Anubis

System Lord Anubis

Earth Culture of Origin

Egypt

Alternate Names / Spellings

Anpu, Inpu, Ienpw, Imeut (Lord-of-the-Place-of-Embalming)

Presides Over

Mummification and the dead as they pass into the afterlife

Personal Symbols

Usually depicted as having the head of a jackal

Earth Mythological References

Because Anubis is one of the most ancient of the Egyptian gods, there is some confusion as to his lineage. Some stories have Anubis as the son of Ra and Nephthys; some say Seth and Nephthys (the connection to Seth attributed their sharing of the same totem animal, the jackal). Others have Heset as his mother, and still others say Bastet. Anubis also has a daughter named Kabechet. She is said to help with the mummification process.

Anubis was the original god of the dead before Osiris assumed that role. After that, Anubis' role changed to that of a guide leading dead souls to the underworld. His symbol, the jackal, is attributed to the animals of the same name said to have hunted at the edges of the desert near the necropolis and cemeteries throughout Egypt.

Ancient tombs in Egypt are inscribed with prayers to Anubis. They tell of Anubis watching over the mummification process to ensure it is done properly. As he conducts the souls through the underworld, he tests their knowledge of the gods and their faith. He places their heart on the Scales of Justice during the Judging of the Heart against the Feather of Maat, and he feeds the souls of wicked people to Ammit. Those souls whose hearts are judged favorably are led to

Stargate References

In "Between Two Fires", Anubis was the unnamed mysterious and powerful Goa'uld responsible for despatching Tanith to Tollana with a ship equipped with newly acquired advanced weaponry capable of destroying even that advanced society. Tanith managed to force the cooperation of the Tollan Curria (their governing counsel) to acquire trinium, a critical element needed to create a weapon of mass destruction, intended to wreak havoc across the galaxy with Earth as its first target.

In the two-parter Summit/Last Stand, several major Goa'uld System Lords convene at a Summit where Osiris reveals that Anubis has returned and is the mysterious Goa'uld who had been wreaking havoc across the galaxy. Again, Anubis makes no appearance with Osiris acting as his representative. On his behalf, she seeks restoration of his status as System Lord. Threats, and an assurance that Anubis' forces led by Zipacna are in the process of destroying the Tok'ra home base, secure the cooperation of all System Lords except Yu.

Osiris is again acting as Anubis' agent in attacking an Asgard Protected Planet in Revelations. Thor attempted to intervene, however his ship was destroyed and he was captured and tortured for information, which Osiris managed to acquire for Anubis via a mind probe. (5.22 Revelations)

Anubis had developed a new weapon and is after the Eye of Ra, an object of great power, which is thought to be hidden away on Abydos. The ascended Daniel Jackson seeks Jack O'Neill to help find the Eye before Anubis does. With Daniel's help, the Eye is found along with a tablet inscribed with writings of the Ancients wherein it speaks of a powerful weapon to be found a the Lost City. Anubis' arrival prevents SG-1's escape and before long, many Abydonias (including Skaara) lie dead. Trapped in the pyramid and with Abydos being threatened with destruction, Daniel talks Jack into turning the Eye over to Anubis. Reluctantly, Jack complies, but as expected, Anubis goes back on his word. Daniel tries to stop Anubis from destroying Abydos, but before he can act, he is taken away by Oma. SG-1 escape back to Earth through the Stargate, just as Abydos is obliterated forever. (6.22 Full Circle)

Daniel is returned to his mortal form for his actions on Abydos, and Anubis is now in possession of a very powerful weapon. In spite of Daniel having come up with a more precise interpretation of the tablet found on Abydos, the whereabouts of the Lost City remain a mystery. With Anubis an imminent threat to Earth and a suspicion Anubis is also seeking information on the Lost City, it's decided to go after him, planting a fake tablet on Vis Uban, the planet where Daniel was found. The lure works and Daniel and Jonas Quinn gain access to Anubis' ship, finding the information needed to allow Jack and Sam to find and destroy the source of Anubis's weapon. Meanwhile, Teal's is sent to seek an alliance with Lord Yu in an attempt to rally the System Lords against Anubis. Daniel and Jonas are successful in their mission, and the weapon is destroyed, but as they're attempting to escape, Jonas is captured. His mind probed by Anubis as Daniel stays hidden until he can devise a way to rescue Jonas. (Fallen 7.01)

With the mind probe Anubis has learned about Kelowna and naquadriah. Jonas remains a prisoner while Daniel continues to elude capture, but Anubis has arrived at Kelowna and commences an attack. The Kelownan are overpowered and forced to turn over their entire supply of naquadriah, and Dreylock contacts the SGC to get help. In the meantime, Teal'c has, with the cooperation of Lord Yu's First Prime, managed to entice Ba'al's to go after Anubis. On board Anubis' ship, the new naquadriah weapon fails, and as a result Jonas is freed. He and Daniel take off to find a way off the ship. On Kelowna, Anubis' Jaffa are seeking the crystal containing the knowledge about the naquadriah experiments. Teal'c, Carter, and Dreylock find it first, but are ambushed by more Jaffa, who are in turn taken by surprise by the arrival of Daniel and Jonas via ring transporter. Back at the stargate, Commander Hale reveals himself to be a traitor and with a contingent of Jaffa to back him up, demands the crystal for Anubis. Just then, Ba'al's forces arrive to engage Anubis. The distraction allows SG-1 to turn the tables on the Jaffa while Ba'al's forces destroy Anubis' ship. But not Anubis, who flees in an escape pod. (7.02 Homecoming)

Episodes

Gallery

Anubis occupied the bodies of several human hosts once he lost his shield in the battle over the Antarctic. The detrimental nature of his energy form caused the hosts' bodies to literally burn out, much like one exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. Additionally, because Anubis was partially-ascended, he could interact with other ascended beings on their plane of existence. He took on the form of a friendly businessman named Jim in the place where Oma Desala took Daniel Jackson after he was killed by Replicator Carter. It was in this place that Daniel witnessed Oma engage Anubis in an eternal struggle to prevent him from wiping out all life in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Cosmonaut Konstantinov (8.03 "Lockdown")	Col. Vaselov (8.03 "Lockdown")	Daniel Jackson (8.03 "Lockdown")
Lt. Evans (8.03 "Lockdown")	Airman Malcolm McCaffrey (8.03 "Lockdown")	Lt. Col. Samantha Carter (8.03 "Lockdown")
Gen. Jack O'Neill (8.03 "Lockdown")	Col. Vaselov for final time (8.03 "Lockdown")	Unnamed host (8.16 "Reckoning Part 1")
Last known human host (8.16 "Reckoning Part 1", 8.18 "Threads")	Anubis as Jim in ascended plane (8.18 "Threads")	Oma and Anubis in eternal struggle (8.18 "Threads")