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.
If we take a look at the homo sapiens in Ancient Africa we see the first signs of a culture creating jewelry. Snail shell beads have been found at Blombos Cave in South Africa that date back to 75,000+ years ago. On the other side of Africa, at Enkapune Ya Moto in Kenya, beads made from ostrich egg shells have been found that date back to 40,000+ years ago.
When we think of Egypt we think of the pyramids and the sphinx, right? What about jewelry? Well, it is here that we find the first signs of established jewelry making around 3,000 - 5,000 years ago. Egyptians made their jewelry out of the same materials that we make jewelry out of today. For example, gemstones, but they preferred to make their jewelry out of glass, which they could color to satisfy their particular tastes. This meant that for every gemstone that they could find in nature, they were able to manufacture a glass replication that could mimic it. Other cultures have used the template of Egyptian jewelry in their own jewelry making. Consider the Phoenicians for example, who copied many Egyptian designs.
Color was very important for the Ancient Egyptians. To them, different colors meant different things. If we would like to examine this matter further, we need to look no further than the Book of the Dead. It tells us that the necklace of Isis that was to be placed on the mummy's desk needed to be red. The color red would satisfy Isis's need for blood. Green jewelry on the other hand symbolized new growth in the area of fertility and crops. Egyptian jewelry was made primarily in large workshops that were attached to temples and palaces.
Around 4000 years ago we see jewelry development and production starting to spring up in the cities of Sumer and Akkad in Ancient Mesopotamia. This jewelry tended to be made from metal leaf, and was often set in a large number of brightly-colored stones, such as lapis, jasper, agate, and carnelian. They also incorporated various shapes, such as grapes, leafs, cones and spirals into their designs. Since the Ancient Mesopotamians were also masters in the area of record keeping, huge archives of detailed records relating to the creation and trading of jewelry have been unearthed in various archaeological sites.
Did you enjoy our little departure from our regular heart jewelry articles? It's very interesting to see how the art form of jewelry making has developed over the history of man.
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