Our tattoo shop is the oldest tattoo shop in the world.
My name is Waseem Razzouk. I am the 27th generation.
We have been doing tattoos for the past 700 years.
My family came from Egypt through the Holy Land 500 years ago.
I am a Christian Copt.
The Christian Copts get a small cross tattooed on their inner right wrist.
This tradition started when Christians were forced to convert
to Islam during the spread of Islam.
Those Christians who did not convert to Islam
were actually tattooed by the Muslims with a big cross on their wrists
so that whenever they extend the hand to shake hands with other people,
people can look at the wrist and see if there is a cross.
It was done in a negative way. It was done in a way of humiliation.
But then the Christians, after a few generations,
started using that mark of of the cross,
and they started tattooing themselves with this cross
like a secret sign or a secret symbol that they have on themselves.
This is my Coptic cross.
So you see this cross when I was seven years old.
And I'm very proud of it.
Emperor of the Ethiopian Hiva Selassie.
He received the Lion of Judah tattooed by my grandfather.
Other royalties, the British royalties.
King George The fifth was the third when he came to the Holy Land.
And a few years ago, Prince William came to the Holy Land.
And what about that? I cannot talk. So.
This is the Jerusalem Cross. This stamp is 500 years old.
This stamp specifically was used in 1669
to a pilgrim who documented his pilgrimage.
This is the Virgin Mary and the child.
A lot of Egyptians and the Philippians would love to get.
The stamp is about 300 years old.
It has the Wailing Wall on it.
It has the Dome of the Rock and the background, the skyline of Jerusalem.
And so and it sees at the bottom here Yerushalayim in Hebrew,
which means that despite the fact that it is prohibited,
Jewish pilgrims used to get the tools as well.
In my family, we had women also tattooing not only men.
So my father was tattooing and in his generation his sister was tattooing
and his cousin was tattooing.
Also a woman in my generation.
I'm the only one tattooing. I learned tattooing from my father.
So now I am teaching my two sons what?
The 28th generation? It looks like my daughter wants to get it,
but she's only seven years old. But she she she likes it.
And I think she will be the next generation of women tattooing.
Beauty about our family tradition is that our family pass it down.
The next generation is always we are the only family that continued.
This tradition, we consider ourselves to be the custodians of
this beautiful pilgrimage tradition. And for that, we are very proud.