Naja Faysal | Blog

A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos can have lots of meanings, types and purposes. Many tattoos serve as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, punishment, amulets and talismans, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts. The symbolism and impact of tattoos varies in different places and cultures. Tattoos may show how a person feels about a relative (commonly mother/father or daughter/son) or about an unrelated person.

I chose to be tattooed for a magical reason to symbolize my passion to the Phoenicians.

The Phoenicians were the great sea-traders of the ancient Mediterranean Sea, famous for being the creators of the alphabet – the foundations of modern communication on this planet. They are also famous in leading the innovation in ship building for trade and also for war / protection of the trade, especially important are the ones built using the wood of the legendary Cedar tree of Lebanon, the tree that sits in the middle of the Lebanese flag and famous for its evergreen coniferous, growing up to 40 m tall, with a trunk up to 2.5 m in diameter. Many Cedar trees in Lebanon are thriving over 1,000 years old. The Phoenicians were also known for being the first to discover and extract the purple color from the Murex Shell and using it in producing clothes and selling them around the world. Whenever you hear of Carthage, Hannibal and major cities of Lebanon (Byblos, Tyre, Beirut..etc), you are recalling the richness of the Phoenician heritage.

Sadly today, people who decent from the Phoenician genes on the coast of the Mediterranean, are growing up in the reality of corrupt countries infected by greed politics and extreme religious views. Countries that doesn’t contribute barely anything to our modern world.

I am one of those people who is rebelling on this reality. Frankly, I can’t find anything in my history to be proud of, however, reading about the Phoenicians inspired me more than anything. It awaken something inside me. What these people did back in their time was revolutionary. They were inventors and traders. They were peaceful and liberal. They did huge contributions to the world. No wonder, Europe was named after a Phoenician princess Europa who ran away from her family to discover whats out there behind the sea.

My recent tattoo is an illustration of a Phoenician sailing ship. This is not any ship however, this is the War Galley Quinquereme with a head of a horse and a tail of a fish. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550 BC to 300 BC. The Phoenicians used the galley, a man-powered sailing vessel, as their flagships of fleets. It was considered the heaviest type of warships in its time, which was first ever built in Sidon (a major city in Phoenicia – Lebanon today) to conquer the ocean. The ship’s fame caught the attention of the Roman emperor who asked the Phoenician to build the Roman Empire an entire fleet of these ships.

Why a Ship?

My Phoenician ship tattoo symbolizes a deep engraved sense of belonging to the Phoenicians and that my genes could have a connection to this amazing ancient civilization. The Ship as a symbol has a lot of meanings and representations. Ship represents lucky journeys in life and receiving good news from abroad. It also represents cross-culture open mindedness, companionship, discoveries, travel, protection from danger and safe refuge – the latter is especially connected to my name “Naja” which means “Escape” in Arabic language.

A head of a Horse stands in the front of the Ship

I have passion for horses since childhood, and although I chose to practice the show jumping part of horseback riding, I’m generally interested in and follower of all other equestrian sports. I chose to have a horse as part of the tattoo not only because Phoenicians used to have a head of a horse in the front of their ships, but also because I’m fascinated by its symbolism and how much its existence has impacted human life. Serving man in war, giving mobility to people, increasing productivity, helping in agriculture and treating people with disabilities… the Horse is by far one of the largest contributors to the enhancement of civilization.

The tail of the ship, is a fish head!

The part of the ship that is in contact with water is a head of fish. But before dwelling into the symbolic meanings of fish, we must first consider their watery domain.

Water holds ancient symbolic meanings dealing with the subconscious and depth of knowledge. Water contains all the mysteriousness of the unknown. Water holds endless mystery to us – it represents that which is certainly there, but cannot be seen. Water has also been known to be a womb symbol and as such, an emblem of birth, fertility and woman-ness. This association comes from many ancient flood myths, and the “from water springs life” concept.

Given the wonder that its domain holds, the fish too has similar symbolic meaning. There are numerous species of fish, but the creature in general holds some prime symbolic meanings of fertility, eternity, creativity, femininity, good luck, happiness, knowledge and transformation.

…and what is this bird placed on the sail?

Its the Phoenix of course… Phoenix is a mythical sacred fire-bird originated during Phoenician times. It is a mythical bird that has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. It is said that the bird’s cry is that of a beautiful song.

The phoenix has long been presented as a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and renewal. It represents the sun dying in flames at the end of the day and rising every morning. It is the victory of life over death.

What I really love about the meaning of the Phoenix is that it’s as if picking yourself up when you are down, a new beginning, that no matter how bad (hot) things may get you will get back up on your feet (rise out of the ashes).

Phoenician DNA Code written in Phoenician Alphabet

National Geographic conducted a study to show light on the Phoenicians. Who were they, and where is their trace today. The study reveals this unique genetic code for the Phoenicians.

For every passport, there is a passport number. This DNA Molecular Code is a scientific passport number of the Phoenician people and that what is in my skin as part of the tattoo. If you look closer at the ship above the oars, there are symbols, this is the Phoenician’s unique DNA code written using the Phoenician alphabet.

What the study also reveals is that Phoenicians has spread around the world, as they were known by traders of the Mediterranean, who set sail regularly from their famous cities on the coast of Lebanon. In fact, you may have nothing to do Phoenicia geographically today, but your genes could be of the Phoenicians as they’ve traveled the world and left their trace everywhere they set  sail to.

Putting it all together

My tattoo may not be a common style of tattoo artist, but its my first tattoo, and i chose to put a lot of thought and relevance into it, it gives me a great sense of inspiration to achieve and make a difference in this world… and I hope this blog has inspire you, dear reader, to do something good to the world.