Inside the Middle East View All. Fading tradition of female facial tattoos in Middle East and North Africa. As a young girl, Yumna Al-Arashi would look with fascination upon the dots, lines and symbols that graced her Yemeni great-grandmother's face. Rich with meaning and history, the markings represented a style of facial tattoo once found across rural communities in the Middle East and North Africa. Yet as Al-Arashi grew older and learned more about the practice, she discovered it was a tradition few young women seemed intent on continuing. Intrigued, the London-based photographer of Egyptian-Yemeni descent resolved to document what remained of the practice and explore why its popularity had waned. Yumna told Al-Arashi that her tattoos represent her love and connection to the earth.
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Reneltta Arluk writes about her great-grandmother and her journey to reconnect with her ancestors
Facial tattoos have been a part of Maori culture for centuries, a sacred marker of the wearer's genealogy and heritage. But one woman's striking chin design - or moko - has generated huge debate in New Zealand, because she is white, with no Maori heritage. Sally Anderson, who is married to a Maori man, says her moko symbolises her personal struggles and life story. But she's been accused of appropriating Maori culture for personal gain. Moko are carved into the skin using chisels. They are a sacred tradition, denoting a person's links with their family and cultural identity.
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When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. Log in. Sign up. Female face tattoos. Collection by Philanie Jooste. Similar ideas popular now. We Are The World. People Around The World. Tribal Face.
The art of tattooing is ancient one and dates back to the pre-Islamic era. In a region where tattoos are now largely taboo, many people are curious as to why Bedouin women wear them so boldly across their faces and what they really symbolise. The art has faced a huge decline from the s onwards, and nowadays it is rare to see the striking face of a tattooed Bedouin woman in Jordan and the Middle East. Although Bedouin women tattooed themselves all over their bodies — wrists, ankles, breasts, thighs — facial tattoos were the most significant as they were visible to the public. Tattoos were most commonly located on several significant spots on the face: dots or symbols above or between the eyebrows, dots on the nose, beauty spots on the cheek and lines and symbols below the lip and on the chin. Tattoos traditionally symbolised protection in battles and wars as well as from spirits and the evil eye. In some areas, tattoos were also used for medical purposes; many believed that a combination of dots on the side of the head or above the eyes would heal aches and pains and prevent disease. Many great and revered poets from the pre-Islamic era used imagery of tattoos in their poetry as a strong symbol of beauty. In one poem, poet Zuhair bin Abi Salma compares the land of his beloved one to a hand that was tattooed with all the colours and curves. Folkloric songs also celebrate women with tattooed faces as the epitome of beauty.
