Mummies History

People from around the world have different religious beliefs, and sometimes some of them use tattoos to represent their spiritual views. Young Christians express their devotion to God or Jesus Christ by marking themselves permanently with ink. People that get tattoos of Christian symbols believe in the commitment they are

Tattooing is a body modification practice used for centuries across the globe. Because of the multiple origins of tattoos, there are several techniques and countless styles. Every tattoo is unique in meaning to the person that receives it, though often they can fit into generalized categories. Tattoos have fallen in and out of popularity over the course of history, though they have never and most likely will never disappear.

When everyone looks and acts remotely the same, people end up losing their individual identity. When people feel like they are losing their individuality, they try to find ways to redefine their uniqueness in society. One of the more efficient and permanent ways of self-identification is by giving yourself a tattoo. Tiffany Cross studied this ideal of self-identification in her article, Stigmatization or Decoration: Tattoo as Deviance, a Cross-Cultural Study, where she says that, “the tattoo historically has been that symbol of rebellion, and here we see the tattoo emerging as a symbol of values and beliefs anew. The individual establishes his or her independence because the tattoo as a symbol is still enough to visually separate oneself from society at large” (Cross 20). Most of the time, tattoos are very meaningful, and hold some sort of value for the person who has them. By having a meaningful design constantly a part of you, people have essentially rediscovered themselves. Tattoos can also act as symbols of memories or influential experiences for a person. They are a constant reminder of an event that someone wants to feel and reminisce in every day of their lives. Tattoos can definitely have a large underlying meaning for the people who get

1Atkinson, Michael. Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003.

First of all, the idea of getting a tattoo was always counterintuitive from religious perspectives as People with paint on their body were mostly considered disreputable and evil. But those times are far behind and today every religion stands on its own while adjudicating on a matter of tattoos. For instance, religious tattoos are mostly associated with Christianity and it is a common thing for its followers to get an image of a cross or Jesus inked on their body, mainly with purpose to glorify the God and express their strong beliefs through something permanent. Other religious teachings where tattoos are not condemned are Buddhism and Hinduism, while Islam rigidly forbids any form of physical modification or mutilation as a sign of respect to the

Until 1991, the earliest evidence of tattoos we had were, for a long time, Egyptian, and were present on several female mummies dated to c. 2000 B.C.-that was, at least, until the discovery of the Iceman, who was dated back 5,200 years ago. These earliest tattoos were small dots and crosses placed at knee and ankle joints, as well as the lower spine, to reduce joint pain-in essence, the first tattoos were therapeutic. The mummies found with tattoos were all female, suggesting the practice was female-only, and while the first mummies were dismissed by the (male) excavators as women of dubious status, one tattooed

Tattoos are not a new fad that grew over night. Tattooing has been a form of art that people have used to communicate with for ages. Whether it is a family crest, a butterfly, or a zodiac sign, all tattoos have meaning in which someone can tell a story. The history of tattoos goes as far back as the first people who roamed this Earth. Tattoos have been around for so long that no historian or archaeologist can precisely trace back to when and where tattooing began.

Today more people are artistically expressing themselves through tattoos. According to a recent poll done, about one in five Americans have at least one. In fact many celebrities and influential people are seen almost covered in ink. Although there is a rise in popularity, there are still few who continue to believe tattoos are taboo, or have traditional, stereotypical thoughts on decorating ones skin. The most common misconceptions being; tattoos make finding employment difficult or they can’t do their job as well, people with tattoos are affiliated with gangs or are felons, and lastly parents with tattoos are bad parents.

While the oldest known tattoo was on an iceman found on the Italian-Austrian border with carbon-dating showing the iceman to be 5,200 years old (Lineberry, 2007) for many years, here in America, tattoos were only popular with sailors, soldiers, Marines, bikers and occasionally the rebellious teenager. Why were tattoos only popular with these few? Social taboos looked down on those with tattoos. However, through tattoos a person can show self expression, be self creative, and be identified with a certain belief or interest through the art, design or message. It is for these simple reasons their popularity over the last twenty years has grown at an incredible rate, and people of all ages, sexes, ethnic groups, and social

In the past some countries used tattoos as a way to identify social status. In Balkans, aristocrats used tattoos as a way to separate themselves from the lower classes. These aristocrats usually used family crests for their tattoos, but sometimes names were also included ("History of Tattoos"). In the Mediterranean region, tattoos were used to identify criminals. These tattoos would include the crime, punishment, and the names of the criminal’s victims. These tattoos were usually located on a part of the body that was very obvious, such as the face or arms (Libal, 2013). In ancient Greece and Rome, tattoos were used to identify slaves that could not become citizens. Even if they had enough money to buy their freedom, slaves with tattoos would not be freed because tattoos were permanent marks of guilt. Having a tattoo in ancient Greece and Rome was considered degrading (Lineberry, 2007). Primitive people used tattoos as a way to identify whether someone was a friend or a foe. When traveling and hunting, these marks helped prevent unnecessary fighting and they helped keep clans safe (Bryan,

The tattoo has its own history and quite existed from time immemorial. the people believe that it all begun from Egypt long ago. It played important role in rituals and traditions in the past. The people in the ancient days used to have tattoos on their face, neck, chest and body parts for several reasons. Some were tattooed for identification, some for committing crimes, some for clearance of monetary dues some for health reasons since it rejuvenates the skin and some for exhibiting their despise for the sin they had committed. This way the ancient people had tattooed on them with a purpose. Some women in the past used to have tattooed exhibiting their skills to the society. Some have it on their body to fulfill a mission.

Ancient people believed that if they were to get a tattoo of a certain animal, then they would have protection against attacks from that animal. Also, the fiercest warriors of their time would have tattoos that marked the significance of their battles. The same still holds true today, as tattoos are extremely popular among our military. For instance, during WW1 and WW2 sailors would sometimes get tattoos of propellers on their

Tattoos are an expression of ideas that people illustrate on their own bodies. Tattoos are a popular hobby and a major element in society and a high art in common society. Having a tattoo means having a piece of art on the body instead of a wall, so individuals have their bodies as the canvas

To fully understand the current attitudes towards tattoos it is also important to investigate the societal perceptions over the

about this body art such as the reason people have tattoos, “When did tattooing start?”, the dangers