Practical Tattoos

Saturday November 4, 2006 in: Body Art Tag(s):

Tattoos, especially intricately and beautifully designed ones, are nice to look at. Like most art, it's there for everybody to appreciate. And being art meant for people to admire, tattoos therefore serve no practical purpose, right?

Try telling that to this Iraqi soldier featured in this San Jose Mercury News report:

Ali Abbas decided that his upper right thigh was the best place for a tattoo because no one gets tortured there.

He'd seen hundred of bodies in the city morgue and dozens of hospitals during his 18-day search for his missing uncle. He'd seen drill marks in swollen, often unrecognizable heads, slash marks across necks, bullet holes in backs, abdomens and swollen hands. He'd seen bodies that had been thrown into the river, so swollen they'd barely looked human. But by and large, the thighs had been intact.

So that's where he decided to have his name, address and phone number tattooed, in case the day comes when someone is searching for his body.

In a country as chaotic as Iraq, tattoos have found a use other than just plain eye candy. But actually, this isn't the first time in modern history that tattoos were done for practical reasons, but in infinitely more gruesome conditions. These tattoos were basically identification numbers, indelibly printed on the arms of inmates of places like Auschwitz. A pretty efficient way of keeping tabs on their prisoners.