Tattoos in ancient Egypt

and Sudan
Marie Vandenbeusch, curator, British Museum
View of the Nile, Fourth Cataract region, before the building of the dam !hoto
" #ere$ %elsby
&ne of the eight mummies that are the sub'ect of the
e(hibition )ncient li*es, new disco*eries, the mummy of a woman
from Sudan, was disco*ered relati*ely recently, compared to the
others +er body was found in ,--., during rescue e(ca*ations
ta$ing place in the area of the Fourth Nile Cataract, where the
building of a dam threatened to flood archaeological sites The
collection of o*er a thousand human remains e(ca*ated during the
mission was donated by the National Corporation for )nti/uities
and Museums 0Sudan1 to the Sudan )rchaeological 2esearch
Society, which then ga*e them to the British Museum )rid climate
and hot sand had naturally mummified some of these bodies,
including the remains of this woman +er soft tissues are so well
preser*ed that conser*ators at the British Museum located a tattoo
and other mar$s on her s$in
E*idence for tattooing in ancient Egypt and in Nubia is scarce, and
human remains do not pro*ide any indication of the fre/uency of
the tattoos themsel*es3 because of their location directly on the
s$in they are usually either not preser*ed or hidden by bandages
The first tangible e(amples of Egyptian tattoos date bac$ to the
Middle 4ingdom 0about ,--- BC13 se*eral tattooed mummies of
women were found at #eir el5Bahari The mar$ings mainly consist
of dots and dashes, often grouped into geometrical patterns, such
as lo6enges, and are usually placed on the chest, the abdomen,
the arms or the legs
Faience statuette of a woman with body decoration which has sometimes
been identified as tattoos 0!aris, Mus7e du 8ou*re, E 9-:;,1 !hoto " Mus7e
du 8ou*re, #ist 2MN5<rand !alais = Christian #ecamps
)lthough tattoos are rare on human remains, they seem to be
more fre/uent on female representations The geometrical
decorations commonly adorning Middle 4ingdom statuettes are
*ery similar to tattoos found on the mummies of women who li*ed
at the same period +owe*er, the debate about their identification
as tattoos is still open and recent disco*eries regularly bring new
insights to these /uestions
Faience wine bowl with female lute player Egypt, around 9;-->9?-- BC
!hoto by permission of National Museum of )nti/uities, 8eiden 0)# 9;1
Both human remains and decorated figurines ta$e us to the world
of dancers and musicians &ne of the mummies from #eir el5
Bahari is thought to be a priestess of the goddess +athor, whose
patronage of music and dance is well established There are also
depictions showing a figure of the god Bes on the thigh of young
ladies who appear to be dancers and musicians This is not
surprising when we consider that Bes, a god who protected the
household and the family, was also associated with music and
dance The implicit eroticism symbolised by Bes in connection with
these na$ed dancers seems to be also con*eyed by the presence
of tattoos
Tattoo depicting a monogram of Saint Michael on the inner thigh of the
woman from Sudan
)s is still the case today, the meaning and function of tattoos can
*ary, some showing affiliation to a social group, others ha*ing
medical or protecti*e purposes The naturally mummified woman
from Sudan in the e(hibition bears a monogram of St Michael
tattooed on her inner thigh @t combines in one symbol the letters
forming the name Michael 0M@A)+B1 in <ree$ or Coptic 0both
languages use a *ery similar alphabet1 The monogram is topped
with a cross The tattoo suggests that the woman was of Christian
faith, and may indicate that she hoped to place herself under the
protection of the )rchangel > one of the patron saints of Nubia
The monogram of St Michael is already $nown in other conte(ts, in
particular in Nubia where both the monogram and the
representation of the )rchangel were drawn on the walls of
churches or incised on pottery, but its use as a tattoo was an
une(pected disco*ery %e can interpret the tattoo as an in*ocation
to the saint, but it was also a way of demonstrating oneCs faith
Tattoos are still used in this way by Copts who often bear a small
cross inside the wrist as a spiritual symbol of their affiliation to a
community