From card: "Hound-like dog; crouched on all fours, hind legs under body, fore-legs extended, head raised. Head, legs and front half of body covered with thick black paint. Left ear broken. See: N. Dorin Ischlondsky, "A Peculiar Representation of the Jackal-God Anubis," JNES 25:1 (Jan. 1966), pp. 22-23." 1978 NMNH slide set caption: Anubis Figure, wooden, carved, jackal god of mummification, tail repaired, Egyptian, Luxor, Ptolemaic Period, ca. 3000 B.C.
Associated with mummy (catalog number 126790).
From NMNH Exhibit Hall "Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt" label for this artifact, 2011: Anubis statue, 664-30 B.C. Known as "He who is on his mountain," Anubis figures like this sat atop a special chest holding the deceased's organs. The god's black skin color represents soil and fertility, as well as the darkness the dead passed through before rebirth.
