Anubis Tattoo Meaning: Guardian of the Dead, Not a God of Evil

Short answer: an Anubis tattoo means protection, guidance through change, and respect for death and the afterlife. Anubis was the jackal-headed god of ancient Egypt who watched over tombs, prepared the dead through mummification and led souls to judgment. He was a protector, not a god of evil, so the tattoo is often chosen as a guardian, a memorial for someone who has died, or a symbol of passing safely from one stage of life to the next.

With his black jackal head and gold collar, Anubis is one of the most striking figures in Egyptian art, and he works well in both bold traditional style and full realism. Here is what he meant to the Egyptians and how to design him well.

Who Anubis was

Anubis is one of the oldest Egyptian gods. In the early periods he was the main god of the dead. Later, Osiris became the ruler of the afterlife, and Anubis took the role of his helper: the god who embalmed the dead, guarded their tombs and walked with their souls to judgment. The Greeks later compared him to their own guide of souls, Hermes.

He is shown either as a full black jackal or dog lying on a shrine, or as a man with a jackal’s head. Jackals and wild dogs were often seen near desert cemeteries, and the Egyptians may have hoped that a jackal god would protect the bodies instead of disturbing them.

Why Anubis is black

Real jackals are sandy brown, but Anubis is painted black. In Egypt black was not the colour of evil. It was the colour of the rich black soil left by the Nile flood, so it stood for fertility, life and rebirth. It was also the colour of a body after embalming. A black Anubis therefore means life after death, not darkness.

The weighing of the heart

The most famous scene with Anubis comes from the Book of the Dead, a collection of spells buried with the dead. The heart of the dead person is placed on a scale against the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of truth and balance. Anubis checks the scale, the scribe god Thoth writes down the result, and a monster called Ammit waits to eat any heart that is heavy with wrongdoing. A balanced heart is allowed into the afterlife. Our feather tattoo guide covers Ma’at’s feather in more detail.

What an Anubis tattoo means today

• Protection: a guardian for yourself or your family.
• Memorial: someone to guide a loved one who has died.
• Change and rebirth: getting through an ending and starting again.
• Justice and honesty: the scale and the feather, living with a clear conscience.
• Love of Egypt: a trip to Egypt, or a lifelong interest in its history and art.

Because he is linked with death, some people may assume an Anubis tattoo is dark or frightening. That’s a modern reading; to the Egyptians he was a comfort.

Symbols to pair with Anubis

• Eye of Horus (wedjat): protection, healing and wholeness.
• Ankh: the sign of life, often held by gods.
• Scarab: the rising sun and rebirth.
• The scale and feather: the judgment scene.
• Pyramids, the sphinx or a desert night sky: for a full scene.

Hieroglyphs look decorative, but they are a real writing system. If you want a name or phrase in hieroglyphs, check it with a reliable source before it becomes permanent.

Design and placement

• Egyptian wall-painting style: a side profile with flat colours (black, gold and lapis blue) and bold lines. Clean and easy to read.
• Realism: a lifelike jackal head with shading, in colour or black and grey. Needs more size.
• Full back or sleeve: room for Anubis with the scale, gods, pyramids and stars.
• Forearm, calf or upper arm: Anubis’s head or the seated jackal, which is a simple, strong shape.
• Small: a seated jackal outline, an ankh or an Eye of Horus.

At GOAT Tattoo Studio

Our gallery includes two colour Anubis back pieces: a night scene with Anubis watching over a traveler in the desert under a starry sky, and a dark fantasy jackal god covering the full back. At your consultation we can help you choose the style, symbols and size, and plan how many sessions a large piece needs. For other mythology, see our Greek god tattoo guide.

Thinking about a colour piece in Hanoi? Our colour tattoo page shows prices, the artists who do this style and recent work. For a large back piece, our cost guide for sleeves and back pieces explains pricing.