If you are into tattoo history, there is one address that always rises to the top: Razzouk Tattoo in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Razzouk family traces its craft to the 1300s, when their Coptic Christian ancestors in Egypt tattooed small wrist crosses that marked faith and granted access to churches. About five centuries ago the family settled in Jerusalem and continued the same tradition for pilgrims who wanted to carry the Holy Land with them on skin.
From Egypt to the Christian Quarter
The Razzouks are widely described as the world’s longest running tattoo business. Guinness World Records notes that the family was already tattooing Copts 700 years ago in Egypt, and that a Razzouk shop has operated in Jerusalem since around 1750 to serve pilgrims visiting the Holy City. Today Wassim Razzouk represents the 27th generation and works alongside his sons, Anton and Nizar.
Walk a few steps inside Jaffa Gate and you will find their small stone-fronted studio tucked off the main lane. The location has become a destination for visitors who want a traditional pilgrim mark, a modern piece with Holy Land roots, or simply a photo under the weathered “Razzouk Tattoo” sign.
How a 17th century toolkit still guides 21st century tattoos
Razzouk Tattoo is famous for its cabinet of olive wood blocks. These hand carved stamps act like a catalogue and a stencil in one. The artist inks the block, presses a faint outline on the skin, then completes the piece with a machine or by hand. Some stamps date to the 1600s and one bears the year 1749. Designs range from the Jerusalem Cross and Madonna and Child to St George slaying the dragon. A mid-century study by historian John Carswell documented the collection and linked it to the centuries long pilgrim tattoo tradition.
The stamp method is not a gimmick. It preserves iconography that has looked the same for generations. You can still watch a Jerusalem Cross go from wood block to finished tattoo almost exactly as pilgrims did hundreds of years ago.
Pilgrim tattoos and the wrist cross
Why did Christian pilgrims seek tattoos in the first place? In Coptic communities the inside of the right wrist often carries a small cross that signals identity and devotion. Pilgrims to Jerusalem adopted similar marks as a permanent record of the journey. The practice is documented by early modern travelers and continued into the 20th century, when receiving a wrist cross became a widely expected proof of pilgrimage for many Copts.
Razzouk designs reflect that story. Many visitors still request the wrist cross, while others choose larger scenes or combine the Jerusalem Cross with dates that record each visit. The point is the same: a visible reminder that the wearer stood in the Holy City.
A living lineage that adapts without losing its roots
Every long running craft has an innovator. For Razzouk, that person was Jacob Razzouk, known as Hagop the tattooer. In the 1930s he introduced an electric machine powered by a car battery and began working in color. Family accounts and press reports say he even tattooed Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie while the monarch was in Jerusalem. That mix of tradition and modern tools set the template for the shop you see today.
Wassim has kept that balance. The family continues to tattoo classic stamps for pilgrims, runs talks about the history of Christian tattooing, and hosts trained “ambassadors” who learn the story in the Jerusalem studio before carrying the designs to licensed partner shops abroad. The result is a heritage brand that still feels like a neighborhood studio.
Recognition has followed. Guinness lists Razzouk as the longest running tattoo business on earth, a record that mirrors how often journalists, historians, and filmmakers seek out the shop to tell the story of pilgrim ink.
What to expect when you visit Razzouk Tattoo
The studio sits in the Christian Quarter near Jaffa Gate, which makes it easy to combine a session with visits to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other historic sites. Inside, you will see the olive wood stamps on display, copies of old photos, and a small counter where staff will walk you through designs. Many clients choose a stamp first, then tweak placement or add a date. Others book a custom piece that nods to the iconography but fits a modern aesthetic. Either way, you are stepping into a room where past and present share the same bench.
If you are a history fan, ask about the Carswell connection and the documentation of the blocks. If you prefer quick symbolism, the Jerusalem Cross remains the most popular choice, and its stamped outline makes for great behind the scenes photos during the session.
Why Razzouk matters to tattoo culture
Razzouk Tattoo is not only a curiosity that survived. It shows how a family can carry sacred symbols across continents and centuries, then let them live in new hands without losing meaning. Coptic wrist crosses that once served as identity marks in Egypt now sit on the arms of travelers from every continent. Olive wood stamps carved in an era of candles and quills still mark skin in a studio lit by LEDs and phone screens. That continuity is why so many people fly home with a small cross on the wrist or a bold Jerusalem Cross on the forearm, and a story that connects them to a line of pilgrims stretching far behind them.
