Usually depicted with the head of a jackal or as a black dog, Anubis was associated with funerary rites. His mother Nephthys had tricked Osiris, then ruler of Egypt, into giving her a son because she had no children by her evil husband Set. When Set overthrew Osiris, the baby Anubis was hidden in the Nile swamps to preserve him from Set’s wrath. There he was found by Isis, who adopted him. When Osiris chose to go west to rule the underworld, Anubis performed the embalming with the help of Isis’ magic. Prior to the rise of Osiris as ruler of the underworld, Anubis had been a principal guardian of the dead. Anubis carried on as a guardian under Osiris, guiding the dead to the site of judgment and helping to weigh their souls.
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