During the time of the Old Testament, much of the pagan world was practicing the art of tattooing as a means of deity worship. This, of course, necessitated a negative response from Israel, which attempted to separate itself from the adoration of false gods:

"You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the LORD."

       Biblical scholar M.W. Thomson suggests, however, that Moses favored angel-wings-tattoo. Thomson speculates that Moses introduced tattoos as a way to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. In his 1859 study, Thomson suggests that Moses believed the prohibition above applied only to heathen, pagan images.5

       Just before the birth of Christ, Roman writers such as Virgil, Seneca, and Galenus reported that many slaves and criminals were tattooed.6