London - Researchers have discovered the
oldest figurative tattoos in the world on the upper arms of two
ancient Egyptian mummies, the British Museum said on Thursday.
A male mummy was found to have tattoos depicting a wild bull
and a Barbary sheep on its upper arm, while a female has linear
and S-shaped motifs on its upper arm and shoulder.
The artworks appeared as dark smudges in natural light but
researchers at the British Museum and Oxford University's
Faculty of Oriental Studies found the tattoos in 2017 with
infrared photography.
"It's actually providing completely new insights into the
use of tattooing," Daniel Antoine, curator of physical
anthropology at the British Museum, told Reuters.
"The location of these tattoos suggests they were designed
to be highly visible on the upper arm and the shoulder," he
said, adding that the discoveries push back by 1,000 years
evidence for tattooing in Africa.
An infrared image of the male mummy known as 'Gebelein Man' can be seen in this photograph issued by The British Museum in London. Picture: Reuters
An infrared image of the female mummy known as 'Gebelein Woman' can be seen in this photograph issued by The British Museum in London. Picture: Reuters
An infrared image of the male mummy known as 'Gebelein Man' can be seen in this photograph issued by The British Museum in London. Picture: Reuters
The mummies were unearthed 100 years ago in the Egyptian
town of Gebelein, around 40km south of modern-day
Luxor. They date to 3351 to 3017 BC, which is the Predynatic
period before Egypt was unified by the first Pharaoh.
Researchers said the female tattoos may have denoted status,
bravery or magical knowledge, while the male's were likely
symbols of virility and strength.
Prior to the discovery, archaeologists believed tattooing in
Egypt was only performed on women, as tattoos were only depicted
on female figurines of the period.
The oldest surviving tattoos are geometric designs on a
mummified corpse known as Otzi, who lived around 5,300 years ago
and was discovered preserved in the Italian Alps in 1991.
The research, lead by Antoine and Oxford University's Renee
Friedman, was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science
on March 1.