Tattoos are an ancient form of art appearing in various cultures throughout history. One of the earliest (and possibly the oldest) pattern of tattoos in the world was discovered on the frozen remains of the man known as Otzi the Iceman who was buried in a glacier on the Austrian-Italian border c. 3250 BCE and discovered in 1991 CE. Otzi’s body has 61 tattoos covering him from his lower legs to his upper back, torso, and left wrist. These tattoos have been interpreted as therapeutic in nature, alleviating some condition he may have had, but certainly could also have served other purposes.
The word “tattoo” comes from the Polynesian Ta meaning “to strike” which evolved into the Tahitian word tatau meaning “to mark something” and so tattoos have come to be associated in the modern day with Polynesia. The art of tattooing goes back millenia, however, and was practiced in ancient Egypt at least as early as the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE). In ancient cultures such as Greece and Rome the tattoo was worn as a cultic symbol dedicating one to a certain god, as a brand symbolizing servitude, as a mark of a certain type of profession (such as a prostitute) or to encourage fertility or afford protection. In these cultures both men and women were tattooed but, in Egypt, tattoos were seemingly only worn by women though possibly for many of the same reasons.
An interesting difference, however, persists in the interpretation of Egyptian women’s tattoos as opposed to those of other cultures: the tattoos of Egyptian women were – and are – regarded, when they are not simply ignored, as a symbol of the lower class and the mark of a dancing girl or prostitute without considering other possibilities. Further, even when such options for interpretation are allowed, they must argue against this earlier understanding.
The Confusion
Early Egyptologists interpreted these tattoos according to their own understanding and prejudices concerning body art and, in examining the female mummies or feminine statuary, concluded that tattoos were worn by lower class prostitutes and dancing girls. Joann Fletcher, a fellow in the department of archaeology at the University of York, explains the confusion caused by the assessment of these early interpretations:
Because this seemed to be an exclusively female practice in ancient Egypt, mummies found with tattoos were usually dismissed by the (male) excavators who seemed to assume the women were of “dubious status,” described in some cases as “dancing girls.” The female mummies had nevertheless been buried at Deir el-Bahari (opposite modern Luxor) in an area associated with royal and elite burials, and we know that at least one of the women described as “probably a royal concubine” was actually a high-status priestess named Amunet, as revealed by her funerary inscriptions. And although it has long been assumed that such tattoos were the mark of prostitutes or were meant to protect the women against sexually transmitted diseases, I personally believe that the tattooing of ancient Egyptian women had a therapeutic role and functioned as a permanent form of amulet during the very difficult time of pregnancy and birth (1).
As more evidence came to light of tattooed women who were obviously priestesses and members of the court, the interpretation of “low class” tattooed women was somewhat revised to include the concept of cultic tattoos identifying a woman with the worship of Hathor. This understanding still carried with it a sense of eroticism and sexuality, however, which a present-day sensibility cannot seem to include in the definition of a priestess. Even in the modern-day “progressive” society, these ancient tattoos continue to be associated broadly with lower class members of society just as they were in the 19th century CE. Although the precise meanings of ancient Egyptian tattoos may be unclear, it seems evident that they had an array of implications and that women of many different social classes chose to wear them.
Tattoos In Egypt in the Middle Kingdom
Tattoos in ancient Egypt may date back to the Pre-Dynastic Period (c. 6000 – c. 3150 BCE) based on evidence suggesting priestesses of the goddess Hathor would have had themselves so marked at that time. This claim is purely speculative, however. The most conclusive evidence of Egyptian tattoos found thus far dates the practice to the Middle Kingdom. Scholar Carolyn Graves-Brown writes how, “in 1891, two ancient Egyptian female mummies were uncovered from Middle Kingdom Deir el-Bahri; they bore tattoos of geometrically arranged dots and dashes” (113). She goes on to note that the tattoos on these women were the same as those found on Middle Kingdom fertility dolls and that, further, other female mummies were later discovered with similar markings.
The first female mummies uncovered were thought to be members of a king’s harem and the others dancing girls or prostitutes. The male Egyptologists of the 19th and 20th centuries CE who were studying the mummies could not reconcile their understanding of a tattooed woman with one of high social standing and so tattoos were considered a mark of the lower classes. Even as recently as 1995 CE, the Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley, whose treatment of tattoos and women is usually cogent and precise, writes, “Tattooing seems to have been confined to lower-class women” (160). Even though elsewhere in her work she acknowledges the variation in purpose of tattoos, the old stigma of body art carries on in the modern day and prevents people (often males) from interpreting these marks correctly.
The claim that tattoos were only worn by prostitutes, dancing girls, and “lower-class women” becomes even weaker when one considers the case of Amunet, a priestess of the goddess Hathor from the 11th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. The mummy of Amunet, discovered with the others in 1891 CE by Egyptologist Eugene Grebaut at Deir el-Bahri, shows patterns of tattooed lines on her arms, thighs, and lower abdomen. These tattoos are interpreted by some scholars as fertility symbols and this claim is strengthened by other statues and mummies of tattooed women with the same kinds of marks on their body.
