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 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.
We all love colored jewelry for it’s beauty, but to the Ancient Egyptians it meant different things. Take for example the color red. The necklace of Isis that was to be placed on the neck of a mummy needed to be red in color. It was thought that this color would satisfy Isis’s need for blood. On the other side of the coin, the color green was used to symbolize growth in crops and fertility. The Ancient Egyptians made their jewelry in large workshops that were often attached to their palaces and temples.
Around 4000 years ago, in the cities of Sumer and Akkad in Ancient Mesopotamia, jewelry development and production started to spring up. This jewelry was often made from metal leaf. It was often set in a large number of brightly-colored stones (such as lapis, jasper, carnelian, and agate). Various shapes, such as grapes, leafs, spirals and cones were also incorporated into their various designs. The Ancient Mesopotamians were also masters in the area of record keeping, and they have found in various archaeological sites huge archives of detailed records relating to not only the creation, but the 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.
Want to find out more about Jewelry Origins, then visit Betsy Johnson’s site on how to choose the best Heart Jewelry for your needs.