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Heart and Soul: The Tattooist of Jerusalem

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The Tattooist of Jerusalem

10/04/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, The Tattooist of Jerusalem

Wassim Razzouk's family have been tattooing pilgrims to Jerusalem for more than 500 years

Wassim Razzouk's family have been tattooing pilgrims to Jerusalem for more than 500 years.

"Every time I tattoo someone, I feel the links of faith, blood and ink in an unbroken chain of thousands of pilgrims, going back hundreds of years" - Wassim Razoouk, 'The Jerusalem Tattooist'.

For some, it's a kind of baptism. To others, it's a very personal souvenir. For everyone, it's an indelible mark of pilgrimage to one of the holiest places on Earth: the Old City of Jerusalem. For more than 500 years, Wassim Razzouk's family have been tattooing the pilgrims to Jerusalem.

 In this edition of Heart and Soul, we'll be hearing his story and the stories of the people who visit his tattoo parlour in the Christian Quarter of the city. Razzouk Tattoo claims to be the only remaining traditional pilgrimage tattoo business in the world. Seven hundred years ago, according to family lore, the Razzouks began tattooing fellow Coptic Christians in Egypt. They continued the practice after moving to Jerusalem, eventually offering their services to Christians of all denominations. Wassim's customers are joining the ranks of innumerable Christian pilgrims to be permanently inked in Jerusalem since the 16th century. 

Today, almost all request religious designs, many featuring the Jerusalem Cross, a symbol of the Holy City and Holy Land first introduced in the 15th century by the Franciscan order. A tattoo is a very personal statement, and for some people, also a very profound one. Everyone has a different story, and while they're getting tattooed, we'll hear people explain the impact that Jerusalem has had on them, and their reasons for marking their pilgrimage with a tattoo they'll never forget. 

Wassim says: "People come to us to be part of the history and tradition of the Holy Land. I feel the weight of carrying on and preserving this holy tradition. We are its custodians."

(Photo: Wassim Razoouk. Credit: BBC)

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