Assyrian Ink

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This nifty tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of MyTat_2 and is licensed under Creative Commons.

This tattoo includes several different Mesopotamian images that have been combined to form a unique piece of art. The wings are a fairly well-known image, often associated with Ahura Mazda as in the image below.



The star in the middle is usually representative of the planet Venus and, thusly, the Akkadian goddess Ishtar, and her Sumerian counterpart Inanna, who was closely associated with the planet.

It's always nice when I manage to find tattoos of Mesopotamian subject matter. To be clear, the term Mesopotamia covers a wide range of cultures that existed between or around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq, parts of Iran, Turkey and Syria. It includes the Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Akkadian and Uruk cultures. The mighty Persian Empire was/is closely related to Mesopotamia through conquest. While the aforementioned nations are all linked by geography and - to some extent - religion and style they are by no means identical. Even the cultures of Babylon and Sumer, which had their cores in the same exact spot, are unique. And all are fascinating and loaded with beautiful images of their gods and goddesses. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of this imagery to be found on skin. To that end, if you manage to find any that's licensed by Creative Commons I'd love to have a link!