An artist draws henna tattoos on a woman's hand in Aswan, Egypt, Feb. 12, 2020. In Nubian villages in Upper Egypt's province of Aswan by the Nile River, it is common to see a local or foreign female tourist sitting in front of a Nubian henna artist on a sidewalk at a colorful bazar or inside a coffee shop to get a henna tattoo drawn on her hand. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
by Mahmoud Fouly
ASWAN, Egypt, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- In Nubian villages in Upper Egypt's province of Aswan by the Nile River, it is common to see a local or foreign female tourist sitting in front of a Nubian henna artist on a sidewalk at a colorful bazar or inside a coffee shop to get a henna tattoo drawn on her hand.
The most popular of those Nubian villages is Gharb Sehel. The name of the village literally means Western Sehel because it located west of Sehel Island in the Nile southwestern Aswan.
The whole village, with its short houses mostly colored in white, blue and orange, looks more like a busy marketplace for handmade souvenirs and coffee shops, with henna tattoo artists everywhere.
"We have been doing henna tattoos for decades. We inherited this art from our parents and grandparents. It's one of the original Nubian traditions," said Amany Abdel-Hafiz, a Nubian henna tattoo artist in her early 30s, who herself had a tattoo of the ace of spades on the back of her left hand.
"Most customers like to get tattooed with Nubian and Pharaonic shapes and symbols, such as the Key of Life and the Eye of Horus for they symbolize hope and optimism. Spanish, Italian and American tourists love to have Nubian henna tattoos," the Nubian young woman told Xinhua at a bazar in Gharb Sehel.
She noted that most Nubian henna artists can distinguish between nationalities of tourists by appearance and they know some of their languages to deal with them, including English, French, Spanish and German.
Henna is a kind of shrub grown by the river in Aswan mostly by Nubians, an ethno-linguistic group in southern Egypt. It is used also as a dye for the palm of the hand, the hair and the fingernails as a tradition in some Egyptian provinces, especially in weddings.
"We get the henna leaves, grind them, dry them, filter the powder, mix it with water and use it for drawing tattoos," said the henna tattoo artist, noting that Nubians use traditional and natural henna, which is free from chemicals and unharmful to the skin.
At another corner of the bazar in the Nubian village, a young girl was having the back of her hand henna tattooed while her parents and sister were watching.
"I adore henna tattoos. I choose to get a flower tattoo on the back of my hand and fingers," said Yousra Hesham, an 11-year-old senior elementary school student, while being tattooed.
"I got henna tattooed before in other provinces, but it's completely different here because the Nubian henna is original and the shapes and symbols are more attractive," the young girl added excitedly.
Henna tattoos fade away in time and can be removed whenever necessary.
Donia Ahmed, a Nubian young woman, sat on a bench at her family's coffee shop in the village with some tattoo catalogs next to her to let customers choose the henna tattoo designs they want to have.
Donia herself had a flower henna tattoo stretching from the back of her hand to half her arm.
"I have been drawing henna tattoos for 14 years now, so I started the profession since I was 11. Some local and foreign tourists like to get the Key of Life or the Eye of Horus tattoos or both. Others prefer a flower, a scarab, the sun disk, etc. It's a matter of taste," she said while drawing a flower tattoo for an Egyptian visitor.
Her customer Dina Ghanem, a young woman in her 20s, said that it was her first time to visit Aswan and she was attracted to henna tattoos and liked to have one.
"It's so beautiful. I chose the Key of Life tattoo. I believe this henna art is attractive for both local and foreign tourists," the Egyptian young woman told Xinhua after getting her tattoo done.
At another part of the village, Renate Horndl, a German old lady, stopped at a Nubian handmade souvenir shop. She already had a henna tattoo on the back of her right hand and fingers.
"I think I am too old for henna tattoos but I did it," she said with a laugh.
"German women, especially young ones, would love henna tattoos because they are generally interested in tattoos in Germany. For instance, I have four children and two of them have tattoos. If they had been with me in Aswan, they would have definitely been henna tattooed," the German lady told Xinhua.
