ABSTRACT
Tattooing in the ancient Nile Valley has been studied for over 130 years through preserved tattoos on mummified remains, possible depictions of tattooed individuals in material culture, and candidates for tattooing implements. As the corpus of evidence has expanded, frameworks for constructing tattoo traditions or practices have developed which simultaneously dichotomise Egyptian and Nubian tattooing and conflate tattoo practices from distinct periods and cultures within each cultural region. This analysis reconsiders the evidence from each context individually, in order to delineate the distinguishing factors of the tattoo practice/s in use in each period. This framework facilitates comparison of connections and distinctions between different tattoo practices. These comparisons are indicative of a complex landscape of body modification practices across the geographic and temporal span of the ancient Nile Valley, wherein aspects of tattoo practices are shared and developed both within and across the geographic and cultural boundaries of Egypt and Nubia.
