The history of tattooing in Africa dates back thousands of years. Until the recent discovery of Otzi the Iceman, the oldest known tattoos belonged to the mummy of Amunet, a priestess of the goddess Hathor somewhere between 2160 BC -1994 BC. With her simple parallel lines on her arms, legs, and an elliptical pattern below her navel, Amunet was the oldest glimpse we know had into tattooing in Africa, and the world. The designs found on her...

Mentawai tattoo Mythology The Mentawai people are the indiginous inhabitants of the Mentawai Islands - a chain of about seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia . In Mentawai mythology, a young boy transformed himself into the first Sago tree so that his people would never run out of food. This Sago tree is one of the most revered symbols of Mentawai people's religion, Jarayak, and this tree image is tattooed...

Irezumi - Japanese Tattooing The Japanese language the Japanese word '''irezumi''' (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥 or 刺青) refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark, in other words, '''tattooing'''. The word can be written in several ways, each with slightly different connotations. The most common way of writing irezumi is with the Chinese Characters|Chinese characters 入れ墨 or 入墨, literally...