The evidence for tattooing from ancient Egypt is twofold. Firstly, limited physical remains and secondly decorative works of art, including figurines and tomb scenes. Recent work using infra-red has expanded the known corpus of mummies decorated with body art. ‘Ginger’, at the British Museum, is now the oldest, dating from the Predynastic period, and is the only male example of a tattooed mummy from ancient Egypt. While the work of Anne Austin and Cedric Gobeil found over 30 tattoos on a female mummy from Deir el-Medina, significantly, these depict objects not simply patterns. Through this lecture Joanne will examine the manifestations of body art, both on physical remains and decorative works of art from the Predynastic to the Coptic period. The relationship between the two datasets (physical remains and decorative arts) will be analysed. The significance of the imagery will be considered to evaluate the meaning of the adornment. Until the discovery of markings on ‘Ginger’, all physical evidence from ancient Egypt was found on the female form. The only males depicted with body art in Pharonic Egypt are foreigners – Libyans.
Dr Joanne Backhouse is a lecturer in Continuing Education at the University of Liverpool, where she completed her PhD. Her research interests focus on representations of the female form in both two and three dimensions. She has published volume one of her PhD, Scènes de Gyngécées: Figured Ostraca from New Kingdom Egypt – Iconography and Intent, with Archaeopress and is working on volume two, ‘Ladies on Beds’ Figurines from New Kingdom Egypt and her Empire.
Entry: £5