Anubis Tattoo Meaning
Death, transition, protection, and the guardian of passage.
Anubis is the jackal-headed god of ancient Egypt who guards the dead and guides them through death's passage — the lord of mummification, the weigher of hearts, the protector who stands watch at the threshold between life and the afterlife. To carry Anubis is to carry death, transition, protection, and the guardian of passage — the jackal-headed god who weighs the heart against the feather of truth, who watches over the dead and shepherds the soul safely through the great transition beyond.
Anubis is one of the most ancient and revered gods of Egypt — the jackal-headed god who watches over the dead and guards the sacred passage out of life. He is depicted with the black head of a jackal upon a man's body, a form drawn from the jackals and wild dogs the Egyptians saw prowling the edges of the desert necropolises where the dead were buried. Rather than fear them as despoilers of graves, the Egyptians made the jackal into the divine guardian of the tomb — Anubis, the protector of the dead and the watcher over the burial grounds.
This makes Anubis the great guardian god of death and the cemetery — the one who stands watch over the dead, protecting their bodies and their resting places, presiding over the realm of the tomb. His black color was the color of the fertile earth and of resurrection, marking him as the god who guards the dead in hope of new life. As the jackal-headed guardian, Anubis is the protector at the boundary of death — the divine watcher who keeps safe the dead and the sacred places where they lie. Anubis is the jackal-headed guardian of the dead — the divine protector of the tomb and watcher over the burial grounds and the dead who rest there. The egyptian Anubis is the jackal-headed guardian of the dead — one of the most ancient and revered gods of Egypt, the jackal-headed god who watches over the dead and guards the sacred passage out of life; depicted with the black head of a jackal upon a man's body (a form drawn from the jackals and wild dogs prowling the edges of the desert necropolises where the dead were buried), and rather than fear them as despoilers of graves the Egyptians making the jackal the divine guardian of the tomb — Anubis, protector of the dead and watcher over the burial grounds — the great guardian god of death and the cemetery, standing watch over the dead and presiding over the realm of the tomb, his black color the color of the fertile earth and of resurrection, marking him as the god who guards the dead in hope of new life.
Anubis across cultures
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