Batik's true origins are a mystery. The word pronounced 'Batik' is translated in many different ways. Some sources say it means "to dot", some translate it as "wax writing" or "drawing with a broken line". Batik is the art of waxing a surface, usually cloth, to make it resist dyeing, and then removal the wax, re-waxing, re-dying and creating intricate patterns and designs. It is a very old form of art. As evidence of early, batik has been found all over the Middle East as well as India and Central Asia from about 2000 years ago.