You have probably read of our heart jewelry articles in the past. Today we will take a step backward and write a more “generic” on the history of jewelry in general. Jewelry as an art form has been around for thousands of years, and different cultures have used it in different ways. As we examine these pieces of jewelry we will gain insight into how these ancient cultures actually worked.
The homo sapiens that lived in Africa provide us with the first sign of a culture using jewelry. They have found snail shell beads at Blombos Cave (situated in the side of a limestone cliff in South Africa) that date back to over 75,000 years ago. If we go to the other side of Africa, at Enkapune Ya Moto in Kenya, they have found beads made from ostrich egg shells that date back to over 40,000 years ago.
When we think of Egypt images of the Great Pyramids and the Ancient Sphinx come to mind. And jewelry making? Not so much…but it is in Ancient Egypt (about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago) that we find the first signs of established jewelry making. Egyptians made their jewelry out of many of the materials that we use today…such as gemstones, but they preferred to make their jewelry out of glass, as it could be colored to satisfy their needs and tastes. For every gemstone that they could find, they were able to create a glass replication that could mimic it. As years went on, other cultures, such as the Phoenicians, used Egyptian jewelry as a template for their own designs.
To the Ancient Egyptians color was very important, not only for the beauty, but because it meant different things. The Egyptian Book of the Dead provides us with more details. For example, the necklace of Isis that was to be place on the neck of a mummy needed to be red in color. They believed that this red color would satisfy Isis’s need for blood. Green jewelry, on the other hand, was used to symbolize growth in the area of crops and fertility. The Egyptians made their jewelry in large workshops that were often attached to palaces and temples.
Jewelry development and production started to spring up in the cities of Sumer and Akkad (in Ancient Mesopotamia) around 4000 years ago. It tended to be made from metal leaf, and was often set in a large number of brightly colored stones, such as lapis, agate, carnelian, and jasper. Various shapes like leafs, grapes, cones and spirals were often utilized in their designs. Being masters of record keeping, the Ancient Mesopotamians have provided us with huge archives of detailed records detailing both the creation and trading of jewelry.
We hope you have enjoyed this little departure from our regular heart jewelry articles. It’s very interesting to see how this art form of jewelry making has developed over the years.
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