Ancient Egyptian Statue - Kneeling Anubis

Ancient Egyptian Statue - Kneeling Anubis

The Egyptian God Anubis is shown here in the “Praise and Glorification” pose known as the “Henu” pose. Anubis and sometimes Horus are often shown in this pose where they salute the rising sun each dawn. The Egyptians didn't worship the animals, but the forces of nature that they symbolized. Anubis, God of the Dead, represented with a head of a jackal or simply as a jackal opened the road to the other world and presided over embalmments. After a funeral, Anubis would take the deceased by the hand and introduce him into the presence of the sovereign judges where the soul of the deceased would be weighed. Anubis was the Guardian of Offerings brought to the ceremony by heirs of the deceased and he also guarded the mummy from evil forces in the night. When the body was embalmed, a priest wearing a jackal mask acted as Anubis's representative. The Egyptian God also was the guardian of the Sacred Esoteric Mysteries. The ancient origin of this God lay in the fact that jackals could be heard howling in the desert to the west of the Nile at sunset-at the time when burials took place.