When there is too much beauty in the heart, it spills outward: in kind eyes and a smile, in a show of tradition or companionship – or in ink. Blue and faded, the Arab women embrace rural facial tattoos as a symbol of faith in all its forms. From sigils on the forehead and warded ill-will, to beatific religious dotting and astrological motifs, palm leaves are used to ink into skin and produce a vision for the “a waning matriarchy” that once flourished in the region.
These are some women who wear their hearts in ink.
![Tunis facial tattoos Habiba](https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/q_auto,w_835,c_fill/http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F180402143616-tunis-facial-tattoos-habiba.jpg)
![Tunis facial tattoos](https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/q_auto,w_1100,c_fill,g_auto/http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F180402143039-tunis-facial-tattoos.jpg)
![Yumna told Al-Arashi that her tattoos represent her love and connection to the earth.](https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/q_auto,w_727,c_fit/http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F180403162132-yumna-facial-tattoos.jpg)
![](https://pulitzercenter.org/sites/default/files/styles/1140x695_scale/public/roqaya2_0.jpg?itok=SFobDNYJ)
![berberwomen - Twitter Search / Twitter](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CTolI85WsAA9DdS.jpg)
![](https://chriskaspar.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/woman-turban-tattoo.jpg?w=640)
![The French photographer Marc Garanger’s 1960 portrait of a woman whose village was destroyed during Algeria’s war of independence.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/05/09/arts/09iht-tattoo09-b/09iht-tattoo09-b-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)
![ct-ent-1020-tattoo-field-museum](https://www.chicagotribune.com/resizer/a0buEzJw3xZyUnMGURsGBPdeBS0=/fit-in/800x533/smart/filters:fill(black)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/HJGMI45KPJAQNDASDP55F4EUTI.jpg)
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[…] of Egyptian creatives and photographers. From photographs of Egyptian fishermen to ones of matriarchal facial tattoos — compiled in the “In Photos” category of the Egyptian Streets website — we […]
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