Imiut Fetish |
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Throughout the history of Ancient Egypt, the imiut fetish has been documented. This was a stuffed, headless animal skin, often a feline or bull, which was tied to a pole, present in funerary rites. Although its origin and purpose is unknown, the imiut fetish dates as far back as to the 1st Dynasty (3100-2890 BC). In very early Egyptian mythology, Imiut may have been a god of the underworld, although insufficient records survive to explain whether or not this was the case. Since it was later connected to the god Anubis, it is sometimes called the Anubis fetish. One idea is that it came to symbolise Anubis as an embalmer, although this is unlikely to be the original understanding, as Anubis was originally god of the dead, rather than just embalming. There are depictions of the imiut fetish on ancient Egyptian temples, and sometimes there were models of it included with the funerary equipment.
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