Ancient Egypt Tattoos

Tattoos have been used for thousands and thousands of years. The earliest known examples of tattoos were found present on several female mummies. These are dated to 2000 B.C.

Evidence about these tattoos is found. The evidence that women had tattoos on their bodies is found in figurines and female figures represented in tomb scenes.

The tattoos seem to be only a female practise in ancient Egypt. Mummies found with tattoos were usually dismissed by the male undertakers who seemed to assume that these women were of ‘dubious status’. These mummies were also not buried as they should have. For example one of the women was a high-status priestess named Amunet but was described as “probably a royal concubine”.

It has been long assumed that such tattoos were the mark of prostitutes or were meant to protect women against sexually transmitted diseases. Some also believe that the tattooing of ancient Egyptian women had the function as a permanent form of amulet (to protect them from the evil) during the difficult times of pregnancy and birth. The tattoos are around the abdomen, on top of the thighs and the breasts. The tattoos applied around the abdomen are usually dots. During pregnancy, this pattern would expand in a protective fashion in the same way bead nets were placed over wrapped mummies to protect them and ‘keep everything in’.

It is possible that the instruments they used for tattoos are best described as a sharp point set in a wooden handle and is dated to 3000 B.C. Small bronze instruments that resemble wide, flattened needles were also found. If these are tied together in a bunch, they would create repeated patterns of multiple dots.

References

C. Lineberry, 2007. The Ancient and Mysterious History. [online] Available at: <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/tattoos-144038580/?page=2> [Accessed 16 May 2014].

Sarduriur, 2013. For Service, Slavery and Sex: Tattooing in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. [online] Available at: <http://warboar.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/sss/> [Accessed 16 May 2014].