The real deal.
Back when I was 7, there was a massive exposition of Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s many burial goods. If I’m not mistaken, that was the last time they left Egypt and I doubt they will ever tour again like that.
We were not anywhere near where they were showing, but when I was about 6 or so, possibly because of the then future hype of the tour, my mother bought me a copy of the book The Tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter and it would be an understatement to say that had an impact on me.
I was fascinated from my first dive into it, and it left a massive life long love of The Black Lands, and all things from human antiquity. (It no doubt contributed to my also becoming a massive blasphemous heathen to some, but that’s the amazing risk of exposing children to history and knowledge!)
Tutankhamun was buried with an amazing palanquin/litter shrine with Anubis, in full jackal form, atop it. It was placed in the room called the treasury, and Anubis faced the room where Tutankhamun mummified remains were sealed, as well as being placed in front of the gilded shrine in which held the Pharaoh’s sealed canopic jars.
Everything about Anubis fascinated young me, and quite frankly lead me to explore many other eschatology-related things. Yes. Very strange for a 7-year old child. But that is the firmware I was born with.
Clearly I’ve had a resurgent in this life-long interest in Kemet (what Ancient Egyptian’s actually called their land).
It has been so wonderful to find so many interpretations of the Gods of Kemet over the past year.
So many people take different things from what they see and/or read about Anubis.
I really despise the past 30 or so years of video game creators and cinematic portrayals of Anubis as somehow evil.
He’s so remotely not evil in any way.
Anubis is your friend.
Anubis is there to see you when you awaken in the Duat (afterlife).
He’s there to guide you.
Yes, his role is to weight your existence against truth, but it is you that made the choices of your life that may tip the scales against you.
Not Anubis.