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At the site of Deir el-Medina of the New Kingdom period (1550 – 1070 BC) on the west bank of the Nile, Egypt, experts have discovered a number of ancient mummies.
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Upon examination, the researchers discovered at least six female mummies with tattoos. Study leader Anne Austin, a biological archaeologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, says the tattoos reveal an unexpected secret.
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Usually, experts never remove the cloth wrapped around the mummy , so it is difficult to detect the tattoo. Their only chance of discovering the tattoo was when ancient grave robbers removed the mummy’s cloth.
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As a result, dark black tattoos were discovered on the female body. In it, on the body of a middle-aged woman has a tattoo of the god Bes and a bowl – associated with the purification ceremony a few weeks after giving birth. Some remaining cases have a tattoo of the eye of the god Horus, meaning protection and healing.
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There are also zigzag tattoos that can represent swamps, related to cool water used to soothe pain from menstruation or childbirth.
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With the above findings, experts say that the practice of tattooing in Deir el-Medina was popular very early and this custom is often associated with women participating in postpartum rites, helping to protect the mother and baby.
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On the Otzi Iceman mummy dating back to about 5,300 years old, experts discovered 61 tattoos. Accordingly, Otzi is not only the most famous natural mummy in Europe, but also one of the intact corpses that help decipher the history of tattoos.
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Thanks to the icy climate, the 61 tattoos on the mummy Otzi are clearly visible on the lower back, knees, wrists and ankles. Those are all areas of the body where people often experience constant pain as they get older.
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As a result, some researchers believe that Otzi got those tattoos as an ancient treatment for pain relief.
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They also found various herbs with medicinal properties near the place where Otzi’s mummy was discovered in the Alps, near the border between Austria and Italy. This makes researchers believe that that is really the purpose of tattooing of Otzi and his contemporaries. However, they still work hard to decipher the meaning of the tattoos on ancient mummies.
