THE "CHRISTIANISATION" OF HERMANUBIS

Author(s): Danijela Stefanović

Source: Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte , 2013, Bd. 62, H. 4 (2013), pp. 506-514
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag

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Historia
Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte
Revue d'Histoire Ancienne
Journal of Ancient History Historia Band 62 · Heft 4 · 2013
Rivista di Storia Antica © Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart

THE "CHRISTIANISATION" OF HERMANUBIS

Abstract: One of the most traditional religions that Christianity confronted in Late A
the Ancient Egyptian. Christianity had reached Egypt as early as the first century an
oped considerably by the IV century. The new religion brought a new ideology and it
by the local population, and the inhabitants of the Hellenistic and the Roman worlds
different levels. This paper is dealing with the possible 'christianisation' of the cult of H
(the dog-headed mediator between the two worlds and the escort of the souls in the a
Graeco-Egyptian deity that was perhaps one of the ancestors of the dog-headed Saint C
who had been worshiped especially within the Orthodox Church.

By incorporating Greek and Roman culture, and therewith religion, the world
Egypt underwent significant, but temporary, reshaping during the Hellenisti
man period.1 Further changes came with Christianity, which was there to sta
religion reached Egypt as early as the first century and had developed consid
the IV century.2 A period from the conversion of Constantine, in 312, to the
Theodosius II, in 450, witnessed the "end of paganism". The suppression of
cults in the temples under Theodosius I in 391 put an end to the official form
religions. However, the 'ancient' gods did not disappear from the popular
the closing of their temples and shrines.3

Anubis and Hermanubis - Ancestors

In ancient Egyptian religion, Anubis was the god of embalming.4 He was usually por
trayed therianthropically with the bewigged head of the jackal on the male body of a

Η. Willems - W. Clarysse (eds.), Les Empereurs du Nil, Leuven 2000, 123-137.

See, generally, B.A. Pearson - J.E. Goehring (eds.), The Roots of Egyptian Christianity, Philadel
phia 1986; Ε. Wipszycka, La christianisation de l'Egypte aux IV4-VI' siecles: Aspects sociaux et
ethniques, Aegyptus 68, 1988, 117-165; C.W. Griggs, Early Egyptian Christianity from its Origins
to 451 C.E., Leiden 1990.
L. Käkosy, Survivals of Ancient Egyptian Gods in Coptic and Islamic Egypt, in: W. Godlewski (ed.),
Coptic Studies, Varsovie 1990, 175-177; T. Kaizer, In Search of Oriental Cults. Methodological
Problems Concerning 'The Particular' and 'The General' in Near Eastern Religion in the Hellenistic
and Roman Period, Historia 55/1, 2006, 26-47.
On Anubis see: J. Leclant, in: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae 1/1, Zürich-München
1989, s. v. Anubis, 862-873; B. Altenmüller, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie I, Wiesbaden 1975, s. v. An
ubis, 327-333; T. DuQuesne, Anubis Master of Secrets, Discussions in Egyptology 36, 1996, 35-38.

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 The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis 507

god in human form. In his zoomorphic form, the god closely resemble
god-jackal watched over the body of the deceased during the embalmin
performed the rituals over the mummy, battled with the enemies of Osir
vigil and assisted in the ceremony of 'the opening of the mouth'. He prot
ceased in the Netherworld and guarded the burial place. Anubis was entru
weighing of the heart of the deceased on the scales of the goddess Maat. In
in the Book of the Dead as well as in the tombs, he is often depicted perf
role. From the end of the New Kingdom on, Anubis was also associated wi
In the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Anubis continued to act as the m
tween the two worlds, embalmer, and the escort of souls to the afterlife.
only deity that remained with its original form until the end of the Ptol
As a god belonging to the Isis' inner circle, as a chthonic deity, he was als
nected with Sarapis.7
The role of psychopompos led to his 'assimilation' with Hermes / Mercur
Hermes with animal head was not of appeal to Greeks, and Lucian wri
about that cynocephalous god (De Sacrificiis, 14). The fusion of the tw
further expressed in the form of the name Anubis-Hermes / Hermes-Anu
well attested on epigraphic monuments.8
The 'next step' in a process of assimilation of the two deities came with
of Hermanubis. The divine name Hermanubis has been recorded in a
inscription from the Serapeum on Delos (ID 2156.2s), which would be, mos
its earliest attestation.9
The nature of Hermanubis was a point of interest for the ancient writer
considered him a semi-Greek - semi-barbarian deity, whose nature has be

J. Vandier, Le papyrus Jumilhac, Paris 1961,32: L. Käkosy, Probleme des Synkretism

römischen Ägypten: Hermanubis, in: Referate der VI. Koptologischen Arbeitskon
April 1988, Halle 1990, 143-144.
See: Leclant, in: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae 1/1, 862-873; A
Lexikon der Ägyptologie I, 327-33.
On the iconography of Anubis in the Hellenistic and Roman period, see J.C. Gren
andrin et remain, Leiden 1977; I. Kaplan, Grabmalerei und Grabreliefs der Römerz
71-80; Grenier, in: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae 1/1, 862-873.
Grenier, Anubis alexandrin et romain, does. 61-63; J. Grenier, in: Lexicon Iconogr
logiae Classicae, Zürich-München 1989-, V/1, s.v. Hermanubis, 265.
Grenier, Anubis alexandrin et romain, doc. 64, 175-177; Käkosy, in: Referate
gischen Arbeitskonferenz, 144; Grenier, in: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae
D. Stefanovic, Anubis or Hermanubis: The deity on a Gnostic Gem from the Coll
and Roman Antiquities in the National Museum in Belgrade, Göttinger Miszellen
Id., The Iconography of Hermanubis, in: H. Györy (ed.), Aegyptus et Pannonia II
anno 2004. In Memoriam Ldszlo Kdkosy, Budapest 2006, 271-276; A. Benaissa,
Evidence for the God Hermanubis, in: T. Gagos (ed.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Fift
Congress of Papyrology 2007, Ann Arbor 2010, 67-76.

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 508 Danijela Stefano vie

by Hermes (De imaginibus, fr. 8).10 In Her

aspect of Anubis (De hide et Osiride, 61). T
widespread Graeco-Roman representations
of the Greek Hermes, such as the kerykeio
especially in Roman Alexandria, there eme
well attested in coins (depictions of this ty
Trajan to the Tetrarchic period) and sculpt
thropomorphic young god holding the sam

The Christianisation of Hermanubis ?

The Roman Hermanubis was perhaps one of the ancestors of the dog-headed Saint
Christopher11 - a cynocephalus saint, which was, similarly to Anubis / Hermanubis, a
powerful ferryman for the travelers. From the end of the V - beginning of the VI cen
tury his cult is attested in Bithynia12 as well as in the monasteries of Mount Sinai. At
the St. Catherine monastery on Mt. Sinai, under Justinian's reign, an icon portraying
Christopher, a dog-headed saint, has appeared.13 His worship spread at a very early
period throughout Egypt, Syria and Palestine. Furthermore, in the Hermeneia14 of the
Book of Mount Athos, which tradition dates to the late Byzantine period, Christopher
is described as "one of the cynocephaloi".I5

See also Κ. A.D Smelik - E.A. Hemelrijk, Who knows not what monsters demented Egypt worships?
Opinions on Egyptian animal worship in Antiquity as part of the ancient conception of Egypt, in:
H. Temporini und Wolfgang Haase (hg.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II, Principat,
17/4 Religion, Berlin-New York 1984, 1852-2000, 2337-2357 (Indices).
P. Saintyves, Saint Christophe: Successeur d'Anubis, d'Hermes et d'Heracles, Paris 1936; Ε. N.
Maksimow, Obarz Khristophora kinokephala, in: Drevnij Vostok Sbornik 1. Κ semidesjatpjatiletiju
akademika M. A. Korostovtseva, Moscow 1975, 76-89.
In 452, a church was dedicated to St. Christopher in Bithynia, and he was mentioned in a late IV
inscription from Cilicia (H. Gregoire, Inscriptions historiques byzantines, Byzantion 4,1927,461-465;
S. Hill, Matronianuis, Comes Isauriae: An Inscription from an Early Byzantine Basilica at Yanikhan,
Rough Cilicia, Anatolian Studies 35, 1985, 96). A basilica of St. Christopher in Arcadia bas been
dated to the V or VI century (A. Avramea, La geographie du culte de saint Christophe en Grece ä
l'epoque meso-hyzantine et l'eveche de Lacedemone au debut du Xe siecle, in: H. Ahrweiler [ed.],
Geographia Byzantina, Paris 1981, 33).
J. Kreuser, Der christliche Kirchenbau. Seine Geschichte, Symbolik, Bildnerei I, Regensburg 1860,
141-150.

The Hermeneia is a term used for the detailed, systematic exposition of a scriptural work.
Z. Ameisenowa, Animal-Headed Gods, Evangelists, Saints and Righteous Men, Journal of th
Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 12, 1949,42. For Romans, and Greeks before them, dog-head
peoples had been the inhabitants of borderlands, especially India and Africa (see J. J. Cohen, M
ster Culture. Seven Theses, in: J. J. Cohen (ed.), Monster Theory, Minneapolis 1996, 6; R. Lenob
Esquisse d'une idee de nature, Paris 1969, 1). Strabo (Geography 11.5.3), Pomonius Mela {De
chorographia 1.109 ), and Pliny (HN 6.19; M. Benabou, Monstres et hybrides chez Lucrece et Plin

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 The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis 509

In the "Acts of Saint Bartholomew", a Gnostic document originatin

Egypt, there is a note about Christianus, a cynocephalus and anthropop
been converted by Saint Bartholomew.16 Accordingly, his name wa
Christopher.17 According to the Greek (BHG 309-11) and Latin (B
counts, Christopher, i. e. St. Christopher, was captured in war, forced
Roman army and then, as a soldier, martyred for his faith at Antioch i
The Latin account of St. Christopher suffered tremendous evolution f
date. According to medieval tradition, a heathen king (in Canaan or
the prayers of his wife to the Blessed Virgin, had a son, whom he called
Adokimus, or Reprebus). Offerus, acquiring in time extraordinary size
resolved to serve only the strongest and the bravest. He bound himsel
a mighty king and to Satan, but he found both lacking in courage, th
the name of the devil, and the latter frightened by the sight of a cro
For a time his search for a new master was in vain, but at last he fou
told him to offer his allegiance to Christ, instructed him in the Chris
baptized him. Christopher, as he was now called, would not promise to
or praying, but willingly accepted the task of carrying people, for Go
raging stream. One night he was carrying a child who continually gre

l'Ancien, in: L. Poliakov (ed.), Hommes et betes, entretiens sur le racisme, Pari
the 'stories' of the monstrous populations to illustrate manners and customs that
i. e. not civilized. Even Alexander the Great, as pictured in the Romances, me
among them and dog-headed people (Pseudo-Alexander Epistola ad Aristotelem
L. Gunderson [ed.], Alexander's Letter to Aristotle about India, Meisenheim am
148-9). The association of cynocephali with the unknown has survived in a new, C
(see R. Wittkower, Marvels of the East. A Study in the History of Monsters, Jour
and Courtauld Institutes 5, 1942, 159-197). The dog-headed races were the sub
Christian theologians from St Augustine onwards. The stories about the marty
tholomew and Thomas in India were in many ways a standard 'topic' of medie
Friedman, The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought, Cambridge, MA
Liber monstrorum de diversis generibus (Ά Book of Monsters of Various Kind
'The Wonders of the East' include vivid illustrations that act as imaginative rend
about India and its people. Furthermore, Ratramus of Corbie's IX century Epis
reports the apparent capacity of the dog-headed people 'to make laws, practice ag
the privates is evidence that they are the sons of Adam and rational beings w
capable of salvation' (Patrologia Latina 121: 1153-56.). It is also worth of menti
Cantipratensis corroborated the existence of Cynocephali in his Liber de Mon
Orientis (Book of Monstrous men of the Orient, xiv).
The St. Christopher corpus has been studied by Saintyves, "Saint Christophe"; Am
of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 12, 1949, 21-45; J.B. Friedman, The
Medieval Art and Thought, Cambridge, MA - London, 1981, 70-75; D. White,
Men, Chicago 1991.
Ameisenowa, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 12, 1949, 42-45
The modern works ignore these early accounts in favour of the medieval tal
Dictionary of Saints, Oxford 1992, 97-98; Encyclopaedia of the Early Church
165; H. Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints, Dublin 1998, 101-116.

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510 Danijela Stefanovit

it seemed to him as if he had the who

made himself known as the Creator an
the child ordered Christopher to fix h
grown into a palm-tree bearing fruit,
This excited the rage of the king of t
after many cruel torments, beheaded.
During the late middle ages he was r
giant carrying the Christ-child on his
tremely popular saint during the midd
death to gaze upon him, his image was
cities, on bridges and at the entrance of
Is there any historicity in all these st
Greek and Latin texts is the opening
war and forced to serve in a military
maritarum. The Marmaritae were peop
ancients knew as Marmarica. The Notit
Marmaritarum, which served under th
of both Syria and Syria Euphratensi
According to a XIV century Ethiopic
Alexandria (300-311), the war against M
and forced to serve in the Roman arm
Valeria Marmaritarum,21 David Wood
Roman forces during the Emperor Dio
end of the III century and was transpo
Antioch in Syria. He was baptized by
martyred on July 9, 308.22
According to the same author, the id
thetribe of the Marmaritae is crucial t
native land present in all the earliest s
and Latin, according to which he came
It is possible that Greek tradition inte
tions of St. Christopher with a dog's he
manner, however, since early Latin tex

J. C. J. Metford, Dictionary of Christian

Ameisenowa, Journal of the Warburg and
G. Haile, The Martyrdom of St. Peter Archb
Bollandiana 98, 1980, 85-92.
According to the earliest Greek passion {BHG
occurred during the final year of the reig
Friedman, The Monstrous Races, 74; Ameis
12, 1949,43^14.

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 The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis 511

original Greek term "dog-headed" (kynokephalos), and some seem

as "dog-like" (canineus). This was amended to read "Canaani
J. Schwartz points out that when the author of the original acc
of St. Christopher describes his origin from the land of cannib
ples, he was merely signifying that he came from the edge of t
inhabitants of the Roman empire saw it, as well as the Greeks a
and the Marmaritae did indeed live in such a peripheral region.2
For the name Christopher, the same in Greek and Latin, mean
there is no evidence to support its usage as a first-name during
it was recorded in the earliest Greek passions, Christopher only
baptism, before which he had been known as Reprobus. The
ports a similar tale.
J. Metford states that the artistic representations of St. Chris
the dog-headed creature in the Orthodox iconographic tradition26
the saint's admitting to have been a Canaanite before his baptism
neus ("Canaanite") was confused for canineus ("dog-like" or
also notes that this iconographic type of St. Christopher might a
symbolism of the "dog," including its worldwide role as psycho
In his article on the "Anubis and the Lunar Disc" R. Ritner28 i
sentations of Anubis found beneath the feet of mummies of the
depictions Anubis elevates the lunar Osiris, newly reborn, into
the deceased, by his own identification with Osiris. According t
we are dealing here with the symbol of resurrection.
D. B. Millard notes that there are very close parallels between
the legend of St. Christopher (carrying the Christ on his should
He states that the young Moon becomes full, as the child becom
up by Anubis in one case and by St. Christopher in the other

D. Woods, St. Christopher, Bishop Peter of Attalia, and the Cohors Mar
tianae 48, 1994, 170-186.
J. Schwartz, A propos de l'iconographie Orientale de s. Christophe, Le M
The iconography of St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child in the
the fourteenth century, probably because of Western influence. It rem
popular depictions of the saint as a warrior and to the dog-headed images
tradition. See: G. Benker, Christopherus: Patron der Schiffer, Fuhrleute u
Verehrung, Symbol, Munich 1975, 46; D. Mouriki, The Wall Paintings of
at Moutoullas, Cyprus, in: I. Hutter - H. Hunger (hg.), Byzanz und der
des europäischen Mittelalters, Wien 1984,171-213; V. Newall, The Dog-
Bulgarian Iconography, Macedonian Studies IV/1,1987,45. For fourteent
Christ-carrying St. Christopher in the East see: I. M. Djordjevic, Saint C
murale medievale serbe, Zograf 11,1980, figs. 1-2 and Lj. Stosic, Kult sv
na Baikanu, Patrimonium MK 7/8, 2010, 393-403.
J. C. J. Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, London 1983
R. K. Ritner, Anubis and the Lunar Disc, Journal of Egyptian Archaeo

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 512 Danijela StefanoviC

(Osiris) and the child (Christ) are both th

Pharaonic ideas of Anubis were incorpor
Although Millard's thesis is intriguin
ally possible that such a clear pagan ic
cism of the early Eastern Church. On th
iconography has absolutely nothing to d
god Anubis.30 Furthermore, it was sugg
see Recklinghausen's disease.31
Depictions of the dog-headed Christoph
sphere of Byzantine influence. In 1965
dog-headed St. Christopher, from Gre
served that the number was no doubt to increase. His list of attestations demonstrates
that the iconographic model in question was not such a rare phenomenon, but rather
formed part of the official imagery of the Orthodox Church, which was preserved in
the Greek Church until the XVIII century.34 For Loeschcke there are no proofs of the

D. Β. Millard, St Christopher and the Lunar Disc of Anubis, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 73,
1987, 237-238.
D. Woods, The Origin of the Cult of St. Christopher, http://www.ucc.ie/milmart/chrsorig.html (con
sulted on 2012-07-29)
Newall, Macedonian Studies IV/1, 1987, 49.
For Bulgarian examples see: Newall, Macedonian Studies IV/1, 1987.
To the above mentioned list should be added examples from the Serbian churches collected by Lj.
Stosic, Lik Psoglavog Svetog Hristofora u umetnosti balkanskih naroda, in: Neohelensko nasledje
kod Srba I, Beograd 2005, 285-286.
W. Loeschcke, Neue Studien zur Darstellung des Tierköpflgen Christophoros, Beiträge zur Kunst
des christliches Ostens 3: Erste Studien-Sammlung, Recklinghausen 1965, 37; Newall, Macedoni
an Studies IV/1, 1987, 49. However, St. Christopher is not the only dog-headed saint in Christian
iconography. A late icon in the Coptic Museum in Cairo with two dog-headed figures (No. 3375),
called Ahrakas and Oghani may depict the cynocephalus servants of Saint Mercurius. Two cyno
cephali devoured the grandfather of St. Mercurius, and were preparing to eat his father when an
angel appeared and surrounded them with a ring of fire. They repented and became companions
of the father, and later accompanied Mercurius into battle. The figure of the; soldier Mercurius was
especially popular in the Greek East and, like Christopher, he was said to have suffered martyrdom
during the reign of Decius. One of his wondrous feats was to kill the emperor Julian posthumously
(!), more than a century after his own death. For the Coptic legend of Saint Mercurius and his dog
headed bodyguards, which survives in an Arabic translation, see R. Basset, Le Synaxaire arabe
jacobite (redaction copte): les mois de Hatour et de Kihak, Patrologia Orientalis 3, 1909, 337-338;
A. Piankoff, Deux Saints ä la tete du chien, Bulletin de la Societe'd'Archäologie Copte 12, 1947,
57-61; Id., Saint Mercure, Abou Seifein et les Cynocephales, Bulletin de Ια Societe' d'Archeologie
Copte 8,1942,17-24; O. F. A. Meinardus, Über den armenischen Ursprung d er Kynokephaloi-Ikone
im Koptischen Museum zu Alt-Kairo, Journal of Coptic Studies 2, 1992, 91-98. There is also St.
Andrew of Cynocephali, in Kokar Kilise in Cappadocia, Turkey.

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 The "Christianisation" of Hermanubis 513

existence of the dog-headed saint before the XV century, but he als

must derive from late antiquity.35
V. Newall, speaking of possible origins of the figure in questi
Christianized version of Anubis is too speculative. The time lag i
is difficult to supply evidence for such lengthy continuity. The ico
are also different and she mentions, inter alia, that the animal head
fers in form from that of Anubis, as it lacks the latter's characterist
However, there are clear traces of Egyptian influence on Christia
We find on gems the figure of Hermanubis associated with the nam
Michael or Gabriel.38 Both Hermanubis and Michael had the functio
pus, which prompted their fusion in the time of religious syncretism
of the netherworld with the face of a dog, in the vision of Sisinnius,
a demonic form of Anubis.39
The terminus ante quem proposed by Loeschcke is not convincing
must bear in mind the Iconoclastic period (VIII century) when so ma
and icons were destroyed. On the other hand there is proof of the
headed saint even before the VIII century. On a terracotta icon f
century, Vinicko Kale / The Former Yugoslav Republic of Maced
Museum of Skopje, inv. n. 354-VI) St. Christopher and Saint Geo
in full size, dressed in short tunic, with a round mantle thrown ov
mantle is buttoned with a decorated fibula. St. Christopher holds a
hand, stabbing a snake with a man-like head, and in his left hand h
gramma cross. The cross is so modeled that it is placed in the middl
is depicted in the same attitude, holds in his left hand a spear, stab
man-like head, and in the right hand he holds a big shield, placed u
the shield there is a flower or a star.40
The appearance of St. Christopher on the icon from Vinica, with
shows clearly his Egyptian ancestry and his relationship to Her
Hermanubis' kerykeion and a palm leaf41 (and it is important to no

W. Loeschcke, Sanctus Christopherus Canineus, in: Edwin Redslob zum 7

1955, 9.
Newall, Macedonian Studies IV/1, 1987, 49.
See: L. Langener, Isis lactans - Maria lactans. Untersuchungen zur koptischen Ikonographie, Alten
berge 1996.
C. Bonner, Studies in Magical Amulets Chiefly Graeco-Egyptian, Ann Arbor 1950, 31-38.
Ε. Amelineau, Monuments pour servir ä l'histoire de l'Iigypte chretienne, Annales du Musee Guimet
17, 1889, 180. Cf. L. Käkosy, Survivals of Ancient Egypt, in: Studio in Honorem L. Foti, Budapest
1989,272. For Anubis in the Old Coptic Papyrus Schmidt see: H. Satzinger, The Old Coptic Schmidt
Papyrus, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 12, 1975,40, line 16.
K. Balbanov - C. Krstevski, Terracota Icons from Vinica, Skopje 1991, 28; N. Proeva, Inscriptions
sur les plaques de terre cuite de Vinicko Kale en Macedoine, in: Tranquillitas: Melanges en I'honneur
de Tran tarn Tinh, Quebec 1994, 500-501.
Stefanovic, Göttinger Miszellen 200, 2004, 87-92; Ead., in: Aegyptus et Pannonia III, 271-276.

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514 Danijela StefanoviC

the legend, Christ ordered St. Christop

into a palm-tree42), the saint holds t
of a cult was not necessarily accom
numinous power of the place.44 On t
tated by its ability to adapt and tran
with which it had competed during i
dog, Roman Hermanubis, which is com
continued to exist in the form of Sai
church to Byzantine art, especially in
the tradition of pagan cults was stron

University of Belgrade Danijela Ste

Faculty of Philosophy
Cika Ljubina 18-20
11000 Belgrade/Serbia
dstefano @ f. bg. ac. rs

42 The palm tree is regarded as a symbol o

Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore an
43 For example, the iconography of St. Chr
of Hermanubis on a Graeco-Roman funerar
fashion with a spear. (A. Abdalla, Graeco
1992, no. 92, p. 112).
44 Käkosy, in: Studia in Honorem L. Foti, 2
II. The transition to Christianity, Journa
Local cults and resistance to Christianity, J
Christianization and Religious Conflict, in
632-664.

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