Editing Hermanubis

{{Short description|Greek mythological character}}
[[File:Statue of the god Anubis.jpg|thumb|Hermanubis marble statue, 1st–2nd century AD ([[Vatican Museums]])<ref>[http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/MEZs/MEZs_Sala04_07_014.html Statue of the god Anubis, Vatican Museums]</ref>]]
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
{{Ancient Greek religion}}
'''Hermanubis''' ({{langx|grc|Ἑρμανοῦβις|translit=Hermanoubis}}) is a [[Greco-Egyptian|Graeco-Egyptian]] god who conducts the souls of the dead to the [[greek underworld|underworld]]. He is a [[syncretism]] of [[Hermes]] from [[Greek mythology]] and [[Anubis]] from [[Egyptian mythology]]. Hermanubis was possibly one of the ancestors of the dog-headed [[Saint Christopher]] – a [[Cynocephaly|cynocephalus]] saint, who was, similarly to Anubis / Hermanubis, a powerful ferryman for travelers. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stefanovic |first=Danijela |title=The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis, Historia 4, 2013, 506-5014. |url=https://www.academia.edu/2522152 |journal=Journal of Ancient History |volume=62}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Sousse_mosaic_calendar_November.JPG|thumb|Hermanubis in the November panel of a Roman mosaic calendar from Sousse, Tunisia.]]
Hermes' and Anubis's similar responsibilities (they were both [[psychopomp|conductors of souls]]) led to the god Hermanubis.  He was popular during the period of [[Roman Empire|Roman domination]] over [[Egypt (Roman province)|Egypt]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6noOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA72 |title=A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography Mythology and Geography Partly Based Upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |date=1878 |publisher=Harper |pages=72 |language=en}}</ref> Depicted having a human body and a jackal head, with the sacred [[caduceus]] that belonged to the Greek god Hermes, he represented the Egyptian priesthood. He engaged in the investigation of truth.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''[[De Iside et Osiride]]'' 61</ref><ref>[[Diodorus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' i.18, 87</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Peck |first=Harry Thurston |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RacKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA799 |title=Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities |date=1897 |publisher=Harper |pages=799 |language=en}}</ref>

The divine name {{lang|grc|Ἑρμανοῦβις}} (''Hermanoubis'') is known from a handful of epigraphic and literary sources, mostly of the Roman period. [[Plutarch]] cites the name as a designation of Anubis in his underworldly aspect, while [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] refers to Hermanubis as {{lang|grc|σύνθετος}} (''sýnthetos'') "composite" and {{lang|grc|μιξέλλην}} (''mixéllin'') "half-Greek".<ref>[[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]], ''[[Porphyry_(philosopher)#Works|De imaginibus]]'' fr. 8, p. 18. 1–2 Bidez</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Budge |first=Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqMUl7Knsz0C&pg=PA493 |title=The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology |date=1904 |publisher=Methuen & Company |pages=493 |language=en}}</ref>

Although it was not common in traditional [[Religion in ancient Greece|Greek religion]] to combine the names of two gods in this manner, the double determination of Hermanubis has some formal parallels in the earlier period. The most obvious is the god [[Hermaphroditus]], attested from the fourth century BC onwards, but his name implies the paradoxical union of two different gods (Hermes and [[Aphrodite]]) rather than an assimilation in the manner of Hermanubis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Benaissa |first=Amin |date=2010 |title=The Onomastic Evidence for the God Hermanubis |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.7523866.0025.116 |journal=The Proceedings of the 25th International Congress of Papyrology |volume=25 |issue=1|hdl=2027/spo.7523866.0025.116 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ancient Egyptian religion]]
* [[Ancient Greek religion]]
* [[Egyptian pantheon]]
* [[Osiris-Dionysus]]
* [[Serapis]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* ''A history of Egypt Under Roman Rule'' by Joseph Grafton Milne (1992) p. 195
* ''Who's Who in Egyptian Mythology'' by Anthony S. Mercatante (2002) p. 56

==External links==
* [http://antiquities.bibalex.org/Collection/Detail.aspx?lang=en&a=1160 Statue of Hermanubis (Alexandria, early 2nd century CE)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217213802/http://antiquities.bibalex.org/Collection/Detail.aspx?lang=en&a=1160 |date=2015-02-17 }}, Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina

{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer}}
{{Greek religion}}

[[Category:Anubis]]
[[Category:Egyptian gods]]
[[Category:Egyptian underworld]]
[[Category:Hellenistic Egyptian deities]]
[[Category:Hermes]]
[[Category:Psychopomps]]
[[Category:Residents of the Greek underworld]]
[[Category:Roman gods]]
[[Category:Underworld gods]]