History of ancient Egyptian jewelry

Posted by hellensmith on May 25th, 2012

Jewellery has been a charm, especially when it contains ancient symbols and signs. Egyptian jewelry is famous all over the world because of their mysteries, designs and the magical quality that they hold. The Scarab, the eye of Horus, ankh, the healing sign, Temple gate and pyramids are some symbols of Ancient Egyptian Jewelry. There are other Egyptian symbols which are also very popular and are considered sacred and powerful by some people. Different symbols are said to have different powers. For example, the pendants and rings shaped like keys are worn as protective items, the ankh symbol in the ancient Egyptian jewelry is considered as a sign of immortality. The most common symbols which are used in the ancient Egyptian jewelry are the red crown and the Scarab. The symbols of the ancient Egyptian jewelry also tell ancient stories of Egypt such as the prince and the sphinx, the Greek princess, the Golden lotus, the Land of the dead, Seven Year Famine etc.

At the beginning of the 1^st Dynasty, the Egyptians had learned the use of precious metals for fighting purposes, and eventually learnt different use of metals in different ways throughout this period. The Egyptian craftsmen used enormous amounts of gold in varied ways such as to cover stone and wood, to gild smaller materials, solid shedding it into statuary, cutting sheets into elements of religious and hammering and funerary equipment and ceremonial furniture. However, the most widespread use of gold was in the production of Ancient Egyptian Jewelry, both for the living as well as for the decoration of dead bodies. According to the Egyptian funerary, the mummified body should be decorated with the finest products of Egyptian jewelry.

The Egyptian jewelry makers did not use precious metals for making their jewelry; what they held as the most valuable, the new world would believe at best only semiprecious. It is even more surprising that some of the pleasing characteristic effects were gained by using man made materials like glass imitation of semiprecious stones and glazed composition. The Egyptian jewelry makers used various amounts of manmade materials, stones, metals, minerals and animal products. Most of these products are obtained locally in the mountains, hills and deserts within Egypt’s boundaries and from the creatures which lives in the Nile valley and its surrounding areas. But most of the materials like silver and lapis lazuli are imported from beyond the boundaries of Egypt.

The Egyptian craftsmen play a very important role in making the Egyptian jewelry. It was due to their effort and the sense of choosing right materials that we are able to see the finest Egyptian jewelry.

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