These two women are part of a small group of people who still wear Berber tattoos.
Fatima Masoudi, 89, and Ighoudane Taguelmane, 86, are residents of Khemissat, a Moroccan Berber town.
Masoudi had always wanted to have a tattoo, especially since it was so popular when she was younger.
“I decided to do it one day after we were relocated to the city. “I requested my mum to do it when I was 14 years old, but she refused,” Masoudi adds.
“At that point, despite her objections, I decided to go ahead and get it; I went to a lady tattoo artist and had it done so that I could be beautiful, but sadly, my mother and grandmother did not accept my gesture.”
Masoudi got tattooed on her chin, neck, and arm multiple times, despite her family’s opposition.
She chose a variety of patterns that are emblematic of Berber culture.
Taguelmane had the polar opposite experience with tattoos: she was forced to have one at a young age by her mother.
She had tattoos on her chin and between her eyes.
Tattoo parlors were once thought to be similar to beauty salons, where ladies went to look their best.
However, the procedure was arduous.
“There were numerous tattoo patterns, and each person chose what they wanted,” Taguelmane adds. “They used black charcoal, then stitched the skin with a needle, and placed the substance through these openings and wounds to stay inside the skin.”
“This operation was quite painful, so I waited a week until a crust formed on my face, then I removed it, and now we can see the tattoo’s ultimate outcome.”
Tattooists also sterilize themselves with seawater and botanicals.
The origins of such tattoos are difficult to trace back in time.
“There is no specific date,” says Mohamed Es-Semmar, a historian, “but what is known is that the Berber tribes, since the ancient paintings found in caves, and based on some books and materials that talked about tattoos among the Berber tribes, it dates back to thousands of years.”
Berbers used to reside in a variety of Berber locales throughout North Africa, often in hilly and desert environments.
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The majority of tattoo symbols are drawn from nature.
“Many symbols are used by the Amazigh in various types of carpets, women’s jewellery, and tattoos,” adds Es-Semmar.
“There were a lot of symbols, like triangles and half circles.” These can be found in earrings, bracelets, and anklets. These emblems can also be found on numerous Amazigh women’s and men’s outfits and costumes. We also find various symbols in household goods, not to mention building, such as wood, gypsum, and stone etching, all of which are the same symbols utilized in tattoos.”
The symbols can represent power, energy, fertility, healing, and protection from envy, among other things.
Berber tattoos were used to determine tribe connection and identity, as well as to signify women’s marital status and readiness for marriage.
They were also performed for aesthetic and therapeutic purposes.
“The Berber tattoo was very different from what we see now; it had numerous meanings and patterns, each with its own definition,” Masoudi explains.
“However, the current tattoo we see today is not mine; it comes from other nations, and young people prefer and do it as well.”
Tattoos were not only for women, but they were considerably smaller and more covert for men.
If Berber tattoos are hard to come by nowadays, it’s due to a wider phenomenon.
“Tattoos have virtually vanished among Berber tribes as a result of the Berber tribes’ disappearance. Is there a tribe left? “Berber civilization has evolved,” Es-Semmar remarks.
Others, for religious reasons, get their tattoos removed.
“When I had the tattoo, I had no idea that it was illegal in Islam; when I went to the pilgrimage, I asked about it, and they said there was no problem because I had no idea,” Taguelmane adds. “However, I’m terrified, and I want to remove it.”
Since the 1960s, tattoos have been on the decline, and with them, a component of Berber culture.
