Anubis was a very old god of the ancient Egyptians, universally worshipped throughout the land. Typical of the deities from the Egyptian pantheon, Anubis is often pictured with a human body and an animal head, just what species of head is the subject of some debate. That so many of the Egyptian gods have animal heads or other "creature features" does not mean that this culture worshipped rams, ibises, hawks, beetles, hippopotamuses, or the like. Rather, the animal head illustrates "an attribute of the divinity that characterizes its being." Thus, the hawk head of Horus might have represented this majestic bird's grace, far sight, speed, or strength. Anubis was represented as a black jackal or dog, or as a man with the head of a dog or jackal.Black is his color because in Egypt the color black represented regeneration and rebirth,The black color also represented the colour of human corpses after they had undergone the embalming process.

Anubis can also be pictured as a full animal. Even in this form, scholars cannot agree on what he is. One of the most famous artifacts is the Anubis statue found in King Tutankhamun's tomb. Tutankhamun's Anubis, like so many others, bears many features characteristic of a dog: long muzzle, eyes with round pupils, five-toed forefeet and four-toed hind feet. But the tail, drooping down the side of the shrine, is long and straight; and club-shaped at the tip, more like the brush of a fox than the curved tail of a dog, which is normally carried in an upright position rather than low down like that of a jackal, wolf, or fox. Howard Carter recorded having seen two animals resembling this jackal-like dog, one in 1926, the other in 1928, but neither had the characteristic tail, a fact which led him to suppose that the original Anubis-animal may have been a jackal crossed with a sub-genus of the canine family. Modern scholars are not the only ones confused about which animal species was the inspiration for Anubis. The behavior of the ancients seems to indicate that even they weren't sure whether Anubis was a jackal or a dog (or a wolf, or a fox). For example, Anubis was the totem god for el-Qeis, the 17th Upper Egyptian Nome. (Nomes were geographical divisions similar to states.) The ancient Greeks called this nome Cynopolis or "City of the Dogs," not "City of the Jackals." In addition, during the Roman Period, animal mummies became a religious fad. Egyptians thought that offering a mummy associated with a specific god at that god's temple was a "concrete" prayer. The mummies left for Anubis were those of dogs, not jackals. Another problem connected to the debate over whether Anubis has a dog head or a jackal head is that scholars are not certain which Egyptian words means dog and which ones means jackal, so even if an ancient text said definitively, "Anubis is a __-headed god," no modern scholar could with certainty translate the word in the blank! First, jackals were associated with Anubis' realm, which dealt with death and preparation for the afterlife. Second, the vast majority of Anubis depictions in ancient Egyptian art show a jackal tail on the god, not a dog tail. Every book on ancient Egyptian mythology will make this point: Ancient Egyptians buried their dead at the desert's edge. Jackals roamed the high ground in this area and had a habit of prowling around these cemeteries, scavenging for remains. Apparently, this jackal behavior can be observed even today in modern Egypt. Jackals are, for the Egyptians of all periods, associated with cemeteries and burial, and this fact makes them the best candidate as inspiration for Anubis, the god responsible for dead souls and the burial of human remains.

A few rare artifacts do show Anubis in full animal form without the characteristic bushy jackal tail. It is important to note, however, that these pieces are A) late in Egyptian history and B) a typical depictions of the god. Some of them might even be falsely identified as Anubis, portraying, in fact, a dog and not the god. The similarities that people see among basenjis, Anubis, and jackals might be the result of basenjis being used as models during the sculpture or painting process. Would an Egyptian artisan have had the luxury of traveling out to the desert to see a jackal first-hand? Or would this artisan have used what was available in the city? A verbal description of the animal and study of his own or a neighbor's dog, maybe even palace pets might have been all that he needed to portray his subject realistically. Michelangelo used men as models for the depictions of women in the Sistine Chapel paintings because male apprentices were conveniently present in his workshop. Sending an Egyptian artisan out to the desert to find and then study a jackal might have been too inconvenient for ancient Egyptians, especially if similarly shaped animals were lying around close by.

The Greeks later identified him with their god Hermes, resulting in the composite deity Hermanubis. His principal sanctuary was at the necropolis in Memphis and in other cities. Anubis was also known as Khenty- Imentiu - "chief of the westerners" - a reference to the Egyptian belief that the realm of the dead lay to the west in association with the setting sun, and to their custom of building cemeteries on the west bank of the Nile.

His mother was Nephthys by some, others beleaved it was Isis and that his father was, Set, from another point of view he was the son of Ra. His worship is very ancient, and there is no doubt that even the earliest times his cult was general in Egypt. It is probable that it is older than that of Osiris. In the text of Unas he is associated with the Eye of Ra. and his duty as the guide of the dead in the Underworld on their way to Osiris was well defined, even at the remote period when this composition was written, from we read, Unas standeth with the Spirits, get thee onwards, Anubis, into "Amenti {the Underworld}, onwards, onwards to Osiris." In the lines that follow we see that Anubis is mentioned in connection with Horus, Set, Thoth, Sep, and Khent-an-maati. From another passage of the same text we find that the hand, arms, belly, and legs of the deceased are identified with Temu, but his face is said to be in the form of that of Anubis. The localities in which Anubis was especially worshipped are Abt, the Papyrus Swamps, Sep, Re-au, Heru-ti, Ta-hetchet, Saint, {Lycopolis}, Sekhem, {Letopolis}, etc. In the Theban Recesion of the Book of the Dead he plays some very prominent parts, the most important of all being those which are connected with the judgment and the embalmed the body of Osiris, and that he swathed it in the linen swathing which were woven by Isis and Nepthys, that it resisted the influences of time and deacy. In the vignette of the Funeral Procession the mummy is received by Anubis, who stands by the Book of the Dead the god is seen standing by the side of the mummy as it lies on its bier, and he lays his protecting hands upon it. In the speech which is put into the mouth of Anubis, he says, "I have come to protect Osiris." In the text of Unas the nose of the deceased declares, My lips are the lips of Anpu." From various passages it is clear that one part of Egypt at least Anubis was the great god of the Underworld, and his rank and importance seem to have been as great as those of Osiris. Anubis is also the God of magic, for it was Isis Goddess of magic,Queen of Egypt that taught him all she knew of the secret arts.