Anubis was the ancient Egyptian God of the Dead. When his priests embalmed the dead, preparing them for their journey to the other world, they donned masks with the jackal’s head of Anubis. As service for the god Osirus, lord of all the underworld, Anubis performed the “weighing of the heart” without which immortality was impossible. He also guarded the souls of the dead. Life after death was at the heart of the Egyptian way, and Anubis was one of the most important spirits in the courtly life of the realms beyond death.