Anubis at Denver Airport: 'Have a Nice Flight'

"'God Of Dead' Statue Joins 'Bluecifer' At DIA"
KMGH Denver (June 3, 2010)

"As if travelers weren't already freaked out by a 32-foot tall blue stallion with fiery eyes, now a towering statue of the Egyptian god of the dead is welcoming fliers at Denver International Airport.

"Workers erected a 26-foot tall, seven-ton replica of Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the dead, on Wednesday. The blue and gold statue gazes into the main terminal to promote the King Tut exhibit that opens June 26 at the Denver Art Museum.

"Anubis stands not far from the rearing blue 'Mustang,' an often derided artwork branded 'Bluecifer,' "'Satan's Steed' and 'Blue Devil Horse' by critics...."

As I recall, folks were appalled at an eyesore designed by some engineer for the Paris Exposition of 1889. Today, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel's tower may be the best-known - and loved - emblem of Paris.

Back to Anubis.

"...Now the Internet is abuzz with talk about Anubis, who, as the ancient "Lord of the Underworld" and the "god of mummification," ushered the dead on their final journey.

" 'Why would they place a statue of a god associated with death outside of an airport? Especially one I'm going to in two months?' a puzzled traveler wondered on tvtropes.org...."

It makes sense, sort of. There's a big King Tut exhibition coming to Denver, and that statue of Anubis is part of the show's publicity.

I have to wonder, though: with all the Egyptian pantheon to choose from, why Anubis? God of the underworld? And mummification?

Well, it could have been worse. The powers that be in Denver could have opted for a statue of Apep/Apepi/whatever or Set/Seth/Sutekh and so on.