Arabic tattos and tattooing in the middle east, in places such as Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Palestine, went back as far as the 19th century. It was a way for arabic prostitutes to catch the eye of a man. However, erotic tattoos such as breast tattoos are not quite as popular as they were once in the middle east. Gypsies and nomadic people seem to influence most designs in tattoos in the middle east. The nomadic women were by far the most heavily tattooed, and were most likely tattoed by the gypsies. The gypsies tended to tattoo people from Syria, Libya, Iran, Iraq and Egypt up until the 20th century.
source : http://janti2008.wordpress.com/category/tattoo/
