Golden Dawn Pedia: The patron god of embalming, guide of the Underworld was Anubis. Known as friend of the dead and Opener of the Way, Anubis was a deity that could be seen throughout all of ancient Egypt. . The name of this god is traditionally spelled (Inpu). The name here is read left to right, with an abbreviated image of Anubis finishing. Often, as with many of Egypt’s deities, the spelling of the name changes but one characteristic stays the same: the jackal at the end. In some cases the jackal is raised up on a pedestal to show its holy importance.
As the Hieroglyph indicates, Anubis is commonly seen as a Jackal. It’s believed that the jackal was chosen as the iconic figure for this deity due to the necropolis where the wild dogs of ancient times would often prowl to hunt for food. Some say that Anubis took the form of a jackal to help Isis and Nephthys search for the pieces of Osiris’s body. According to legend, and the story does vary, the brother of Osiris, Seth, lured Osiris into an elaborate coffin and had it sealed shut then threw the box into the Nile where it washed up on the Phoenician coast. Isis then retrieved her husband’s body. When Seth learned of this he had Osiris’s body cut up into pieces and scattered throughout Egypt. It was then that Isis and her sister Nephthys
in the form of Kite birds, and with Anubis in his jackal form, found all the parts of his body except the phallus. With the help of Thoth, the body was restored and Anubis wrapped it in linen; giving him the name “He Who is in the Place of Embalming.”...read more>>>...