The Beduoin (nomadic) people and Gypsies (Nawar) seem to be the main influence on tattoo designs of both Arabic and non Arabic tribes. Bedouin women were the most heavily tattooed of and were most likely tattooed by the Nawar. The Nawar tattooed people from Syria, Egypt, Libya, Iran and Iraq right up until the start of the 20th century.
In Iran, even upper class women had pattern of blue starts on their chins. These chin designs were sometimes highly elaborate looking and looked more like a beard than a tattoo. Alongside that was another practice by women of the Middle Easy of tattooing the lips blue. This was considered to be the embodiment of beauty by Iraqi men.
Tattoos were quite extensively used as amulets in the Middle East with the wearers imbuing them with magical powers. These were often in the form of dots or a small cross. They were mostly done on the hands or feet and it was common to see women with three dots on the hand. They either provided protection or strength depending on which hand.
Nowadays the demand for tattoos has exploded particularly amongst young Iranian women who proudly display their body art in private but must keep them under wraps from authorities. Places such as Tehran have always been the birthplaces for nearly every limit-testing trend since the strict dress codes of the Islamic Revolution began to erode in the late 1990s and tattoos don't seem to be any different.
