How Has Heart Jewelry Developed Over The History of Man?

Posted by Betsy Johnson on December 31, 2009

We have received so many wonderful responses on the articles regarding heart jewelry that we have written in the past. We thank you so much. Today we would like to write a more generic article regarding the history of jewelry in general. “Jewelry Making” as an art form has been around for thousands of years, and we see that different cultures have incorporated it in various ways. When we examine these pieces of jewelry we gain insight into how these various cultures 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.

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.

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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