Tattoos

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by Esaias

It is also referring to the common heathen practice of printing marks upon the body via burning, scarification, tattooing, henna, etc.

There are two separate clauses: no cuttings for the dead (that's one clause) NOR (a negative conjunction joining two clauses) print any marks upon you (a second clause). Two clauses, two things. It does not read "no cuttings nor printing any marks for the dead", but "no cuttings for the dead nor printing any marks upon you."

Young's Literal Translation: ‘And a cutting for the soul ye do not put in your flesh; and a writing, a cross-mark, ye do not put on you; I [am] Jehovah.

Brenton's English Translation of the LXX: 28And ye shall not make cuttings in your body for a dead body, and ye shall not inscribe on yourselves any marks. I am the Lord your God.

Orthodox Jewish Bible: 28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your basar for the dead, nor tattoo any marks upon you: I am Hashem.

Ellicot's Commentary: Nor print any marks upon you.—This, according to the ancient authorities, was effected by making punctures in the skin to impress certain figures or words, and then filling the cut places with stibium, ink, or some other colour. The practice of tattooing prevailed among all nations of antiquity, both among savages and civilised nations, The slave had impressed upon his body the initials of his master, the soldier those of his general, and the worshipper the image of his tutelar deity. To obviate this disfiguration of the body which bore the impress of God’s image, and yet to exhibit the emblem of his creed, the Mosaic Law enacted that the Hebrew should have phylacteries which he is to bind as “a sign” upon his hand, and as “a memorial” between his eyes “that the Lord’s law may be in his mouth” (Exodus 13:9; Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18).

Leviticus 19:26 KJV
Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

Verse 26 likewise contains two clauses, but nobody is going to argue that it's okay to use enchantments and observe times as long as it doesn't involve eating blood.

All the scarring, and cutting is talked about in the scripture. The Bible doesn't record "henna" used by the Indians of Asia. Ellicott's Commentary is wrong, in which he is pointing to slaves being branded, soldiers being marked. Yet, the armies which we see in the Bible aren't tattooed with a general's insignia. Never the Romans, or armies of the first century Judeans. The Greeks? have no such customs. But let's look at this, armies and their generals. Leadership changed constantly. Generals like Pompey, while had the adoration of his men, wouldn't go so far as to marking them. Also, the thing of high worship, wasn't the general, but was the legion. Anyway, when looking through scripture, we see how ritual markings were part of the particular religions of the Middle East. Self mutilation, just like the Egyptians and Israelites mutilated their male children.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

All the scarring, and cutting is talked about in the scripture. The Bible doesn't record "henna" used by the Indians of Asia. Ellicott's Commentary is wrong, in which he is pointing to slaves being branded, soldiers being marked. Yet, the armies which we see in the Bible aren't tattooed with a general's insignia. Never the Romans, or armies of the first century Judeans. The Greeks? have no such customs. But let's look at this, armies and their generals. Leadership changed constantly. Generals like Pompey, while had the adoration of his men, wouldn't go so far as to marking them. Also, the thing of high worship, wasn't the general, but was the legion. Anyway, when looking through scripture, we see how ritual markings were part of the particular religions of the Middle East. Self mutilation, just like the Egyptians and Israelites mutilated their male children.

"Tattooing was only associated with barbarians in early Greek and Roman times. The Greeks learned tattooing from the Persians, and used it to mark slaves and criminals so they could be identified if they tried to escape. The Romans in turn adopted the practice from the Greeks, and in late antiquity when the Roman army consisted largely of mercenaries; they also were tattooed so that deserters could be identified.

...

'It's a little known fact, but it would appear that all of the legionaries and some of the auxiliaries on Hadrian's Wall would have had a tattoo', says Newcastle University's Museum of Antiquities Director of Archaeological Museums and Roman expert, Lindsay Allason-Jones.

The evidence comes from the Roman writer Vegetius, whose Epitome of Military Science, written around the 4th Century AD, is the only account of Roman military practice to have survived intact.

'Vegetius recorded that a recruit to the Roman army "should not be tattooed with the pin-pricks of the official mark as soon as he has been selected, but first be thoroughly tested in exercises so that it may be established whether he is truly fitted for so much effort",' says Lindsay. (Source: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Epitome of Military Science, Chapter 8).

'We do not know what this official mark looked like. It was possibly an eagle or the symbol of the soldier's legion or unit', she said.

Lindsay has even unearthed evidence that the legionaries would have sported the tattoo on their hands. Aetius, the 6th century Roman doctor, recording that tattoos were found on the hands of soldiers, even documented the Roman technique for tattooing, which included first washing the area to be tattooed with leek juice, known for its antiseptic properties. Aetius even went so far as to document the formula for the tattooing ink, which combined Egyptian pine wood (especially the bark), corroded bronze, gall and vitriol with more leek juice. The design was pricked into the skin with pointed needles 'until blood is drawn', and then the ink was rubbed on. (see below)

Stigma

The Latin word for "tattoo" was stigma, and the original meaning is reflected in modern dictionaries. Among the definitions of "stigma" listed in the Webster dictionary are "a prick with a pointed instrument", "a distinguishing mark �cut into the flesh of a slave or a criminal", and "a mark of disgrace or reproach."

The oldest known description of tattoo techniques together with a formula for tattoo ink, is found in Medicae artis principes by the sixth century Roman physician, Aetius. He writes:

Stigmates are the marks that are made on the face and other parts of the body. We see such marks on the hands of soldiers. To perform the operation they use ink made according to this formula:

Egyptian pine wood (acacia) and especially the bark, one pound; corroded bronze, two ounces; gall, two ounces; vitriol, one ounce. Mix well and sift.

Grind the corroded bronze with vinegar and mix it with the other ingredients to make a powder. Soak the powder in two parts of water and one part of leek juice and mix thoroughly.

First wash the place to be tattooed with leek juice and then prick in the design with pointed needles until blood is drawn. Then rub in the ink."

http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tatto...n_tattoos.html

[Esaias]

Tattoos are an ancient form of art appearing in various cultures throughout history. One of the earliest (and possibly the oldest) pattern of tattoos in the world was discovered on the frozen remains of the man known as Otzi the Iceman who was buried in a glacier on the Austrian-Italian border c. 3250 BCE and discovered in 1991 CE. Otzi's body has 61 tattoos covering him from his lower legs to his upper back, torso, and left wrist. These tattoos have been interpreted as therapeutic in nature, alleviating some condition he may have had, but certainly could also have served other purposes.

The word "tattoo" comes from the Polynesian Ta meaning "to strike" which evolved into the Tahitian word tatau meaning "to mark something" and so tattoos have come to be associated in the modern day with Polynesia. The art of tattooing goes back millenia, however, and was practiced in ancient Egypt at least as early as the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE). In ancient cultures such as Greece and Rome the tattoo was worn as a cultic symbol dedicating one to a certain god, as a brand symbolizing servitude, as a mark of a certain type of profession (such as a prostitute) or to encourage fertility or afford protection. In these cultures both men and women were tattooed but, in Egypt, tattoos were seemingly only worn by women though possibly for many of the same reasons.

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1000/...ancient-egypt/

[Esaias]

Temporary tattooing with henna is a 5000 years old tradition originating from Pakistan, India, Africa and the Middle East. Ancient Egyptians were one of the earliest to use it as a body paint as the henna was their native plant. Applying henna was part of the ritual preparation for the afterlife and we found many mummies that have their fingernails covered with henna. From there it arrived to India and it was used there since 700 AD. It was known in the late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean where young women painted their bodies with it during social and holiday celebrations. When Akrotiri (Santorini) was excavated (dating from before 1680 BC), wall paintings found showed women with markings on their nails, palms and soles. Statuettes of young women found along the Mediterranean coastline that date between 16th and 6th century BC also show markings on palms that look like henna tattoos. Bodhisattvas and deities of cave wall murals at Ajanta, India date between 4th - 5th century and also show that henna was used then in India as a body paint.

http://www.historyoftattoos.net/tatt...ng-with-henna/

[Esaias]

In most of the ancient Greco-Roman world, tattoos were seen as a mark of punishment and shame. The Greeks, who, according to the historian Herodotus, learned the idea of penal tattoos from the Persians in the sixth century B.C., tattooed criminals, slaves who tried to escape, and enemies they vanquished in battle. A famous example has the Athenians tattooing the defeated Samians with an owl, Athens’ hallowed emblem, only to have the favor returned when the Samians defeated the Athenians and tattooed their prisoners with a Samian warship. In the Roman Empire, slaves were marked to show their taxes had been paid. The emperor Caligula tattooed gladiators—as public property—and early Christians condemned to the mines. But among many of the ancient cultures the Greeks and Romans encountered—Thracians, Scythians, Dacians, Gauls, Picts, Celts, and Britons, to name a few—tattoos were seen as marks of pride. Herodotus tells us that for the Thracians, tattoos were greatly admired and “tattooing among them marks noble birth, and the want of it low birth.” A fifth-century B.C. Greek vase (left) depicts a tattooed Thracian maenad, a female follower of the god Dionysus, killing the musician Orpheus as punishment for abandoning Dionysus to worship the sun god, Apollo.

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/1...attoos?start=5

[Evang.Benincasa]

Again, the whole tattoo prohibition wasn't what the historians and tattooists believe. It was scarring, cuttings, all performed during rituals. One that still is performed to this day in the Middle East.