Imiut fetish

The Imiut fetish has been documented throughout the history of Ancient Egypt. This was a stuffed, headless animal skin, often a feline or bull, which was tied by the tail to a pole terminating in a lotus bud, inserted into a stand. The fetish was present in Egyptian funerary rites from the earliest ages. Although its origin and purpose is unknown, the imiut fetish dates as far back as to the First Dynasty (3100-2890 BC).

In very early Egyptian mythology, the deity Imiut (meaning, "He who is in his wrappings") may have been a god of the underworld, although insufficient records survive to explain whether or not this was the case. An early example found in 1914 by an expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art near the pyramid of Senusret I (c. 1971-1928 BCE) was placed in a shrine. [cite book | last =Edwards
first =I.E.S. | title =The Treasures of Tutankhamun | publisher =Viking Press | date =1972 | location =New York | pages =#24 | id =SBN 670-72723-7]

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 a 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, most notably the two found in the burial chamber of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter.

Also know to be sexual, where a goat's head was placed in between the legs.

Notes

External links

* [http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/202-p0673.html Picture of Imiut fetish from the Tomb of Tutankhamun]
* [http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/imiutf.html Imiut fetish] article from Ancient Egypt Online
* [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/anubis.htm Anubis, God of Embalming and Guide and Friend of the Dead] contains picture and description of fetish