The gate of the year

Clay mask in the shape of the god Anubis, dating to the Late Period (from 672 to 332 B.C.), now in the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim, Germany. Anubis was a funerary god and was regarded as an embalmer. During the funerary ceremonies, a priest-embalmer performed the role of Anubis himself, that is promoting the revival of the dead (Heerma Van Voss 2005). It is possible that in these occasions, and in other ceremonial drama, the priests wore animal masks in order to personify the actual presence of the deities.

[Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RPM_%C3%84gypten_186.jpg]




Human-Animal Transformation

Back

Clay mask in the shape of the god Anubis, dating to the Late Period (from 672 to 332 B.C.), now in the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim, Germany. Anubis was a funerary god and was regarded as an embalmer. During the funerary ceremonies, a priest-embalmer performed the role of Anubis himself, that is promoting the revival of the dead (Heerma Van Voss 2005). It is possible that in these occasions, and in other ceremonial drama, the priests wore animal masks in order to personify the actual presence of the deities. [Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RPM_%C3%84gypten_186.jpg]