Anubis, in the original Ogdoad system, was known as god of the underworld. He was believed to have a wife (Anput) who was depicted in the same image, but feminine. He is also believed to have taken to wife Nehebka (the feminine form of Neheb Kau), and Kebauet (the Goddess of Cold Water). He was thought to be the fourth son of Ra, who was depicted as his father in many papyrus records found in Egyptian pyramids. In later times, his father was said to be Osiris, as he was god of the dead, and his mother was believed to be Nephthys. His daughter, Kebechet, was the goddess of the purification of body organs due to be placed in canopic jars during mummification.
Following the merging of the Ennead and Ogdoad belief systems, as a result of the identification of Atum with Ra, and their compatibility, Anubis became considered a lesser god in the underworld, giving way to the more popular Osiris. Indeed, when the Legend of Osiris and Isis emerged, it was said that when Osiris had died, Osiris' organs were given to Anubis as a gift.
Later, during the Ptolemaic period, Anubis came to be identified as the Greek god Hermes (due to their similar mythological roles), becoming Hermanubis. The center of this cult was in Utenha/Sa-Ka/Cynopolis, a place whose Greek name simply means 'City of Dogs'. Worship of this god was maintained in Rome at least up to the 2nd Century – and he also appears in the alchemical and hermetical literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Although Greeks and Romans typically scorned Egypt's animal-headed gods as bizarre and primitive, Anubis was sometimes associated with Sirius in heaven, and Cerberus in hell.
Cold Cast is a modern method of casting sculptures using a mixture of resin and powdered polymer materials. The finished sculpture has a surface which looks very similar to traditionally cast material, but tends to be much lighter.
