Other than a 5000 year old man recently discovered in
ice the first evidence of tattoos leads back to mummies in Egypt. The
oldest tattoo was found on the mummy of Amunet, a priestess of the
goddess Hathor during 2160-1994 BC. The mummy's simple tattoos were
parallel lines on her arms, legs, and an elliptical pattern below her
navel (left). Egyptologists believe that these designs were symbols of
fertility and rejuvenation. Interestingly no male mummies in Egypt have
been found with tattoos. However male mummies have been found in Libya
with tattoos of images relating to sun worship (top). In the tomb of
Seti I dating from around 1300 BC tattoos symbolizing Neith, a fierce
goddess who led warriors into battle were also found on men. The first
known tattoo of a person was discovered around on Nubian female mummies
dating to 400 BC. The tattoo image portrays the god of sex and overseer
of orgies, Bes.
Another form of early body ornamentation was cicatrisation. The word
cicatrisation was derived from the French word cicatrices which mean "scar".
This form of body ornamentation was common among the darker-skinned
people of Africa because tattoos changing the color of skin do not show
up as well. Whereas contemporary tattoos involve puncturing the skin to
inserting pigment, Cicatrisation involves cutting the skin more severely
to create wounds which result in a decorative pattern of scar tissue. A
popular technique for scarring involves piercing the skin and rubbing
the wound with ash so that it becomes inflamed and later heals as a
raised scar. Then the wounds are periodically re-opened, and some are
even inserted with a pebble or pearl in order to enhance the raised
effect (right). This ancient practice and has recently become popular in
the United States. Many professional athletes can seen with their
initials or other symbols etched in their skin.
Other African body altering traditions involve extreme forms of body
piercing. The intent is to exaggerate body forms by ornamentation. Lips
are pierced and objects are implanted inside, causing the lip tissue to
elongate and conform to the shape of the implanted object as the flesh
heals. This woman of Ethiopia wears a lip plate which causes the mouth
to protrude in a manner resembling the beak of a bird, such as the
spoonbill or the broadbill which people worship as sacred (left).
