Między nagością a odzieniem – rola tatuażu na przykładzie koptyjskiego kręgu kulturowego

Abstract

Despite considerable international interest in the political situation of the Near East, the Coptic tradition is still not sufficiently wellknown among Central-European humanists. Therefore, the present paper is an attempt at filling, at least partially, that knowledge gap by analyzing a specific phenomenon of religious tattoos, which has been present among Egyptian Christians for ages. The introduction, aimed at facilitating the understanding of the aforementioned phenomenon, contains a short characteristic of the Coptic ethnos and a description of chosen aspects from the history of tattoos, connected with the presented topic. The main body of the article is devoted to three specific issues: the circumstances in which tattoos are made (who, where and why decides to have such a sign in the modern times), the most popular tattoo patterns nowadays, and most importantly, the function which Coptic religious tattoos serve in our times. While delving into these issues, we will find ourselves held in abeyance between nudity and attire. After all, a tattoo covers the body, leaving it naked at the same time.