Near Eastern Mythology Dog Names

When talking about the Near Eastern mythology, animals are quite a common occurrence. Many ancient gods take the form of animals for various reasons, whether to make it easier for humans to comprehend their existence or because they find positive traits in animals that they want to convey to the world. One of such gods is an essential deity in the Ancient Egyptian mythology, the god of the afterlife, Anubis. 

Anubis is the god of the afterlife and mummification, a practice that was popular in ancient Egyptian times. He is usually depicted as a dog, reminiscent of a Pharaoh Hound, or as a man with the head of a dog. His sacred animal was a canid, the African golden wolf, and everything about him revolved around the canines. 

He had many different roles as the time went by. While he was always associated with the afterlife, he was often told to be an embalmer, the protector of the graves, and the lord of the underworld, until the Middle Kingdom, around 2055 to 1650 BC when he was replaced by Osiris in that role. He is also considered to be the god who guides souls into the afterlife, by weighing the souls on the scale and determining who is worthy of entering the realm of the dead. 

In his dog form, as well as his human/dog hybrid form, Anubis was depicted as black, which symbolized the rebirth, as well as the loss of color of the body after embalming. In the Early Dynastic period of Egypt, from 3100 to 2686 BC, Anubis was always depicted in his animal form, since the canines were associated with the graveyards, scavenging the unburied remains. At that time, with the “fight fire with fire” logic, the canines were employed as grave guards, scaring away the scavengers and protecting the dead, so Anubis, as the protector of the deceased, got his dog form. In the Roman Era, from 30 BC and onward, Anubis can be seen on the tomb paintings holding the hands of the deceased and guiding them to the afterlife, to Osiris, who became the god of the underworld in the Middle Kingdom. 

Anubis is considered to be the son of god Ra. However, various historians have various interpretations of his lineage. The Coffin Texts say that he was the son of the cow goddess Hesat, and Plutarch thinks that he is the illegitimate son of Nephthys and Osiris, later adopted by Isis, Osiris’ wife.