3,000-Year-Old Female Mummy With More Than 30 Tattoos Discovered
This particular mummy is a woman who proudly wore ink on her body.
An unusual mummy has been dug up recently and it's said to be a first in the history of archaeology.
According to Independent UK, bioarchaeologist Anne Austin from Stanford University discovered a 3,000-year-old female Egyptian mummy. What's different with this mummy among all the mummies that has been found is that it comes with ornate tattoos of animals and plants.
Austin observed the unusual markings while trying to examine the preserved body of the woman that was discovered in the ancient village of Deir el-Medina, which was known to be a location in the past as the tombmakers in the neighboring Valley of the Kings.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Ars Technica detailed that Austin and her team used infrared lighting and an infrared sensor which helped in revealing more than 30 tattoos of different figurative drawings in the mummy such as flowers, animals and sacred symbols.
This is the first time that they have found such mummy since it has been noticed that other preserved bodies almost always only come with abstract markings like dots tattooed on their skin. This particular mummy that they have found, however, seemed to be a woman who proudly wore ink on her body. The source noted that the mummy had sacred wadjet eyes tattoo on her neck, shoulders and back. It's also said that she came with a lotus blossoms on her lips while she had some cows inked on her arm. Ancient-Origins also reported that a drawing of baboons has been inked on the mummy's neck.
As the archaeologists made further research, they found out that the village wherein the mummy was found was known to be the refuge of artisans where they made elaborate sculptures and inscriptions for pharaohs and gods. And because of that, the tattoos of the 3,000-year old mummy may have some strong religious significance. For instance, the wadjet eyes may have been considered as protection from evil back in the days. The cows could be associated with the goddess of Hathor.
Nature reported that Austin had already presented her findings with the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
