Early history of Jewelry
The history of jewelry is a longone, with many different uses among different cultures. It has endured forthousands of years and has provided various insights into how ancient culturesworked. Thefirst signs of jewelry came from the Cro-Magnons, ancestors of Homo sapiens,around 40,000 years ago. The Cro-Magnons originally migrated from the MiddleEast to settle in Europe and replace the Neanderthals asthe leading species. The pieces theymade were crude necklaces and bracelets of bone, teeth and stone hung on piecesof string or animal ligament, or pieces of carved bone used to secure clothingtogether. In some cases, jewelry had shell or mother-of-pearl pieces. Insouthern Russia,carved bracelets made of huge tusk have been found. Most commonly, these havebeen found as grave-goods. Around 7,000 years ago, the first sign of copperjewelry was seen.
Early Egyptian Jewelry
Jewelry has played various rolesin ancient Egypt.In addition to man\'s natural attraction to beautiful items, jewelry had areligious and magical significance in the Egyptian ancient world by protectingthe wearer from evil.
The first signs of establishedjewelry making in Ancient Egypt was around 3,000-5,000 years ago. The Egyptianspreferred the luxury, rarity, and workability of gold over other metals.Predynastic Egypt had already acquiredmuch gold; although the Egyptians acquired gold from the eastern deserts ofAfrica and from Nubia,in later years they captured it in the spoils of war or acquired it as tributesfrom other nations.
Jewelry in Egyptsoon began to symbolise power and religious power in the community. Although itwas worn by wealthy Egyptians in life, it was also worn by them in death, withjewelry commonly placed among grave goods. Unfortunately, grave robbers havedestroyed much of the archeological evidence.
In Egypt,ornaments and jewelry were not restricted to women. Men also used jewelry untilthe Roman era in Egypt.However, since the advent of Christianity in Egypt,with many people converting to that new religion, ornaments and excessiveluxury began to be less common and were replaced by signs of faithfulness,religiousness, and righteousness. Most jewelry was made of cheaper materialsbearing Christian symbols, such as crosses, pigeons, and the Egyptian Ankhsign, instead of the amulets that were used for the jewelry before. After thearrival of Islam in Egypt,men in particular were forbidden from wearing gold, but continued to use jewelrymade of other materials, such as silver.
Several different types of stickswere found that were used for traditional staffs, scepters, flyswatters, hookedstaffs, and walking sticks. They were usually made of wood and sometimes goldplated and inlaid with precious stones.
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