I feel that I learned the most about the history of tattooing. The word �tattoo� originates from the Polynesian word �ta� which means to strike or mark. The word �tattoo� itself was brought into our language from Tahiti by Captain James Cook in 1769. In primitive times, tattooing served two basic purposes- to protect the living and to aid the dead. They served as important talismans to guide 
you through your life on earth and to guarantee life in the afterlife. Tattoos were used to decorate the body and soul, and also for protection against illness or misfortune. Some cultures used tattoos to heal afflicted joints, other cultures used them as a rite of passage into maturity. 

There were many other reasons that primitive cultures ritually tattooed themselves. Tattoos were believed to ward off the evil eye and protect warriors in battle. They could be seen as emblems of accomplishment relating to initiations, nubility, or marriage. Some tattoos related to your job or trade in life, and some were memorials to dead relatives. Tattoos were very painful and took a long time. People who withstood the process gained religious �points� and were regarded as stronger people. 

The first historical evidence of tattooing is traced to 2500 BC to a mummified Egyptian priestess. One thousand years later, in 1500 BC, it was normal for women to have tattoos. They were small geometric patterns that represented the Goddess �Bes�. This Goddess was associated with the aspects of home life and having fun. The Maori tribe in New Zealand developed a style of elaborate facial tattoo called �Moko�. They did these elaborate tattoos for religious reasons. The Maoris believed that when they 
died an old hag would eat their tattoos and then pass her hand over their eyes, granting them sight to find the next world. If they did not have these tattoos, she would eat their eyes and they would be doomed to wander blindly in limbo for eternity. 

Tattooed Irezumi peasants sold their skins while they were still alive for extra money. When they died, the buyer of the skin would remove the skin from the corpse, dry it, and exhibit the tattooed skin in museums. There are many other examples of using tattoos in history. New Guinea tribeswomen had many tattoos. The more tattoos a woman had, the higher her social status, the bigger her bride price, and the greater her number of suitors . The Romans were widely known for tattooing their gladiators and their enslaved criminals. The Nazis tattooed their prisoners in the concentration camps, as prisoners were tattooed in Siberian prisons. 

The first tattoo parlor in the US was started in 1870 by a German immigrant named Martin Hildebrant. He tattooed soldiers during the Civil War. A man by the name of Samuel O�Reilly invented the electric tattoo machine in 1891. The first flash was designed in the late 1920�s. It consisted of roses, solid colors, strong black shading, hearts, eagles, snakes and dragons. The �rose� tattoo became very popular in the 1950�s. Tattoos were first seen as true art in the 1980�s, and have since progressed rapidly to what they are 
today