Anubis - The Divine Embalmer
One of the Egyptian pantheon's most recognizable and well-known deities is undoubtedly Anubis. Anubis, the jackal-headed deity, guarded the entrances to the underworld. Anubis governed the underworld prior to Osiris taking control. Anubis was the son of Ra and Nephthys and a "psychopomp," or god who helps the dead, in the afterlife. He had a reputation for mummifying the deceased and directing their souls to the afterlife.
His dark skin served as a metaphor for the deep Nile deposits that made the region so productive. Anubis also represented the Renaissance and the dyeing of dead bodies after embalming, having a jackal's head and a human body.
Being originally a deity of death and the afterlife, he was closely related to the practice of mummifying the deceased before burial. Because jackals have a propensity to dig up and consume buried dead whenever and wherever they can find them, it is widely accepted that he is associated with them.
Anubis is renowned for his role in determining the afterlife fate of the deceased. He measured their heart against the "feather of truth" to determine whether they were worthy of the afterlife. If they failed the test, Ammit, another Egyptian deity, would devour them both heart and soul.
Anubis used to oversee the after-death preparations for the elite, including embalming and linen bandaging of the monarch and his courtiers. The use of black tar to seal the body with linen bindings caused his coat to turn black over time.
His emblem depicts a headless figure covered in blood, wearing animal skin. His primary cemeteries were located along the Nile's banks, and one of them has the phrase He Who is Upon the Mountain. It suggests that Anubis is present above the mountains, where he keeps watching over them.
