1,300 year-old mummy and her intimate tattoo

Telegraph ^ | March 27, 2014 | Robert Mendick

[NYer]

Wrapped in bandages and caricatured as figures of terror in Hollywood movies, Egypt’s mummies have long captivated and bewildered scientists and children alike.

Now a new exhibition at the British Museum will disclose the human side of the mummies of the Nile.

Eight have been – scientifically speaking – stripped bare revealing secrets taken to the grave thousands of years ago.

snip

One of the mummies, whose remains were found just seven years ago, was so well preserved that archaeologists could almost make out the tattoo on her skin on the inner thigh of her right leg with the naked eye. Infra-red technology helped define it more clearly.

The woman, aged between 20 and 35, had been buried wrapped in a linen and woollen cloth and her remains had mummified in the dry heat. The tattoo has been deciphered by curators and spells out in ancient Greek – M-I-X-A-H-A, or Michael.

The owner of the tattoo was a woman who died in about AD 700 and lived in a Christian community on the banks of the Nile.

The tattoo represents the symbol of the Archangel Michael, who features in both the Old and New Testaments. The symbol has previously been found in ancient churches and on stone tablets, but never before in the form of a tattoo.

“You can see her tattoo really clearly using infra red reflectography,” said Dr Antoine, “The tattoo on her right inner thigh represents a monogram that spells Michael in ancient Greek.

“She is the first evidence of a tattoo from this period. This is a very rare find.”

[Biggirl]

Yet Christians are now under GRACE.

[Biggirl]

Got to remember that Peter recieved a vision from God showing a sheet with animals coming out of it, with the words “take, kill, eat”.

[Biggirl]

Because Christians are under GRACE and other then for the 10 Commandments and the two great laws of love, are NOT under the rest of the MOSAIC LAW.

[TexasFreeper2009]

I'll take them one by one:

1. Don’t castrate animals. (Steers, dogs, cats, etc.)

I have never castrated an animal, and never intend to do so.

2. All sex outside of marriage is prohibited.

I agree with this. I believe it to be both physically and mentally to ones detriment to engage in casual sex.

When I was young I did engage in pre-marital sex, and am sorry I did so. I don't make excuses for my actions or try to argue that they were not a sin.

3. A man cannot remarry his ex-wife, if she married another man in the meantime.

I don't believe in divorce except in extreme cases such as marital infidelity, and can't imagine someone remarrying someone they divorced in an such an extreme case.

4. Not to leave the house or do any work at all on the Sabbath. (Admittedly, Christ did say specific things about Sabbath-keeping.)

I believe one should rest every 7 days, just as one should sleep 8 hours a night (resting more or not at all results in poor health and a shorter life span). I personally am more guilty of resting too much, and recognize my choice as the sin of slothfulness. We were designed to work, but were also designed to rest from work every 7 days.

5. Keep multiple religious holidays per the rules.

I observe religious holidays, and think it's good to pass that tradition on to our children.

6. Don’t eat meat killed while hunting, or pork, shrimp, etc.

We already discussed the food issue up thread. Basically, I believe nearly all foods to be acceptable to eat when processed properly.

7. Not to till the ground in the 7th year.

crop rotation seems like a smart idea to me, I have never grown crops, but if I did I would probably take that admonition into account in order to not deplete the land to my future detriment.

8. Don’t wear garments of mixed fibers.

actually depending on which version of the bible you are reading the law specifically says “Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.” and since I don't think i’ve ever owned anything “linen” in my life, I think I am ok on this one. I also suspect there is more to this prohibition that meets the eye. There was probably some pagan sect who specifically did this to mark themselves as folowers (sort of like the rounded haircut prohibition) and thus has more to do with worshiping false Gods than the materials our clothes are made from.

9. A menstruating women is unclean and defiles those with whom she comes in contact.

Sounds good to me. I suspect that in ancient times menstruating women were very unclean. And I also suspect that having sex (even within marriage) is more dangerous when a woman is menstruating just as engaging in sodomy even within marriage has added health risks. These prohibitions much like the original food ones seem to come mostly from a concern with avoiding and spreading infection and disease. Face it, they didn't have tampons in ancient times.

10. Special rules for raping women you capture in war. If you don’t decide to keep her as a wife, you have to free her. Her opinion on the matter not relevant.

Well I guess I would free her, since raping someone doesn't seem like it would be very pleasurable for either party.

[windcliff]

ping

[Biggirl]

AMEN!

[Biggirl]

That is the correct understanding.

[verga]

The old testament is very clear on this subject. Tattoos are no more allowed than adultery.

I can still sell my daughter into slavery right? Exodus 21:7.

am I allowed clothing made out of wool and linen woven together? Deuteronomy 21:11.

Can the Farmer down the road plant two types of crops in his vineyard now? Deuteronomy 22:9.

Get back to me on that I might have a buyer lined up for my daughter.

[TexasFreeper2009]

quote “I can still sell my daughter into slavery right? Exodus 21:7.”

It does not say you must sell your daughter, it says if you did. There are many instances in the bible where it talks about the responsibilities of slave and master, that is not a promotion of the practice, it’s just simply laying out some rules in such a situation. Plus, since slavery is no longer legal I cant see a situation where one would have the opportunity to brake that rule.

quote “am I allowed clothing made out of wool and linen woven together? Deuteronomy 21:11.”

I already addressed that one up above.

Can the Farmer down the road plant two types of crops in his vineyard now? Deuteronomy 22:9.

well.. I am not a farmer, but I am sure there is some reasonable explanation for why such a rule was made might be helpful or necessary in some way. It probably has something to do with cross polination. But honestly since I am not a farmer or likely to ever be one, this really doesn’t pertain to me. So I am in no danger of breaking such a commandment.

[verga]

Actually didn’t address any of them. all you did was give an opinion and say what you yourself had or had not done. Yes or no am I allowed to do those things. Quote scripture if you like, the Early Church Fathers, what ever floats your boat. But I definitely need a Yes or now answer.

[TexasFreeper2009]

Upon further reflection about the seed thing it makes more sence (I just had not honestly ever given much thought to farming techniques)

When you are planting various types of crops you separate them into like kinds, everyone does this. You wouldn’t just go throw a bunch of random seeds into the same area, the taller plants would shade out the shorter ones. The fast growers would choke out the slower ones, ect.

It is best to plant different types of plants in their own separate areas, corn over there, strawberries over there, ect.

Do you have any other problems with the bible I can help clear up for you?

[TexasFreeper2009]

In Romans 13, the Bible instructs Christians to obey the government because God has placed it in power,

The governments of the world have decided that Slavery is no longer allowed, thus no you are not allowed to sell anyone. However if those laws changed and slavery was once again allowed then yes you would need to follow all the commandments concerning the just way to treat slaves you might own.

[onedoug]

Leviticus 19:28

[Biggirl]

Unless the laws or unjust or uncivil.

[Biggirl]

....Or just simply plain immoral!

[verga]

Stilla really not answering the questions. I need a definite yes or no to all of them. Government laws really are of no consequence. During the French revolution various nobles were killed under the law, here in the US women were hung under the law for witchcraft. So Yes or no May I sell my daughter, Can I wear clothing of different threads, and can the farmer plant those crops?

[knarf]

A great, big WINNAHHH !

Cliff Claven and his knowledge ... absolutely perfect !

[Heart-Rest]

It doesn't really seem to match this (although these bikers may want to look into her graphic artwork, for future "colors" considerations)...

St. Michael's Rider's - Catholic Motorcycle Group

(Absolutely NO off-color innuendo of any kind intended in this post for that 1300 year-old / 20-35 year-old young lady, who -- I think I can safely assure you -- was NOT in that motorcycle club.)

[TexasFreeper2009]

I have answered your question several times, you just don't want to hear the answer apparently.

In order to understand any law you must first understand it's original intent, otherwise you my follow the exact letter of the law and yet still be braking the law.

In my opinion, the original intent of many biblical laws (that seems unusual to us today) was to keep followers from worshiping pagan gods and/or from following their common rituals or practices. This (again in my opinion) is the root of many of the laws we don't really understand today such as the rounded haircut and wool and linen interweaving prohibitions.

But the thing is.... nothing is static. Things change. New customs and rituals arise, and old customs and rituals fall out of favor.

So to answer your question. Yes, I believe that at the time those laws were made it was a sin to do those things, but not for the reason YOU think. But because of the original intent, which was to keep followers of God from following the ways of the pagans.

Fast forward to today.

Are there any pagan cults that go around wearing special rounded hair cuts and specially woven garments of wool and linen to distinguish themselves? no? Then it is no longer prohibited. Get it?

On the other hand... are they MANY MANY practices of pagans and atheists today that follows of God should not immolate that are NOT mentioned in the bible? Absolutely.

We are called by God to be different and to live our lives differently than the Pagans. So if pagans and atheists in this day in age love to get their face and tongue pierced, or cover themselves in tattoos to distinguish themselves from others. Then it is a sin to emulate them.

Followers of God should not worship pagan Gods or emulate how they look or follow their rituals.

It's as simple as that.

Now that I have addressed all the seemingly weird commandments, I will once again try to address the slavery issue which you seem to just not get (or are purposely pretending not to understand)

For simplicity sake... lets look at a modern day issue.

Let say for instance.... that you personally are against the death penalty is all instances. You think it's abhorrent and barbaric and that it should never be imposed by a civilized people on anyone, and that life in prison is a far better better punishment anyway, ect.

Now... even though you think the above... you are in the minority and capital punishment is legal.

So.... do you just stand by and do nothing if some state decides to say... bring back being drawn and quartered as the method of execution?

or..

do you say... um... you know what... I don't even believe in capital punishment... BUT, if you are dead set on carrying out such a barbaric thing, then I believe it should be done in a more humane way, like by lethal injection.

... see where I am going?

Does your advocation of using lethal injection in executions mean you approve of capital punishment?

of course not.

And in the same way, God laying out rules for how masters should treat slaves in a humane way in no way means that God approves of slavery.

I hope this clears things up for you.

[verga]

You seem to be missing a couple of things here.

First most of what you have offered is opinion and as such is worth no more of less than anyone else's. Hard facts are what I asked for.

Second Frequently when I talk to protestants about a theological concept they counter with "That was the old covenant and is no longer valid through Jesus and the new covenant." We clearly see this practiced with the lifting of the ban on certain foods.

Third, You sad that some of the prohibitions were so that we would not emulate pagan practices. If you study middle eastern customs you will see that Circumcision (Both male and female) were practiced before the Covenant with Abraham and are still practiced by many pagan groups. So much for not emulating pagan practices

Fourth you are forgetting the Catholic Church. It was the Catholic Church that lifted the mandate requiring circumcision at the Council of Jerusalem. It was also the Catholic Church that changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. Both of these were defined in the OT as "perpetual ordinances". Perpetual means for ever.

So there you have it. The prohibition against tattoos was Old covenant, it is no longer prohibited by the Catholic Church, and pagan practices have no bearing on the topic.

Feel free to have the last word.