Introduction
Anubis is the jackal-headed god of embalming, mummification, and the protection of tombs and graves, one of the most visually recognizable figures in Egyptian religion.
Family
- No further family relationships recorded in this tree.
Uncertain Parentage, Central Role
Older, Old Kingdom tradition names Anubis a son of Ra, while a later account recorded by the Greek writer Plutarch describes him instead as a son of Osiris and Nephthys, secretly raised by Isis — a variant that ties him more directly into the Osiris myth cycle. This tree does not resolve the two traditions as canonical but records both. Regardless of parentage, Anubis's ritual role was constant: he presided over embalming and was invoked to guide and protect the dead, including weighing the heart at judgment in some traditions before that role passed more fully to Thoth and Ma'at.
Ancient Egyptian religion spanned three millennia and many regional cult centers, so parentage, roles and even gender pairings for a given deity often differ between the Heliopolitan, Hermopolitan, Memphite and Theban theological systems; the account above follows the most widely attested classical version.