The wolf-headed god who guided the dead and was associated with Asyut was Wepwawet. His name is usually translated as “Opener of the Ways,” reflecting his role in clearing paths for armies, royal processions, the sun god, and eventually the spirits of the dead entering the Duat, the Egyptian underworld.
Wepwawet’s principal cult center was Asyut in Upper Egypt, which the Greeks called Lycopolis, or “Wolf City.” Egyptian art commonly shows him as a standing canid or as a human with a jackal- or wolf-like head, often mounted on a standard. He was connected with warfare and royal power as well as funerary religion.
Wepwawet is frequently confused with Anubis because both are dark canid-headed gods associated with death and burial. They were worshipped in the same region and sometimes appeared together, but they were not identical. Anubis became especially famous as the embalmer and protector of the dead, whereas Wepwawet retained the distinctive “opener” role and strong associations with travel, battle, and passage into the afterlife.