Art among the Arabics

Around 200 years later, far from the barbary pirates, we come to Southeast Asia where the art of tattooing prevails. In 1930, Leonard Woolley discovered small figurines in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley. Woolley described these figurines by notating: "On the shoulders of all (the figurines), both back and front, there are marks which in the painted figures are in black, the others rendered by small attached lumps of clay; these I take to be coarse tattooing.” (“History…” 1) As, it seemed to be, Woolley had discovered this art in yet another culture. Many devout middle-easterners believe that to have tattoos permanently engraved in the skin is wrong and believe it is the work of gypsies. Therefore, many of these middle-eastern cultures actually use Henna. Henna is a temporary dye that is made from the plant called Mhendi and according to Guatama Vajracharya, professor of art history at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Henna was introduced by Muslims. It is said that henna is used to decorate female bodies for ceremonies, especially weddings. Henna became so popular in the middle-east that it started to travel through countries like wildfire, from Iraq to Ireland to America. Eve Day, an artist who applies Henna tattoos professionally, says “People have been painting each other for thousands of years. Henna tattooing is just being reborn in America.” (“The History of Henna…”1) The Arabics just opened the world to a whole new generation of tattoos. Is this the re-birth of art as we know it?





"Tattoo History - Arab Tattoos - History of Tattoos and Tattooing Worldwide." Tattoo Designs & Tattoos Meanings, Celebrity Tattoos, Tattoo Museum, Tattoo Photo Galleries. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. .


"The History of Henna Tattoo Design." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. .


Little Figurine. 2010. Photograph. Tattoo History. Tattoo History - Arab Tattoo Images - History of Tattoos and Tattooing Worldwide. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. .

Yohoho and a Bottle of.....Ink?

On our journey today, we come to an interesting sect of people whose home is the sea, sailors. Although, the earliest remnants of tattoos originated in Egypt, sailors along the coasts of Tahitian and Samoan lands brought about what was finally identified as “Tatau.” “Sydney Parkinson, the artist on...[one of the] first voyage[s] of 1768-1771 recorded [this] Tahitian term.” (Thomas 33) The observance of such an art inspired these sailors to bring “Tatau” as a trade of art to the South Seas and beyond. Many historians credit these Barbary pirates with the discovery of tattoos, when in fact; tattoos have been believed to exist far before then. “American historian Ira Dye...believes that it must predate the early 1770s...[she] argue[s] that by the end of the century tattooing was so prevalent throughout the American merchant and naval fleets that its introduction a mere twenty years earlier was an impossibility.” (Caplan 142) “Tatau” throughout the South Seas was a large factor in the spread of tattooing in both European and American culture and brought about the beginnings of today’s modern tattooing styles. So, before you step foot into that tattoo shop, think about the sailors who brought this to America. I bet they opened a bottle of rum right before they opened a bottle of ink.





Thomas, Nicholas, Anna Cole, and Bronwen Douglas, eds. Tattoo: Bodies, Art, and Exchange in the Pacific and the West. Durham: Duke UP, 2005. Print.

Caplan, Jane, ed. Written on the Body: the Tattoo in European and American History. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton UP, 2000. Print.

"Cussin Sams Shiver Me Timber." Cartoon. Pirate Mod. Web. 23 Apr. 2010. .

What Happens in Egypt Stays in Egypt...

It’s easy to trace the tattoo on your co-workers wrist to a drunken night in Las Vegas, but where do the origins of tattoos begin? Ancient Egypt 3100 B.C. “The ancient Egyptians saw themselves and the agricultural land of the Nile Valley and Delta…[as] maintainers of a divine world…[where they kept] structured compositions of Egyptian art and texts.” (Riggs 1) Tattooing was a part of these ritualistic arts. Tattoos on the skin were not looked at as the trendy fad that they have grown to today, but rather as a revered form of distinction among the upper class of the ancients. Researchers around the world have spent centuries gathering needles, inks, and other relics that glorify the cultural traditions of the Egyptians. Reknowned worldly journalist, Aviva Briefel describes a mummified woman’s hand as “beautifully engraved with hieroglyphics.” (Briefel 3) That is quite a difference to how some people would describe tattoos on some of today’s young people. The Egyptians helped paved a way for art in new forms and started an art that has lasted far beyond just B.C. They definitely had the right idea when they started tattooing, thankfully though, the art has evolved far from the pyramids and more towards sterilization of needles.



Fletcher, Joann. "Tattoos" 2007. Photograph. El Algarrobal Museum, Ilo, Peru

Fletcher, Joann. "Tattoos" 2007. Photograph. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.

Riggs, Christina. "THE ART OF ANCIENT EGYPT (Book)." African Arts 35.2 (2002): 11. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

Briefel, Aviva. "Hands of Beauty, Hands of Horror: Fear and Egyptian Art at the Fin de Siècle." Victorian Studies 50.2 (2008): 263-271. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.