History of  Tattoos

There are few art forms that have been around for as long as tattooing – in fact, some anthropologists claim that the history of tattoos may date back as long as 15,000 years! Certainly, we know that many of the ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, used tattooing techniques. There are mentions of tattooing in the Bible, indicating that it was practiced among the ancient peoples of the Middle East as well. However, the remarkable thing about the history of tattoos is not just the length of time that humans have practiced it; looking at the history of body tattooing, we cannot help but be struck by how widespread this tradition was. Apparently, decorating the body in this permanent way is an almost universal impulse spread over a lot of different cultures.

Egyptian tattoos, like many other tattoo designs from mythology or ancient cultures, are growing in popularity. They are tasteful, socially acceptable, and a great way of exploring and utilizing art imagery from all over the world. Egyptian tattoos are beautiful and striking images from the ancient past.

Most of us have a fairly evolved concept of what Egyptian art looks like and how it may be adapted to a modern tattoo design. On the other hand, most of us have no more than a generalized idea of what ancient Egyptian tattooing looked like.

It appears that tattooing was not particularly widespread among the Egyptians, with one notable exception - some Egyptian women, from priestesses to princesses to dancers, were tattooed with a pattern of parallel lines and shapes.

We know this because some of these women were mummified, which preserved the skin and the tattoos. These original Egyptian tattoos had a significance which, unfortunately, has been lost. Anthropologists are grateful for this and other evidence that the elaborate Egyptian burial rituals have given us.

 Tattoos Today

Today, we have entered a new phase in the history of tattoos. We could say that the time-honored practice of tattooing has gone mainstream. Today, the procedure is very safe and relatively painless, and there are literally thousands of tattoo designs to choose from. In fact, even a quick internet search for “free tattoo designs” reveals a wealth of cross-cultural designs. In a sense, the whole long history of tattoos is played out in the designs of today, because of the vast number of designs available.