Anubis is the jackal-headed god of ancient Egyptian burial. He presided over embalming, watched over cemeteries and guided the dead through the underworld. The jackal head is usually explained by the animals that prowled the edges of Egyptian cemeteries: the Egyptians turned a scavenger of the dead into their protector. His color was black, the color of the rich silt left by the Nile and of rebirth, not of mourning.
In the Book of the Dead Anubis leads the deceased into the hall of judgment and tends the scales. The dead person's heart is weighed against the feather of Ma'at, the principle of truth and order. If the heart is light, the soul can continue; if not, it is devoured. Our post on the Book of the Dead of Nauny covers that judgment scene.
This bronze figure is about 14 centimeters tall and was made in Egypt between 664 and 30 BCE, in the Late and Ptolemaic periods. Bronze statuettes of gods were made in great numbers in these centuries and were commonly dedicated in temples as offerings. This one shows Anubis striding forward as a man with a jackal's head and tall ears. One arm hangs at his side while the other reaches out in front of him, and the long, striated wig of a human god frames his face.
Anubis appears on our:
Related: The Book of the Dead of Nauny: A Heart Weighed Against a Feather