Ancient Egyptian culture has contributed much to nowadays tattoo industry. Egyptian tattoo designs have become a sought after art and a visual artifact of Middle Eastern ancient history.
The ancient Egyptians utilized tattooing for body decoration, religious purposes and social class distinction. The mummy of Amunet, was discovered in Thebes, Egypt, and dates back almost 4000 years. This mummy shows one of the earliest known examples of this type of tattooing.
These ancient Egyptian tattoos consisted of elaborate dash and dot patterns often used for fertility rites or ceremonies. Thus, many of these tattoos were commonly used by females. Although tattooing was a regular ritual for the ancient Egyptians, such practices are not nearly as common nowadays in modern Egyptian culture.