Under Saint Michael’s Protection: A Tattoo from Christian Nubia

Rescue excavations near the Fourth Nile Cataract in Sudan (1999–2007) recovered a naturally mummified woman, aged 20–35 and radiocarbon-dated to AD 655–775, from Grave 50 at site 3-J-23 near et-Tereif. Conservators at the British Museum found a tattoo on her inner right thigh: the monogram of Saint Michael, combining the Greek letters of his name. The authors read it as an expression of faith and a call for the protection of the Archangel, patron saint of Nubia, alongside dotted marks that may echo older, pre-Christian traditions of body art.