While tattoos may appear to be a new fad, creating art on skin goes as far back as ancient Egypt.

Older women in Upper Egypt still have drawings of lions, swords and knights on their hands. Some of them have lines on their chins. Millions of Christian Egyptians still tattoo cross symbols and figures of the Christ, Virgin Mary and a number of saints on their wrists and arms.

While tattoos may appear to be a new fad, creating art on skin goes as far back as ancient Egypt.

Older women in Upper Egypt still have drawings of lions, swords and knights on their hands. Some of them have lines on their chins. Millions of Christian Egyptians still tattoo cross symbols and figures of the Christ, Virgin Mary and a number of saints on their wrists and arms.

Alya Fadali, an artist who owns a tattoo shop in the upscale neighborhood of Zamalek near downtown Cairo said: “In the beginning, drawing on the body was just a hobby. I used to draw henna on the hands of my friends.”

Fadali believes that tattooing has become more enriched now that many styles from different civilizations have been mixed to make the art of tattooing a global art.

“I started reading closely about tattoos and studied various international schools of tattooing from Asia, Europe and Latin America,” said Fadali. “I started tattooing the bodies of my relatives and friends and gradually, I became a professional and I finally opened a tattoo parlor.”

“In the beginning, young men and women wanted to have a tattoo just for fashion, but overtime, awareness increased and some started to ask for a certain figure or specific words that are of a value to them or a memory in their life.”

Fadali argues that there is a huge demand for tattoos among young people. “Three people used to come into my studio every day,” Fadali said. “Now, six people come.” Fadali says that most of them are in their twenties and thirties and some in their fifties and sixties –usually foreigners or Egyptians who lived in Europe for long periods. Young people under 18 must have a family member sign a disclaimer understanding that the tattoo is permanent. The national number of the family member is often printed in the paper.

Fadali says some customers ask for strange tattoos. “The most exotic tattoo I have ever been asked to paint is the entry visa to Egypt on the shoulder of a foreigner.”