Chapter 14 “Sign of Martyrdom, Heresy and Pride”: The Christian Coptic Tattoo and the Construction of Coptic Identity
In: Copts in ModernitySearch for other papers by Nebojsa Tumara in
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Abstract
In the Christian context, tattooing or branding with Christian images and symbols has a long history, and until its emergence within mainstream popular culture, was often connected to the underworld and crime, and frequently seen as an act of degradation. For Coptic Christians, the small tattooed cross, a visible sign of religious and national identity, represents an unambiguous statement of belonging to this marginalized and persecuted minority in predominantly Muslim Egypt. Throughout history, this physical modification of Copts has been variously interpreted. In the modern era, particularly after the so-called tattoo renaissance, the practice of tattooing among Egyptian Christians came to the attention of a newly established and eclectic scholarly field interested in the human body as a mirror of cultural, religious and personal identity. Due to the elusive nature of tattoos, and a lack of sources, the history of the Coptic tattoo cannot be reconstructed. However, what can be addressed is the discourse relating to the origins and meaning of this marginal devotional practice. This reconstructed narrative describes how the little tattooed cross served as a pretext to the construction of the modern Coptic identity, by Copt and non-Copt alike.