One of the several Pazyryk mummies currently housed at the Hermitage Museum. Source: CC BY-SA 4.0. Tattoo depiction of a griffin hunting a stag. Illustrated by Daniel Riday.

The Mummy with the Griffin Tattoo: 2,500 Year Old Tapestry on Skin

Frozen for 2,500 years in Siberia’s Altai Mountains, a Pazyryk mummy’s tattoos reveal a world of artistry that would enchant modern tattooists. This mummy belongs to that of a 50-year-old woman whose skin (that was preserved in an icy tomb) bears vivid images of fauna found in her environment. Animals shown on her skin include

The Lydian king Croesus: Lydia was supposedly a neighbor of Llhuros, but the artifacts of the latter kingdom were unsurprisingly very different. Source: Marco Prins / Public Domain.

Llhuros: The Lost Civilization that Can Never Be Found

We know a great deal about the lost civilization of Llhuros. You may not have heard of this Iron Age kingdom, but far from being obscure and forgotten it is among the better attested cultures of Asia Minor. Situated in what is now Turkey, Llhuros was a neighbor of the more famous kingdom of Lydia