Tattoos

Tattoos

Tattoos: The History behind tattoo

    For thousands of years people have invested in the art of tattoos.   Tattoos are a beautiful and permanent way people have used to show many beliefs and emotions.   This form of art is painstakingly imprinted onto the skin for many reasons.   In many cultures tattoos were a form of symbolism to fend off evil.   It was believed that they could use tattoos to protect the people.   Others use tattoos to express their feelings and emotions regarding anything from family, love and even death.
    The first ancient tattoos were found in today’s Maori on a 5,200 year old mummy.   Tattoos were also reveled in Northern Egypt on a group of female mummies.   Archeologists found these remains in the tomb of a queen and they were thought to have served as servants or slaves to her.   Other symbols were found engraved all over the bodies of these mummies.   These symbols were thought to possess healing powers and were placed on the portion of the body where it was hurting.
    On the same female mummies small dots were also found tattooed all over the abdomen and small statuettes on the upper parts of the thighs. The statuettes are believed to be Bes God.   Bes is the protector of women.   A web like tattoo would be put onto the bodies of women on the abdominal areas to show that they were pregnant.   It is written that this would keep the unborn child and their mothers safe during pregnancy. (Lineberry, 2008)
    Many other cultures were found using the art as well.   In Borneo tattoos were used to designate which skill they were good at.   These symbols were found on the forearms of the women.   For instance a woman who a tattoo of a basket weaver had believed that it would increase her marriageable material status.   Tattoos were greatly used by the Romans to identify slaves owned by different families.   The Greeks would use tattoos to identify spies and their specific marks would let people know what they were ranked.   The use of these...