Anubis was one of the most recognizable Egyptian gods. He had the head of a jackal - a wild dog that lived in the deserts around Egypt’s cemeteries. The Egyptians believed Anubis was in charge of mummification and protected the dead on their journey into the afterlife.
According to Egyptian myth, when someone died, Anubis would lead their soul into a special hall. There he placed the person’s heart on one side of a giant scale. On the other side, he placed a single feather from the goddess Ma’at, which represented truth and fairness.
If the heart was lighter than the feather, the person had lived a good life and could enter the afterlife. If it was heavier, a strange monster called Ammit - part crocodile, part lion, part hippo - would swallow the heart whole. Anubis is the reason so many Egyptian tombs have statues of black dogs guarding the doors.
