ANUBIS
 WARNING: This article contains spoilers through the Season Six finale, "Full Circle." Proceed with caution!
From the Egyptian Book of the Dead (Book of Ani) to many films, the deity Anubis is a widely recognized figure. He is so significant in ancient mythology that there almost isn't a television special on Egypt that doesn't feature a shot or a mention of him. It's no wonder that Stargate's writers chose to make him one of the series' principal bad guys.
Not even the movie "The Scorpion King" misses a beat; when Mathayus meets Memnon for the climatic battle, a statue of the jackal-headed deity is visible in the background. That was a nod and a link to his future role in the "Mummy" saga.
When it comes to Anubis' Season Five introduction ("Summit") and the Season Six opener ("Redemption"), very little is revealed about this new villain. What is known is that he, like most other Goa'uld powers, is one of the many Lords of the Underworld with whom SG-1 has had to contend.
However, it should be noted that in "Stargate" the movie, an Anubis figure (Ra's mighty First Prime) was killed. Is that a nagging inconsistency or a dangling plot hole? In all likelihood, the victim in the movie was simply a high-ranking soldier wearing the helmet of the jackal to represent his status -- a warrior who had taken on the ancient Egyptian personae of Anubis, as the Goa'uld of that name had been presumed killed a thousand years ago ("Last Stand").
 Samantha Carter examines the Goa'uld family tree in Season Three's "Seth." | |
In the TV series, hints of the real Anubis began early in Season Three. The episode "Seth" makes an effort to clearly show the Anubis head on the holographic pyramid and "The Curse" had Daniel naming, to date, most of the Goa'uld his team had killed.1 Interestingly, Ra was named and Anubis was not. The writers chose not to write the latter deity in. This gap would lead most viewers who saw the original movie to speculate what is going on.
This tidbit of non-information leads to many questions. Was the Anubis of the movie (the Jaffa) dead? Because of the early effort in "Seth," its foreshadowing was inevitable. At least, early in the writer's conceptualization stage, he was a Goa'uld whose activities were currently unknown. The icon did not hum and was, back then, considered not a threat.
The warrior in the movie simply followed Ra's orders. Both he and the Horus guards served a simple and historically accurate function in the movie: they functioned as servants to Ra, and were more soldiers than divine themselves. In the novelization of the movie, it is explained that Ra created these animal-headed soldiers to play on the ancient Egyptians' fears. They were individuals and who could easily be replaced.2
In real-world mythology, Anubis was a one-of-a-kind deity and Horus was a collective name for a bunch of hawk-headed deities.3 It's reasonable to have multitudes of zombie-jackal warriors in "The Mummy Returns." They represented the reason why the jackal was feared -- they were often found hunting the graveyards, devouring corpses for food.4 Horus was an apt name given to a falcon that served to function as the eye of the world when in flight.
With no Daniel Jackson around to reveal the "new" Anubis' origins, the viewer has to look to other sources for information. There are four possible genealogies:
1) Anubis is the result of a liaison between Osiris and Nephthys.5
2) In the Pyramid Texts, he is the fourth son of Ra.6
3) In the Coffin Texts, the cow-goddess, Heset, is said to be his mother.
4) From the same source, Bastet is another possibility.7 | |  Anubis' true form -- as a being of energy -- is revealed in Season Six's "Full Circle." |
While Anubis is recognized as one of the original Lords of the Underworld, his domain was that of Upper Egypt. Because there were many deities that commanded the realm of the dead, they each had one main city as their center of worship, a specialized function in religious worship, and a region in the afterlife as their domain. In contrast, Sokar was a Memphite deity of Lower Egypt.8
Anubis' title would later be lost when Osiris succeeded into the role. Chronologically, this change in title happened during the time of the Middle Kingdom; in mortuary art, more references were made to Osiris than Anubis. But the jackal god maintained his importance in the ancient Egyptian's funerary tradition. In the story of Osiris, when he ruled Egypt as mortal king, Anubis was the one who made the first mummy. He bandaged the king. Thus, Anubis became the patron saint of embalmers and Osiris "ascended" into the respected position as Lord of the Underworld.
Even though Osiris became the new lord, Anubis role was very important. He led the soul of the deceased into the afterlife and supervised the weighing of the soul's heart before Osiris.9 The heart was weighed against a feather to see if he will be worthy for the pleasures of the afterlife (see "Forever In a Day"). Should it prove heavy (the metaphor for guilt), the monstrous, multi-creature shaped Ammit would devour the soul, thus destroying it (i.e. total non-existence).10 Those who passed went to a place of bliss in the underworld, the Sekht-Aaru, the domain of Osiris.11
When comparing these facts to the SG-1 version, both versions were treated as very ancient figures. While one Anubis is jackal-headed, the other is hooded.
Anubis' ghost-like appearance in "Redemption, Part 1" is interesting. It brings to light one definite fact about the historical version of Anubis. He wants to return into the System Lord hierarchy, and has definite plans to become number one. Also, by association, ghosts and the realm of the dead (the underworld) go side-by-side. Almost nothing about his origins are yet known, leaving him the dark and mysterious figure that Stargate Command has to deal with in later episodes.
 Osiris finds herself in the service of Anubis in Season Five's "Revelations." | |
In a curious twist of historical fact in the opening act of "Summit," Osiris chose to follow Anubis. One possible reason will later be explained. In "Full Circle," the Season Six finale, the jackal head is revealed as a mantle-piece in the palace. Anubis himself, is, appropriately enough, revealed to be a Goa'uld who has learned many of the secrets of the Ancients, and transcended his mortal remains. He is now a being of pure energy, with only a shroud to keep his body from completely dissipating.
The shroud is suggestive of his religious function as the lord of embalmers, but this idea is not explored in the series. Instead, what is learned is that his rise and fall amongst Oma Desala's order is appropriate to the weighing of his own heart. Part of him has been devoured by non-existence. What's left of him has to be essentially "embalmed" in order to maintain existence. Much like the mummies of Ancient Egypt, if nothing of the body remains, the soul will be forever gone.
The recognition that the series' writers give to Anubis by linking him with the Ancients is a nice nod to his early role in Egyptian mythology. After that, creative license takes over to justify his return to his roots as the supreme lord of all Goa'uld. Osiris is willing to bow (i.e. serve) before the Jackal.
Sadly, the Season Six finale does not grace the viewer with more "animal-headed" soldiers. Budget constraints aside, it would be an appropriate way to bring the television series to a complete full circle. Season One abounded with hawk- and serpent-headed Jaffa. Part of the stylistic appeal of adapting the film for television is the animal-headed soldiers -- even though they were more often used for Apophis' Jaffa than for any other Goa'uld.
If Anubis' soldiers wear jackal-shaped helmets, only the future episodes of Stargate SG-1 can tell.
FOOTNOTES
1. Even the production sketch for the pyramid includes Anubis.
2. Emmerich, Roland and Devlin, Dean, Stargate, p.191
3. http://www.kemet.org/glossary/heru.html
4. Watterson, Barbera. Gods of Ancient Egypt, p.174
5. Ibid.
6. Turner, Patricia and Coulter, Charles, Dictionary of Ancient Deities, p.58
7. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/anubis.html
8. Watterson, Barbera. Gods of Ancient Egypt, p.170
9. Faulkner, Raymond. Egyptian Book of the Dead.
10. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/ammit.html
11. Turner, Patricia and Coulter, Charles. Dictionary of Ancient Deities, p.4
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