the fiery lake of the underground kingdom of the dead (Duat) and devoured the souls of the dead, who were recognized as unrighteous at the court of Osiris.

Apis- a black bull with special marks on the skin and forehead, which was worshiped in Memphis and throughout Egypt as a living embodiment of the gods Ptah or Osiris. The living Apis was kept in a special room - Apeion, and the deceased was solemnly buried in the necropolis of the Serapeum.

Apop (Apophis)- a huge serpent, the personification of chaos, darkness and evil. He lives in the underworld, where every day after sunset the sun god Ra descends. Apep rushes to Ra's barge to swallow it. The sun and its defenders fight nightly with Apophis. The ancient Egyptians also explained solar eclipses by the serpent's attempt to devour Ra.

Aten- the god of the solar disk (or rather, sunlight), mentioned as early as the era of the Middle Kingdom and proclaimed the main god of Egypt during the religious reform of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Unlike most other representatives of the local pantheon, he was depicted not in a “beast-human” form, but in the form of a solar circle or a ball, from which arms with palms stretch to the earth and people. The meaning of Akhenaten's reform, apparently, consisted in the transition from a concrete-figurative religion to a philosophical-abstract one. It was accompanied by severe persecution of adherents of former beliefs and was canceled shortly after the death of its initiator.

Atum- the solar god revered in Heliopolis, who created himself from the original chaotic Ocean of Nun. In the midst of this Ocean, the primordial hill of the earth also rose, from which all the dry land originated. Having resorted to masturbation, spitting out his own seed, Atum created the first divine couple - the god Shu and the goddess Tefnut, from whom the rest of the Ennead descended (see below). In archaic antiquity, Atum was the main solar god of Heliopolis, but later he was pushed into the background by Ra. Atum began to be revered only as a symbol setting sun.

Bastet- the cat goddess from the city of Bubastis. personified love, feminine beauty, fertility, fun. It is very close in religious meaning to the goddess Hathor, with whom she often united.

Bes- (Demons) dwarf demons favorable to a person with an ugly face and crooked legs. Peculiar kind brownies. In ancient Egypt figurines of Demons were widespread.

Maat- the goddess of universal truth and justice, the patroness of moral principles and firm legality. Depicted as a woman with an ostrich feather on her head. During the trial in the kingdom of the dead, the soul of the deceased was placed on one scale, and the “feather of Maat” on the other. The soul, which turned out to be heavier than a feather, was recognized as unworthy of eternal life with Osiris. She was devoured by the terrible monster Amat (see above).

Mafdet- (lit. "fast running") the goddess of harsh justice, the protector of sacred places. It was depicted with the head of a cheetah or in the form of a genet - an animal from the viverrid family.

Mertseger (Meritseger)- the goddess of the dead in Thebes. Depicted as a snake or a woman with a snake head.

Meskhenet- the goddess of childbirth, who enjoyed special honor in the city of Abydos.

Min- a god revered as the giver of life and fertility in the city of Koptos. Depicted in itiphallic form (with pronounced male sexual characteristics). Worship of Ming was widespread in the early period Egyptian history, but then he receded into the background in front of his own local Theban variety - Amon.

Mnevis- a black bull who was worshiped as a god in Heliopolis. Reminds me of the Memphis Apis.

Renenutet- a goddess revered in the Faiyum as the patroness of crops. Depicted in the form of a cobra. Nepri, the god of grain, was considered her son.

Sebek- the crocodile god of the Faiyum oasis, where there was a large lake. Its functions included managing the water kingdom and ensuring earthly fertility. Sometimes he was revered as a kind, benevolent god, to whom they prayed for help in illnesses and life's difficulties; sometimes - like a formidable demon, hostile to Ra and Osiris.

Serket (Selket)- the goddess of the dead in the western part of the Nile Delta. A woman with a scorpion on her head.

Sekhmet- (lit. - "mighty"), a goddess with the head of a lioness and a solar disk on it, personifying the heat and scorching heat of the Sun. The wife of the god Ptah. Terrible avenger, exterminating creatures hostile to the gods. The heroine of the myth about the extermination of people, which the god Ra entrusted to her because of the moral corruption of mankind. Sekhmet killed people with such fury that even Ra, who decided to abandon his intention, could not stop her. Then the gods poured red beer all over the earth, which Sekhmet began to lick, mistaking it for human blood. From intoxication, she involuntarily had to stop her slaughter.

Seshat- the goddess of writing and counting, the patroness of scribes. Sister or daughter of the god Thoth. During the accession of the pharaoh, she wrote down on the leaves of the tree ished coming years his reign. Depicted as a woman with a seven-pointed star on her head. The sacred animal of Seshat was the panther, so it was represented in a leopard skin.

Sopdu- "falcon" god, revered in the eastern part of the Nile Delta. Close to Horus, identified with him.

Tatenen- a chthonic god revered in Memphis along with Ptah and sometimes identified with him. His name literally means "rising (i.e. emerging) earth."

Tawart- a goddess from the city of Oxyrhynchus, depicted as a hippopotamus. Patroness of birth, pregnant women and babies. Drive away evil spirits from dwellings.

Tefnut- the goddess, who, together with her husband, the god Shu, symbolized the space between the firmament and the firmament. Shu and Tefnut gave birth to the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut.

Wadget- the snake goddess, considered the patroness of Lower (Northern) Egypt.

Upout- the god of the dead with the head of a jackal, revered in the city of Assiut (Lykopolis). By appearance and the meaning strongly resembled Anubis and gradually merged with him in one image.

Phoenix- a magical bird with golden and red feathers, which, according to Egyptian legend, flew to the city of Heliopolis once every 500 years to bury the body of its deceased father in the temple of the Sun. It personified the soul of the god Ra.

Hapi- the god of the Nile River, the patron of crops provided by its spill. Portrayed as a blue or Green colour(the color of the Nile water at different times of the year).

Hathor- the goddess of love, beauty, joy and dance, the patroness of childbirth and nurses, the "Heavenly cow". It personified the wild, elemental force of passion, which could take cruel forms. In such an unbridled image, she was often identified with the lioness goddess Sekhmet. Depicted with the horns of a cow, inside of which is the sun.

Hekat- Goddess of moisture and rain. Depicted in the form of a frog.

Khepri- one of the three (often recognized as three attributes of the same being) solar gods of Heliopolis. personified the sun during sunrise. Two of his "colleagues" - Atum (the sun On the Sunset) and Ra (the sun at all other hours of the day). Depicted with the head of a scarab beetle.

Hershef (Herishef) – chief god the city of Heracleopolis, where he was worshiped as the creator of the world, "whose right eye is the sun, the left is the moon, and the breath animates everything."

Khnum- a god revered in the city of Esna as a demiurge who created the world and people on a potter's wheel. Depicted with a ram's head.

Khonsu- moon god in Thebes. Son of the god Amun. Together with Amon and his mother, Mut formed the Theban triad of gods. Depicted with a crescent moon and a disk on his head.

IN ancient times, according to the Pyramid Texts, the main god of the kingdom of the dead was considered Anubis(Egypt. Anupu), depicted as a lying black jackal, or a man with a jackal's head, or as a wild dog Sab. In Egyptian, "sub" - "judge" was written with the sign of a jackal, and apparently, "in an earlier period, Anubis was the only judge of the dead." He was identified with the wolf god Upuat, his main epithets were Khentiamenti, "the lord of Ra- setau" (realm of the dead), "standing in front of the chamber of the gods." Gradually, from the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the role of the supreme ruler of the underworld passes to Osiris, and Anubis is assigned the functions of the guardian of the necropolis and protector of Osiris. Lying black dog or the jackal were depicted as guards on the doors of numerous tombs. However, the texts retain evidence of the original significance of this jackal god. One of the magical sayings of the text addressed to the deceased pharaoh says: "You sit on the throne of Osiris ... your hands are the hands of [god] Atum, your belly is Atum's belly, your back is Atum's back... but your head is the head of Anubis."

Anubis was considered the son of Bastet or the son of the white divine cow Hesat, and after the union of Anubis with Osiris, the jackal god was called the son (less often brother) of Osiris or the sun god, or the son of Set. Plutarch calls Anubis the son of Osiris and Nephthys. Anubis helped Isis in search of the dismembered body of Osiris, in embalming and compiling his mummy in order to protect it from destruction. It was this idea that prompted the dead to pray to Anubis to take care of their bodies. Once, acting as the god of the dead, Anubis counted the hearts of the dead, but having entered the circle of gods associated with the mysteries of Osiris, he began to weigh the hearts, determining the moral purity of the deceased and recognizing his right to take a place in the afterlife, avoiding the fate of complete destruction in the mouth monsters. Scales become an attribute of Anubis, on one bowl of which the feather of the goddess of truth Maat is placed, on the other - the heart of the deceased.

Heraldic emblem of Anubis imj wt("the one in the shell") was the decapitated carcass of a bull or its skin, with a lotus-shaped tail, its stalk wrapping around the upper part of the pole, while the forelimbs were tied to the lower part with a ribbon tied with a bow. The end of the pole rested on the bottom of a vessel that looked like a flower pot. The lotus, like Anubis, was assigned a huge role in the funeral cult: “Through the lotus, the dead were magically revived ... Considered a harbinger of the sun, it symbolized the renewal of vitality and was involved in the return of youth.” As symbols of resurrection, bouquets of lotuses occupied a prominent place among the offerings in the cult of the sacrificial bull Mnevis - the sacred bull of Heliopolis. Sometimes the tail of Mnevis itself in the images ""flourishes" like a blossoming flower."

According to Max Muller, the symbol of Anubis could originally represent a completely different god. “In any case, this skin symbol was constantly depicted in front of Osiris.” The title Emi-uet (perhaps 'She in the city'), signifying this symbol, 'was later translated 'The Embalmer' and thus redirected to Anubis." During the embalming of the body, a priest in a jackal mask played the role of Anubis. The skin, closely associated with the concept of posthumous rebirth, was generally the main component of the funeral cult. In ancient times, the bodies of the dead were buried in pits dug in the sand, wrapped in skins. Later, accompanied by the gods with the head of a dog, jackal, Set, Anubis and Upuat (the last two were "gods of the skin"), the deceased king or priest, dressed in the skin, passed "the path from rebirth to heaven." The essence of the Egyptian mysteries was "the preservation of the body of the priests, specially for this dismembered for the purpose of glorification." The sacraments consisted of a series of rites, which were performed in accordance with the Book of Priests and took place in the most distant and hidden from human eyes premises of the temple.

The main rite consisted of fumigating the room in order to expel evil spirits, sprinkling the body with water, connecting individual pieces of the body together and calling for the soul of the deceased to return to the mummified body. Then the rebirth of Osiris in his vegetable and animal manifestations was described. At the last stage, a cow was sacrificed, the skin of which was used as a cradle, through which the god could be reborn as the son of his mother cow Nut, the goddess of the sky, "acquiring in this rite eternal life". Anubis himself lay down on the skin, setting an example for Osiris, encouraging him to do the same and thereby be reborn. At an early stage, a person was brought as a sacrifice, later this role began to be played by "Tikenu, a man, sometimes a dwarf, wrapped in a shroud, painted in the form of a cow skin". He played the role of a human fetus, which is "born" like a newborn from a skin-cradle - the womb of a cow-mother. Even later, the place of Tiken was taken by a temple servant, who imitated sleep and awakening, bringing with him the reborn soul of Osiris.

Anubis, like other gods of Egypt, relied on a family. Entering the circle of Osiris, Anubis began to be recognized as the son of Nephthys and the illegitimate son of Osiris. The wife of the jackal god was Anupet, who was called the "borzoi", although she may have acted as the female form of Anubis. Kebhut, the patron goddess of the 10th nome and the city of Letopolis, was recognized as his daughter. The name of the goddess means "She that is cool" and goes back to the ideas of the early period, reflecting her connection with the sky or water. The area in the region of the first threshold was also called Kebhu. Incarnated in the form of a snake, Kebhut was identified with the goddess Uto. The Egyptians revered her as the goddess of cool, clean water, and the Pyramid Texts "distinctly characterize as a goddess of death". It was she who met the first king after death, and the king came to life again at this meeting, but "already" cleansed "and taking the form of a jackal." “It is characteristic that this goddess, who brings death to the king, and then resurrection, is his beloved.” It was believed that Kebhut made libations to all the dead, helping them to ascend to heaven.

A number of facts suggest that the most ancient rulers of the Nile Valley were subjected to ritual death by drowning. It was in this way that the cows dedicated to Isis continued to be killed. “The texts call the place of drowning of these animals - kbhw. An analysis of this term and other words of the same root provides very important material. The main meaning of the verb is kbh- "to be cold", but kbh also means "to cool off in the shadow of the tomb", "to die". It was said about the drowned cow of Isis: “She came out of Kebhu, her soul rose to the sky and united with the god Ra”, and the Pyramid Texts directly call the deceased king “coming out of Kebhu”, “passing through Lake Kebhu”: “You came out of the lake of life , you are clean from Lake Kebhu, you are Vepuat ... ".

In many places in Egypt, temples were built to Anubis. The center of the cult was Lycopolis in Upper Egypt, modern Siut. Here he was worshiped under the name of Upuat, the Opener of the Path, that is, the path to the underworld. In the Nile Valley, the second city of Lycopolis was also dedicated to him, which probably determined the idea of ​​the Egyptians about two Anubis - Anubis of the South and Anubis of the North. The burial steles depicted two jackals guarding the deceased.

Ancient Egyptian God Anubis

Anubis(in Egyptian Inpu) - the god of Ancient Egypt, who was depicted with the head of a jackal and a human body, a guide to the afterlife. During the period of the Old Kingdom, he appeared to people in the form of the god Duat. In ancient Egyptian mythology, he is the son of the goddess Nephthys. Spouse Anubis the goddess Inut was considered.

Most widely Anubis revered in the capital of the 17th Egyptian nome - the city of Kinopolis. The Osiris cycle describes how he helped Isis look for the pieces of Osiris scattered across the earth.

During the period of animistic representations Anubis was a black dog. Starting from a certain period in the development of the Egyptian religion in ancient Egypt, Anubis began to be depicted as a man with a dog's head, while all the functions of a god were preserved. The city of Kinopol has always been a center of worship Anubis. Egyptologists argue that in the early period the cult Anubis spread with incredible speed. In the Old Kingdom, the god Anubis was the master of the underworld and was called Khentiamentiu. In addition, before the advent of the cult of Osiris in Egypt, he was the main god of the entire West. According to some books Khentiamentiu was the name of the location of some temple in which a given god was worshiped.

According to one of the translations, this epithet was "The very first western inhabitant." After the rise of the cult of Osiris, supreme god, an epithet of the Duat king and certain functions Anubis pass to Osiris himself (in the period of the Old Kingdom he was the personification of the deceased pharaoh). Myself Anubis became the guide of the dead through the region of the Duat (Amenti), through which the soul had to pass to the judgment of Osiris.

In one of the sections of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which is given on the Papyrus of Ani, the ideas of the Egyptians about the afterlife are described in detail. This section is written around the 18th Dynasty. One of the chapters gives a description of the Great Judgment of Osiris, at which the god Anubis put the heart of the deceased on the Weights of Truth. A heart was placed in the left bowl, and the feather of the Egyptian goddess Maat, which was supposed to symbolize the truth, was placed in the right bowl.

In the study of Egyptian mythology, starting with the historians of ancient Greece and ending with modern historians, some ideas about the position Anubis in the Egyptian pantheon. Anubis was the god of the Duat, and until the very end of the period of the Old Kingdom, he was its king and judge of the dead. Subsequently, his functions are transferred to Osiris, and he himself becomes the deity of the funerary mysteries and necropolises. At the Judgment, he helps Osiris judge the dead.