Tattooing actually derives from African traditions of body scarification and adornment. Dark ink isn't going to show up on dark skin so ritual scarification replaces tattoos with ink.
quote: Human Remains: Tattooed Mummies from Egypt and Nubia In ancient Egypt there is no artistic or physical evidence that men were tattooed apart from one Dynasty XII stele from Abydos. This depicts a figure, which is said to be male, with marks coming down over the chest. As the stele is extremely worn it is hard to distinguish whether the marks indeed represent tattoos (Bianchi 1988, 1996; Keimer 1948). Thus, the vast majority of evidence (mummified human remains, dy- nastic figurines and tomb scenes) suggests that only women were tattooed in ancient Egypt (Bianchi 1988). In Nubia, originally only C-Group women were tattooed, but by the Meroitic Period both men and women were tattooed and scarified. The symbolic meaning of the practice of body modification thus appears to have been gendered and differed in both societies.
quote:Q: are there Connections: scarificaions of lozenge patterns have long being done after giving birth on the thighs of women of Nuba etc. and around the belly to keep a baby in the womb as a Netting. This must be connected Brigitte Goede
Yatunde Lisa Member # 22253
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Boy ... sat through that whole lecture while interesting and informative... I just love they way these "academe's" talk about Egypt as if it exists somewhere on another planet and not in Africa..
Albeit they did mention Nubian tattoos and scarification...
Embodying the Divine: A Tattooed Female Mummy from Deir el-Medina Anne Austin and Cédric Gobeil 2017
The Tattooed Mummy from the TT 290 Assemblage
In 2014, research at Deir el-Medina was conducted in TT 291 in order to inventory and study the human remains stored there, which were originally found in the tomb chamber of TT 290.18 This assemblage has been heavily plundered, leading to extensive commingling of the human remains. Artifacts and mummification techniques in the assemblage suggest that the material dates primarily to the Ramesside Period with some early 21st Dynasty burials as well.19 During this work, we identified at least thirty tattoos on the neck, shoulders, back, and arms of a mummified torso of a woman.20 Unlike the previous examples of tattooed mummies in Egypt, the tattoos found on this mummy are figural and represent Pharaonic Egyptian imagery.
The earliest circumstantial evidence for tattooing in Egypt comes from predynastic figurines bearing geometric patterns on their arms and legs.
It is only in the Middle Kingdom that we find evidence in both art and human remains for tattooing. Specifically, truncated female figurines and paddle dolls were sometimes decorated with geometrically-patterned dots on the arms, thighs, and abdomen that resemble the tattoos identified on three female Middle Kingdom mummies from Deir el-Bahri.5 The first of these women and the most well-known is the priestess of Hathor Amunet. She was buried inside a wooden coffin in an intact 11th or 12th Dynasty tomb south of the temple at Deir el-Bahri where she was listed with the titles “Priestess of Hathor” and “King’s Favorite Ornament.”6 Her tattoos consist of series of pinpricks and lines placed along her arms, legs, and abdomen. Nearby, two other female mummies were identified with similar tattoos and scarification marks during the excavations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art at Deir el-Bahri. Aside from these three mummies, evidence for tattooing in Pharaonic burials is almost non-existent,8 though evidence for tattooing in Nubian cemeteries is more abundant. Several mummies from Nubian C-group cemeteries have been identified with tattoos at Kubban,9 Aksha,10 and, most recently, at Hierakonpolis
Yatunde Lisa Member # 22253
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Doug M Member # 7650
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quote:Originally posted by Yatunde Lisa:
The full paper on these mummies is here and they were found in the late 1800s.
To summarize these tattoos are part of an ancient tradition in Africa and many of the females found with them were associated with Hathor. And the worship of Hathor is likely tied to ancient rituals originating to the South in places like Nabta playa and the Sahara.
Yatunde Lisa Member # 22253
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On G8, the two lateral papyrus do not fold by themselves but are bent by the front legs of two goats standing on their hind legs. The shape of their horns makes it possible to identify them with the ibex (Capra Nubiana).
Ibex on right shoulder of Holi tribe yoruba sub group lady
Yatunde Lisa Member # 22253
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The other noticeable motifs tattooed elsewhere on her body are: on arms, a large cross-shaped motif with rounded ends (one motif on each upper arm),
Fulani woman with cross motif with rounded ends
Doug M Member # 7650
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Another good piece of research on the history of tattoos on the Nile:
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