Tattoo Johnny Tattoo Wiki: The History Behind Egyptian Tattoos and Egyptian Tattoo Designs

The History Behind Egyptian Tattoos and Egyptian Tattoo Designs

Friday 10th of April 2009 12:16:54 PM [Add To This Article]

Long before the pharaohs and the pyramids, historical and scientific evidence indicates that prehistoric man was tattooing himself for both aesthetic and spiritual reasons. In fact, some ancient remains seem to indicate that the art and practice of tattooing may have originated as early as 5000 B.C., though of course these dates are difficult to verify. It is only natural, then, that one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world would have had an interest and a major historical role in the development of the tattooing process and tattoo design that impacts many tattoo design decisions to this day. The Egyptians, known for their refinement, their incredible technology and their mysterious spiritual rites, used tattoo art much as modern people do today: as amulets, as declarations of love, loyalty or fealty, sometimes as a form of rebellion or marker of rebellion, and as a way to recognize each otherâ€™s ranks and family history.

For many years, researchers actually believed that the Egyptians were the first civilization to tattoo their members, and Egyptian mummies bearing elaborate and beautiful tattoo designs were found dating back as far as 2,000 B.C. However, with the discovery of Otzi, the Iceman, who is believed to have lived as much as 1,000 years prior to that, Egyptian culture lost credit for developing the first tattoo art. However, due to a fascination with mysterious Egyptian culture, Egyptian tattoo designs and Egyptian tattoo art are extremely popular to this day.

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Interestingly, it appears that in Egyptian culture, women were more likely to be tattooed than men. In many indigenous tribes, a womanâ€™s ability to withstand the pain of a tattoo made her more attractive as a mate because it was believed that she would also bear childbirth more easily if she had a high tolerance for pain. However, the Egyptians would probably have been less focused on the trial-by-fire aspect of tattooing since, for the time, they had extremely skilled physicians and lived a relatively high quality of life. Egyptian women are often depicted in burial scenes as being tattooed, and several female mummies and figurines of females buried with mummies show clear indications of having tattoos on their fingers and thighs. Historically, these mummies were considered to be of somewhat questionable character, but further research and excavations indicate that many of the female tattooed mummies in question were buried with the pomp befitting royalty, raising the possibility that at the very least they may have been favored royal concubines or high priestesses, both of whom would have likely undergone decorative procedures such as tattooing over the course of their â€œprofessionalâ€ careers.

Many researchers believe that Egyptian tattoos were originally intended to protect sexually available women from diseases, but given the crossover between societal divides that indicates many ancient Egyptian women had these marks, some scientists and historians have revised their opinions and now believe that the marks were more of a protection and support when it came to the dangers and pains of childbirth. Since most female Egyptian tattoos were focused on the thigh, upper abdomen and breast areas, all of which would expand during pregnancy, this hypothesis makes a fair amount of sense. These Egyptian tattoo designs often created a web of dots in the target areas, and mimicked the beaded nets placed over mummies to help keep things in place both literally and figuratively.

There is no documentation regarding how Egyptian women might have gotten these tattoos, but it is generally believed that the older women of the community would have tattooed the younger women, much as is still done in many tribal cultures today. Egyptians are probably also the original inventors of the tattoo needle bar, as a large group of bronzed, flattened needles found at an archeological dig in Abydos would clearly have created the appropriate pattern of dots when tied together. A similar tool was documented as being used about a thousand years later by â€œgypsyâ€ or itinerant women who would tattoo girls as young as five or six years old to protect them later in life.

While ancient Egyptian tattoos tended to be webs of dots as well as diamond or linear designs, today when people think of Egyptian tattoo designs they tend to think of ankhs, Egyptian eyes and various Egyptian gods, such as Anubis, the god who controlled many aspects of the afterlife, and a variety of other symbols, such as stylized cats and pharaohsâ€™ masks and heads.