In ancient Egypt the jackal-headed god Anubis was originally the most important deity linked to funerals and death. Over time, however, this role was taken over by the god Osiris, and Anubis became associated with preserving dead bodies and guiding the dead in the underworld . In the sacred texts of the ancient Egyptians, both the cow goddess Hesat, who was the deity of childbirth, and the cat goddess Bastet, goddess of music, were named as the mother of Anubis. Later it was said that Anubis was the son of Nepthys, the wife of Seth, the evil god of storms and chaos. In this account of the god's origins, Anubis's father was either the sun god Re or the vegetation god Osiris, although Seth was also suggested as a possible father. When Anubis was born, Nepthys hid him in marshes on the banks of the Nile River to save the infant from Seth. Isis, the mother goddess and sister of Nepthys, discovered Anubis and, in this version of events, raised him. However, records from the first millennium…