What I read
In "'Oldest tattoo' found on 5,000-year-old Egyptian mummies", the BBC's Pallab Ghosh (2018) writes that although the 5,000 year old Ötzi from Europe is still very slightly older according to radiocarbon dating, the recent discovery of tattoos on the accidentally mummified bodies of a male and female from Egypt before it was united under the first pharaoh around 3,100 BC push back the date when tattooing was known there by 1,000 years. Found on a male from the region for the first time, his tattoos, appearing as a dark smudge at the top of his arm, are of two animals that are believed by experts to "have denoted status, bravery and magical knowledge," unlike Ötzi's straight lines.
___________________________________
My response
As I read the BBC News story I thought of one of my sisters and a niece, both of whom are keen on tattoos. I don't think that their motivations are to show status or bravery, and I'm pretty sure that they do not claim any "magical knowledge," but they certainly like their body art, as many younger people do these days. Actually, I know that my youngest sister's motivation, at least for some of her tattoos was the artistic beauty of it: she told me that her first tattoo, some 30 years old now, was based on a painting from her favourite artist at the time. Thankfully, she still loves Brett Whiteley's work, so has never come to regret her choice of permanent reminder. I'm a bit less sure about my niece's inspirations, but suspect something similar: she just likes the look and they have some special meaning for her. I don't think our parents were so keen on them at first, but they soon got used to them.
The less personal idea that came to mind as I read was how much more we know about the past than we did in the past. Although I never studied history as such at university, I did study Latin, and then meant learning a lot about Roman and Greek history, but over the decades since I left university, our knowledge of those ancient civilisations of the West has grown greatly. This has been because of better textual analyses of the material we have from those times, but also of new science, such as the technology the revealed the newly discovered tattoos. The two bodies were discovers a century ago, but it was only a more modern technique that revealed the tattoos to modern eyes.
If we want to know and understand our past, I think we need more scientific investigation because the claims in written accounts are not always reliable. Our ancient ancestors, as much as ourselves, want to look good, so that positive story is what the history written under powerful rulers reflects: it was, for example, legally dangerous to say anything critical of Caesar Augustus (Octavius), the first emperor of the Roman Empire, so to have a balanced understanding of him, we need to think carefully about the known facts and to study the banned works of people who did not like him.
The less personal idea that came to mind as I read was how much more we know about the past than we did in the past. Although I never studied history as such at university, I did study Latin, and then meant learning a lot about Roman and Greek history, but over the decades since I left university, our knowledge of those ancient civilisations of the West has grown greatly. This has been because of better textual analyses of the material we have from those times, but also of new science, such as the technology the revealed the newly discovered tattoos. The two bodies were discovers a century ago, but it was only a more modern technique that revealed the tattoos to modern eyes.
If we want to know and understand our past, I think we need more scientific investigation because the claims in written accounts are not always reliable. Our ancient ancestors, as much as ourselves, want to look good, so that positive story is what the history written under powerful rulers reflects: it was, for example, legally dangerous to say anything critical of Caesar Augustus (Octavius), the first emperor of the Roman Empire, so to have a balanced understanding of him, we need to think carefully about the known facts and to study the banned works of people who did not like him.
___________________________________
My question
Why are tattoos so popular these days?
___________________________________
Reference
- Ghosh, P. (2018). 'Oldest tattoo' found on 5,000-year-old Egyptian mummies. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43230202
No comments:
Post a Comment
Before you click the blue "Publish" button for your first comment on a post, check ✔ the "Notify me" box. You want to know when your classmates contribute to a discussion you have joined.
A thoughtful response should normally mean writing for five to ten minutes. After you state your main idea, some details, explanation, examples or other follow up will help your readers.
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.