Ancient Egyptian deities purposes. Egyptian texts often refer to deities' true, underlying forms as "mysterious". The Egyptians' visual representations of their gods are therefore not literal. They symbolize specific aspects of each deity's character, functioning much like the ideograms in hieroglyphic writing. For this reason, the funerary god Anubis is commonly shown in Egyptian art as a dog or jackal, a creature whose scavenging habits threaten the preservation of buried mummies, in an effort to counter this threat and employ it for protection. His black coloring alludes to the color of mummified flesh and to the fertile black soil that Egyptians saw as
Domestic responses to the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Domestic responses to the Egyptian revolution of 2011 There have been numerous domestic responses to the Egyptian revolution of 2011. Opposition parties, activists and religious bodies have been staunchly demanding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation, with the exception of fearful Christian authorities, who called for staying away from the protests (although Christian individuals have taken part). The government has made ongoing attempts at media censorship, including briefly shutting down nearly all Internet traffic. Mubarak has made some initial changes to quell dissent, including dissolving his government, and appointing military figure and former head of Egypt's intelligence service Omar Suleiman as