There was no clear evidence of the existence of tattooing in history until the discovery of the 5000 year old frozen body of ‘Otzi the Ice Man’, who created headlines back in 1991. His body had 57 tattoos which included a cross mark towards the inner part of the left knee and 6 15-centimeter long straight lines above his kidney. There were also many parallel lines on the lumbar, legs and ankles. Experts suggested that this mummy dated back to circa 3300 BC and the marks were probably therapeutic tattoos. Let us now have a look at the tattooing practices in different parts of the ancient world.
Egypt
Tattooing in Egyptian culture has been prevalent in many of their art forms. There were tattooed bodies or mummies that were found dating back to the early period of XI dynasty. In 1891, the mummy of a priestess of the goddess Hathor, named Amunet, was found, which had several geometrical patterns of tattooed lines and dots all over her body. Amunet was known to have lived in Thebes between the time period of 2160BC – 1994BC. Egyptian tattoo art symbolized ritual practices and it was from Egypt that the tattooing art was spread out to Greece, Persia, Arabia and South East Asia during the pyramid building in the third and fourth dynasty.
China
Ancient tattoo art in China has been featured in Chinese literature wherein many Chinese ethnic groups were known to tattoo themselves, since the Zhou Dynasty that was prevalent from 1045 BC to 256 BC. In ancient China tattooing was associated with groups or individual criminals, bandits and gangsters. Also there was a practice of tattooing convicts and slave’s faces with Chinese characters until the Qing dynasty from 1614 – 1912. Also, according to a famous Chinese legend, the most popular general of the Song dynasty, Yue Fei, had made his mother tattoo the words ‘jing zhong bao guo’ (精忠報國) on his back with the help of a sewing needle. The words meant ‘repay his country with pure loyalty’ and the mother tattooed them right before he left to join the army.
Japan
Archaeologists have found Japanese tattoo art in many clay figurines from ancient tombs that dated back to 3000 BC or more. These clay figurines have human faces with tattoo marks engraved on them. It is believed that these figurines were either living individuals or statues whose purpose was to accompany the dead into the after life journey. These tattoos were considered to be religious and were known to possess magical powers. Even the history of Chinese dynasty in 297 AD states that Japan consisted of The Horis, which were the masters of tattoo art.
Polynesia
As mentioned earlier, the origin of the word ‘tattoo’ itself is traced back to Polynesian language, so imagine the importance of ancient tattooing in this area. According to the beliefs of Polynesian people, the spiritual strength and powerful beliefs are represented by a tattoo. In the Samoan culture, tattooing a person was relevant to the ranks, birth orders, family reputation, etc. It was a full fledged ceremony which was conducted tat the time of puberty. The Hawaiian culture called tattoo art as ‘kakau’. The art of tattooing in this culture was not only a symbol of distinction and ornamentation, but also acted as a protection or as a spiritual and physical guard.
Persia
Persia has important significance in the history of tattoos. Practices of tattooing, body piercings, and painting the body existed in ancient Persia since many many thousand years. The evidence for the same has been found in both archaeology and Persian literature. The discovery of stone carvings and idols from the Achaemenid Empire that existed from 550-330 BC is an archaeological proof that tattooing on Persian Gods, Kings and even soldiers was a common practice. Even the famous ancient Persian poet Rumi has written a famous narration 800 years ago, wherein a man asked to get a tattoo of a lion but later changed his mind because of the tattoo needle pain.
Egypt
Tattooing in Egyptian culture has been prevalent in many of their art forms. There were tattooed bodies or mummies that were found dating back to the early period of XI dynasty. In 1891, the mummy of a priestess of the goddess Hathor, named Amunet, was found, which had several geometrical patterns of tattooed lines and dots all over her body. Amunet was known to have lived in Thebes between the time period of 2160BC – 1994BC. Egyptian tattoo art symbolized ritual practices and it was from Egypt that the tattooing art was spread out to Greece, Persia, Arabia and South East Asia during the pyramid building in the third and fourth dynasty.
China
Ancient tattoo art in China has been featured in Chinese literature wherein many Chinese ethnic groups were known to tattoo themselves, since the Zhou Dynasty that was prevalent from 1045 BC to 256 BC. In ancient China tattooing was associated with groups or individual criminals, bandits and gangsters. Also there was a practice of tattooing convicts and slave’s faces with Chinese characters until the Qing dynasty from 1614 – 1912. Also, according to a famous Chinese legend, the most popular general of the Song dynasty, Yue Fei, had made his mother tattoo the words ‘jing zhong bao guo’ (精忠報國) on his back with the help of a sewing needle. The words meant ‘repay his country with pure loyalty’ and the mother tattooed them right before he left to join the army.
Japan
Archaeologists have found Japanese tattoo art in many clay figurines from ancient tombs that dated back to 3000 BC or more. These clay figurines have human faces with tattoo marks engraved on them. It is believed that these figurines were either living individuals or statues whose purpose was to accompany the dead into the after life journey. These tattoos were considered to be religious and were known to possess magical powers. Even the history of Chinese dynasty in 297 AD states that Japan consisted of The Horis, which were the masters of tattoo art.
Polynesia
As mentioned earlier, the origin of the word ‘tattoo’ itself is traced back to Polynesian language, so imagine the importance of ancient tattooing in this area. According to the beliefs of Polynesian people, the spiritual strength and powerful beliefs are represented by a tattoo. In the Samoan culture, tattooing a person was relevant to the ranks, birth orders, family reputation, etc. It was a full fledged ceremony which was conducted tat the time of puberty. The Hawaiian culture called tattoo art as ‘kakau’. The art of tattooing in this culture was not only a symbol of distinction and ornamentation, but also acted as a protection or as a spiritual and physical guard.
Persia
Persia has important significance in the history of tattoos. Practices of tattooing, body piercings, and painting the body existed in ancient Persia since many many thousand years. The evidence for the same has been found in both archaeology and Persian literature. The discovery of stone carvings and idols from the Achaemenid Empire that existed from 550-330 BC is an archaeological proof that tattooing on Persian Gods, Kings and even soldiers was a common practice. Even the famous ancient Persian poet Rumi has written a famous narration 800 years ago, wherein a man asked to get a tattoo of a lion but later changed his mind because of the tattoo needle pain.
