Death Dogs | Jackal Gods at Karanis

Jackal Gods at Karanis

Shrine door from Karanis — Painted wooden coffin panel repurposed into a shrine door. Karanis, Egypt, late Ptolemaic or early Roman Period, ca. 200 BC–AD 100. Kelsey Museum archival photograph (neg. 7.2469)

The University of Michigan’s 1924–1935 excavation of the village of Karanis shows the worship of jackal gods in action in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Amulets of Wepwawet and Duamutef demonstrate at least an ongoing belief in these jackal gods at Karanis.

But Anubis had a stronger presence at Karanis. One document records a loan to a priest of Anubis (named after the god, no less) and attests to a cult of the god, perhaps in a side-chapel of one of the crocodile-god temples there. A coffin board from Karanis that shows Anubis embalming was repurposed as a shrine door, possibly to enclose an image of the god for cult purposes.

The images and remains of dogs from Karanis also show the presence of canines in daily life. A terracotta figurine shows a dog that would have been a pet, while the dog skull and a dog jawbone with magical symbols more likely attest to the presence of stray or wild dogs at Karanis.