Dark brown sculpture of the head of a jackal, resting on a gray prism base. The ears are large and pointed and the snout is long and rather narrow.
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Unknown Maker, Egyptian

Head of Anubis

Maker

Unknown Maker, Egyptian

Culture

Egyptian

Title

Head of Anubis

Period

Ancient

Year

around 946 BCE-CE 395

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

wood, gesso

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

22.129

Type

Exhibition History

Being and Believing in the Natural World
Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America
Oct 22, 2022 – Jun 04, 2023

Label copy

Anubis protected and guided the dead. This wooden head was part of a larger statuette guarding a shrine or coffin.

A glass-like material associated with rebirth, Egyptian faience was often used to make grave goods, such as this hippo. Hippos were associated with the Nile River, considered the source of all life.

Amulets provided protection; they were worn during life and sewn into the mummy wrappings of the deceased. Shabtis were figures placed in tombs to perform labor in the afterlife. If the deceased is called upon to sow or irrigate the land, a shabti will answer, “Here I am” and do the work for them.

—GB

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Egyptian
Head of Anubis, around 946 BCE-CE 395
Wood, gesso, and paint
Anonymous gift 22.129

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