Editing Anubis (section)

==Roles==

===Embalmer===
[[File:Anubis attending the mummy of Sennedjem.jpg|thumb|Anubis attending the [[mummy]] of the deceased.|upright=1]]
As ''jmy-wt'' (Imiut or the [[Imiut fetish]]) "He who is in the place of [[embalming]]", Anubis was associated with [[mummification]]. He was also called ''ḫnty zḥ-nṯr'' "He who presides over the god's booth", in which "booth" could refer either to the place where embalming was carried out or the pharaoh's burial chamber.{{sfnm|Hart|1986|1pp=23–24|Wilkinson|2003|2pp=188–90}}<ref name=":0" />

In the [[Osiris myth]], Anubis helped Isis to embalm Osiris.{{sfn|Freeman|1997|p=91}} Indeed, when the Osiris myth emerged, it was said that after Osiris had been killed by Set, Osiris's organs were given to Anubis as a gift. With this connection, Anubis became the patron god of embalmers; during the rites of mummification, illustrations from the ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' often show a wolf-mask-wearing priest supporting the upright mummy.

===Protector of tombs===
[[File:Opening of the mouth ceremony (cropped).jpg |thumb|The [[Opening of the Mouth]] ceremony being performed on a mummy before the tomb. Anubis attending the [[mummy]] of the deceased. Extract from the Papyrus of [[Hunefer]], a [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|19th-Dynasty]] Book of the Dead (<abbr>c.</abbr> 1300 BC)]]

Anubis was a protector of [[grave]]s and [[cemeteries]]. Several epithets attached to his name in [[Ancient Egyptian literature|Egyptian texts and inscriptions]] referred to that role. ''[[Khenti-Amentiu|Khenty-Amentiu]]'', which means "foremost of the westerners" and was also the name of a different [[Khenti-Amentiu|canine funerary god]], alluded to his protecting function because the dead were usually buried on the west bank of the Nile.{{sfn|Hart|1986|p=23}} He took other names in connection with his funerary role, such as ''tpy-ḏw.f'' (Tepy-djuef) "He who is upon his mountain" (i.e. keeping guard over tombs from above) and ''nb-t3-ḏsr'' (Neb-ta-djeser) "Lord of the sacred land", which designates him as a god of the desert [[necropolis]].{{sfnm|Hart|1986|1pp=23–24|Wilkinson|2003|2pp=188–90}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bqZBAAAQBAJ&q=tpy%20Dw%20f&pg=PA262|title=Community and Identity in Ancient Egypt: The Old Kingdom Cemetery at Qubbet el-Hawa|last=Vischak|first=Deborah|date=2014-10-27|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107027602|language=en}}</ref>

The [[Jumilhac papyrus]] recounts another tale where Anubis protected the body of Osiris from Set. Set attempted to attack the body of Osiris by transforming himself into a [[leopard]]. Anubis stopped and subdued Set, however, and he [[human branding|branded]] Set's skin with a hot iron rod. Anubis then [[flaying|flayed]] Set and wore his skin as a warning against evil-doers who would desecrate the [[necropolis|tombs of the dead]].{{sfn|Armour|2001}} Priests who attended to the dead wore leopard skin in order to commemorate Anubis' victory over Set. The legend of Anubis branding the hide of Set in leopard form was used to explain how the leopard got its spots.{{sfn|Zandee|1960|p=255}}

Most ancient tombs had prayers to Anubis carved on them.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Gods of Ancient Egypt – Anubis|url=http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/anubis.htm|publisher=touregypt.net|access-date=29 June 2014|archive-date=7 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907052820/http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/anubis.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Guide of souls===
[[File:BD Hunefer cropped 1.jpg|thumb|The "weighing of the heart," from the book of the dead of [[Hunefer]]. Anubis is portrayed as guiding the deceased forward and manipulating the scales, under the scrutiny of the [[ibis]]-headed [[Thoth]].|left]]

By the [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|late pharaonic era]] (664–332 BC), Anubis was often depicted as guiding individuals across the threshold from the world of the living to the [[Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife|afterlife]].{{sfnm|Kinsley|1989|1p=178|Riggs|2005|2p=166 ("The motif of Anubis, or less frequently Hathor, leading the deceased to the afterlife was well-established in Egyptian art and thought by the end of the pharaonic era.")}} Though a similar role was sometimes performed by the cow-headed [[Hathor]], Anubis was more commonly chosen to fulfill that function.{{sfn|Riggs|2005|pp=127 and 166}} Greek writers from the [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman period]] of Egyptian history designated that role as that of "[[psychopomp]]", a Greek term meaning "guide of souls" that they used to refer to their own god [[Hermes]], who also played that role in [[ancient Greek religion|Greek religion]].{{sfn|Riggs|2005|p=166}} [[Funerary art#Ancient Egypt and Nubia|Funerary art]] from that period represents Anubis guiding either men or women dressed in Greek clothes into the presence of Osiris, who by then had long replaced Anubis as ruler of the underworld.{{sfn|Riggs|2005|pp=127–28 and 166–67}}

===Weigher of hearts===
One of the roles of Anubis was as the "Guardian of the Scales."{{sfn|Faulkner|Andrews|Wasserman|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=La9K8fp-BcMC&dq=anubis+scales&pg=PA155 155]}} The critical scene depicting the weighing of the heart, in the ''[[Book of the Dead]]'', shows Anubis performing a measurement that determined whether the person was worthy of entering the realm of the dead (the [[underworld]], known as ''[[Duat]]''). By weighing the heart of a deceased person against [[Maat|''ma'at'']], who was often represented as an ostrich feather, Anubis dictated the fate of souls. Souls heavier than a feather would be devoured by [[Ammit]], and souls lighter than a feather would ascend to a heavenly existence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Museum Explorer / Death in Ancient Egypt&nbsp;– Weighing the heart|publisher=[[British Museum]]|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/young_explorers/discover/museum_explorer/ancient_egypt/death/weighing_the_heart.aspx|access-date=23 June 2014|archive-date=11 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011154408/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/young_explorers/discover/museum_explorer/ancient_egypt/death/weighing_the_heart.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/p/book_of_the_dead_of_ani.aspx|title=Gods of Ancient Egypt: Anubis|publisher=Britishmuseum.org|access-date=15 June 2012|archive-date=31 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031115200/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/p/book_of_the_dead_of_ani.aspx|url-status=live}}<!-- Bot generated title --></ref>