In Egyptian mythology, Anubis acted as Osiris’s embalmer. After Osiris was killed and his body was dismembered, Anubis helped preserve and reassemble the body, creating the mythic model for Egyptian mummification.
The story explains why Anubis became strongly associated with embalming, cemeteries, and protection of the dead. Isis and Nephthys searched for Osiris’s remains, while Anubis’s funerary expertise helped transform the damaged body into a ritually complete mummy.
This myth was not a literal technical manual for mummification. It was a religious explanation for why preservation mattered and why funerary priests invoked Anubis. Egyptian embalmers could wear jackal masks to represent him, reinforcing the idea that the god supervised the work.