Why is Anubis portrayed with a jackals head even though jackal was an animal that haunted Egyptian graveyards?
“Following the merging of the Ennead and Ogdoad belief systems, as a result of the identification of Atum with Ra, and their compatibility, Anubis became a lesser god in the underworld, giving way to the more popular Osiris during the Middle Kingdom. However, “Anubis was given a place in the family of gods as the…son of Osiris and Nephthys, and in this role he helped Isis mummify his dead father.”. Indeed, when the Myth of Osiris and Isis emerged, it was said that when Osiris had died, Osiris’ organs were given to Anubis as a gift. With this connection, Anubis became the patron god of embalmers: during the funerary rites of mummification, illustrations from the Book of the Dead often show a priest wearing the jackal mask supporting the upright mummy. I think that in their mummification procedures they removed most internal organs.
