MUNDURUCU
Oh, the neck of my darling! Like that of a gazelle,
Or the white antelope which men hunt on horseback.
Her breasts are adorned by tattooing with gems precious and costly.
Which neither the wealth of Persia nor of Syria could buy.
In this translated fragment attributed to the Bedouin poet Nimr ibn ʿAdwān, tattoos become jewels beyond the reach of wealth. The beloved’s beauty is remembered through the marks on her skin, turning bodily decoration into an expression of love and loss.
Nimr, associated with the ʿAdwān of the Jordan region, is remembered especially for poems mourning his wife, Wadha. His verse gives a personal voice to a subject more often encountered in travellers’ descriptions and historical illustrations.
Tattooing is recorded among different Arab and Bedouin communities, with patterns on the face, hands and other parts of the body. Designs and meanings vary: they can express beauty, belonging or protection. The images below bring together portraits and recorded patterns rather than suggesting one tattoo tradition shared by all Arabs.