Underworld

Wepwawet

wp-wꜣwt

Opening the wayWarCemeteries

How it changed

Distinct from Anubis and repeatedly confused with him, including in antiquity. Anubis is the black jackal of embalming; Wepwawet is the grey one who goes in front, and his standard led both the king's procession and the dead into the next world. His name means literally opener of the ways, and it is the same idea whether the way is a battlefield, a road or the horizon.

Cult centre

Asyut

Best attested

Predynastic onward

Family

Sometimes son of Anubis, sometimes of Isis; the sources disagree.

Epithets

“Opener of the ways”

How to recognise the figure

A standing grey or white jackal, or jackal-headed man, usually on a standard carried at the front of a procession, sometimes with a mace and a bow.

Worshipped at

Abdju

now El-Araba el-Madfuna

Others in this group

Anubis

Cynopolis

Apophis

None; never worshipped

Sokar

Memphis and Saqqara

Ammit

None. Never worshipped