In ancient Egyptian funerary art, Anubis’s body was commonly represented as black.
Artists portrayed Anubis as a black jackal or as a human with a black jackal’s head. The color had several connected meanings rather than serving only as a naturalistic description of an animal. Black evoked the darkened remains of a mummified body, the fertile soil deposited by the Nile, and the possibility of regeneration after death.
This symbolism explains why black could be positive in Egyptian religion. It was not simply a color of evil or destruction. The same visual association with fertility and renewal helped connect death with the hope of rebirth in the afterlife.
Anubis’s black color is sometimes mistakenly explained as proof that Egyptians believed all jackals were black. Egyptian religious art was symbolic, and divine colors often communicated theological ideas. His canine form also reflected the presence of jackals around desert-edge cemeteries, where they were seen as both threats and guardians.