Ancient Egyptian cultures drew and carved elaborate symbols and figures into stone as a way of keeping a record of the past. These figures and symbols are known as hieroglyphics and though the language has been dead for centuries, it can still be roughly translated into modern-day language. Choose a name, word or phrase that carries significance for you and translate it into hieroglyphics for a meaningful tattoo done in an ancient design.
The Mayan calendar was a stone carving used as a system of chronology in ancient Mayan cultures throughout what is now Guatemala and parts of Mexico. A tattoo of this calendar would be particularly appropriate for people descended from those areas or who have some ancestry rooted there. The calendar is circular and highly elaborate, making it ideal for a larger tattoo, so as to adequately display the vivid details.
Off the coast of Chile is a small and mysterious piece of land called Easter Island. Throughout the island are nearly 900 statues of men with giant heads. The statues are carved out of hardened volcanic ash and average 13 feet in height and 14 tons in weight each. There is no written record of the reason for the statues and the oral stories passed down through generations have become diluted at best. Consider tattooing one of the heads in shades of gray to imitate the surface of the stones.
Sanskrit is an ancient Indo-European language still used today in some parts of India. The language dates back to around 1500 B.C. and many European and English languages are derived from it. Translation is easy since it is a language still in use, so choose a word or phrase that bears meaning for you and translate it into a Sanskrit text to give it a more ancient appeal.