The Origin of the Cross Tattooed on the Hand
Tattooing a cross on the hand has been known among the Copts since ancient times (it is pricked in with a needle and a kind of green ink, on the right hand). Most Copts today still have a small cross tattooed on the right hand. What is its origin?
It goes back to what is called “the age of the martyrs”, the period of Roman rule over Egypt. Because Christians were ready to give their lives for Christ, fathers and mothers feared for their little children who could not yet speak. If the father and mother were killed for Christ, leaving their baby behind, they wanted to protect the child and its future: so they tattooed the sign of the cross on the child’s hand from infancy. Even if the child could not speak and was brought before the governor, this sign on its hand would proclaim that it was a Christian. And if the parents died and the child survived, it would know as it grew up, from the cross on its hand, that it came from a Christian family.
Another account, less widespread, traces this custom to the time of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah: wanting to set the Copts apart from the Muslims, he is said to have ordered the sign of the cross to be tattooed on the hands of the Copts. Although none of these reasons apply today, this ancient custom is still handed down; Copts all over Egypt continue to practise it, and craftsmen who inherited the trade carry it on, just as the Copts inherited the custom.
Over time the custom has shifted from preserving identity to expressing pride, as people like to say, quoting the words of Scripture: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). And like any custom passed down from generation to generation, it has become part of the culture and traditions; tattooists keep up with the times, using modern machines and needles to avoid the medical risks of this painful tattoo.
Prepared by Rita, of the Sawt el Rab team
