Tattoos and Tattoo Removal were Barbaric Acts in Ancient Times

Tattooing and tattoo removal were practices the Ancient Greeks and Romans thought to be barbaric. The Greeks used tattoos to brand criminals and slaves with the tattoos being a form of identification in the event prisoners would try to escape. The Romans copied this strategy used by the Greeks and employed tattoos to mark members of the Roman army so that POW's or AWALL soldiers could be recognized.

Back then tattoo ink was made of a combination of Egyptian pinewood corroded bronze, gall, vitriol, vinegar, water, and leek juice. One would wash the area designated to be tattooed with leek juice, prick the needle in the skin an attempt to draw blood, and finally rub the ink into the open skin.

Tattoo removal was also performed over the course of twenty days without leaving scars. The tattooed skin was cleaned with nitre, smeared with terebinth, and bandaged up for approximately five days.

On the sixth day the bandage would be removed and the tattoo being removed would be pricked with a pin. Blood resulting from this pricking process would be sponged away and salt would be sprinkled on the skin. Ouch! Next a mixture of lime, gypsum, and sodium carbonate would be spread on the tattooed skin and covered for another five days with linen. On the sixth day the bandage would again be removed to spread a mixture of pepper, rue, and honey with a feather. The remaining eight days were completed the healing process.

Fortunately, today's advanced tattoo removal methods are drastic improvements to ancient removal practices. Even so, the process of removing tattoos, regardless of the method used, is still a process. Tattoos are intentionally difficult to remove because they are meant to be permanent marks put into the skin.