As we head out on the hunt to meet more dogs in the Dog Park of the Afterlife, I would like to tell you about the ancient Egyptians' relationship with them. You probably already know that the ancient Egyptians treated cats like royalty. Did you know they did the same for dogs? It was actually considered a criminal offense to kill a dog and an even more severe crime if they were someone's pet. They also collared their pet dogs just like modern day civilizations often do. Egyptians treated dogs like family in a similar way to how many people consider dogs now. When a pet dog died, they practiced mourning rituals as if a human family member had died. This included shaving the eyebrows and heads. The Egyptians also believed that these furry family members would be seen again in the afterlife.
Someone you may already be familiar with is Anubis, the dog-headed Egyptian god of the underworld, more specifically the transfer from life to death. You may be wondering, "Isn't it a jackal head?" In this case you would also be correct. The ancient Egyptians did not distinguish between dogs and jackals in everyday life as they were so similar in appearance in that region. Oh, here's Anubis now! Bow when he comes over. Don't ask. It's a long story.
A dark-colored Basenji comes your way, and you bow as he begins speak.
"Oh, how I enjoy the respect my subjects show me. I am the mighty Anubis, Son of Osiris, Lord of the Underworld. And you are? Doesn't matter, I have too many souls to keep track of and too many bodies to embalm. You may be wondering why I am not appearing to you as the humanoid figure of legend. I find that a bit too jarring for most mortals so I stick with one species when speaking with them. I also am not the normal color for a Basenji or jackal. Their colors bore me. Besides looking sleek, black also represents fertility or in my case, rebirth. Enough about my attire. When I am not at the Dog Park of the Afterlife visiting my loyal subjects, I am watching over the embalming process of recently deceased mortals, their tombs, and the judgement process. I operate the scale that weighs hearts against a feather to determine entry to the afterlife. At one point in time I was the sole ruler of the Underworld. However, my father, Osiris, felt the need to take over that job and left me with only the transfer from life into death. I would much rather be King of the Underworld, but I do still love my job and my adoring subjects. Priests would even pretend to be me by wearing masks in my likeness while embalming the newly departed. An entire canine cemetery and shrine was named for me, Anubeion. Hmm, maybe I should go visit Anubeion and see who still bows down to me out of respect and/or fear. Good day. I have more adoring mortals to visit."
Anubis struts away leaving you in awe. He can be a bit much, but when you're around for that many millennia, you get a big head.
Author's Note:
I decided to write about dogs in ancient Egyptian culture, not because there are many stories, but because I found it fascinating. However, I thought the fact that Egyptian culture respected dogs as family was interesting. They played an important role in their belief system involving the afterlife. I wanted to give some of that background to not only relay the information but to also act as a transfer between segments. I wanted to write Anubis as a pretentious and kind of judgmental dog. After all, he is the judge of who gets into the afterlife or not. Anubis was widely worshipped and many other groups have used him as a figurehead or influence so that is why I decided to give him a bit of a big head about his "subjects." There was a whole citadel-style cemetery for canines that also served as a shrine to Anubis known as Anubeion. I added in a couple notes of where Egyptian mythology changes over time, more specifically, the fact that Anubis was the first ruler of the Underworld but then Osiris took over. I chose my dog, Collison, to be the image of this page because he fits the personality of a spoiled royal. On a sillier note, he looks hilarious begrudgingly wearing a Santa hat.