![]() Tattoos are an important cultural expression for many Copts. The Egyptians come for religious symbols.” The small cross tattoo worn by many of Egypt’s Copts It happens that I do non-Christian tattoos as well, but that’s mostly on foreigners, not Egyptians. But I also make freehand tattoos, anything people want me to do. Mostly religious motifs: the portrait of Jesus, crosses, saints or churches. ![]() Girgis points to his collection of stamps, which has motifs ranging from the Virgin Mary and Mar Girgis to crosses of various shapes.Įgyptian Copts, just like those from Ethiopia, would traditionally get their tattoos on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The same sort of wooden blocks are still used by Egypt’s Coptic artists today. Jerusalem tattooists used wooden stamps in order to speed up the process, making it possible to tattoo large numbers of pilgrims. For pilgrims, the cross tattoo marked a proof of their journey and was a symbol in which they took pride. Girgis’ outdoors studio, at the monastery of Saint Samaan, overlooking part of the Muqattam areaĮgyptian Copts, just like those from Ethiopia, would traditionally get their tattoos on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The ancient Egyptians are among the very first to provide evidence of the art of tattooing: mummies with tattoos have been found from the second millennium B.C. It’s these ancient Egyptians that are among the very first to provide evidence of the art of tattooing: mummies with tattoos have been found from the second millennium B.C. The community, making up some 10% of Egypt’s population, or 8 million people, has a long tattooing tradition, inherited from their Pharaonic ancestors. Throughout history, the tattoo has functioned as a form of social identification for Copts, marking religious and communal belonging. Dark blue, no more than a centimetre square, they are tattooed on the inside of the right wrist or on the back of the hand. The small crosses are worn by many of Egypt’s Copts. Almost all of them with the same motif: a Coptic cross.” “I usually do around five to seven tattoos a day. I usually do around five to seven tattoos a day. When it’s the weekend or when the schools are closed, lots of people come here. “It’s more crowded than usual because of Eid. The booth is busy, especially today on the first day of Eid el-Adha, one of Egypt’s main holidays. Yellow and red letters read “دق”, the Arabic word for tattoo, and there are a few stickers from Tattoo Magazine. Girgis’ place is small: a booth with two chairs − one for himself and one for the customer − a table with bottles of ink in many colours, and a few shelves on the sidewall where wooden stamps are lined up. This is where, in a booth right outside the largest church in the Middle East, Girgis works his second, and much beloved, job − as a tattoo artist. He dri ves through Manshiyet Naser, the area where residents recycle by hand much of Cairo’s daily household waste, to reach the monastery of Saint Samaan. Every afternoon, after finishing his engineering job in the city, Girgis Gabriel Girgis makes his way up the slopes of Muqattam, a large, dusty hill in south-eastern Cairo.
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