The meaning of jewelery (Jewelry in American English) is literally any piece of fine material used to adorn or decorate one’s self. Like pure silver,pure gold is too soft to be used directly for making jewelery .Therefore a mixture of other alloys such as copper, zinc and nickel are added to increase the strength and durability of gold.
All that glitters is gold
The history of gold is truly fascinating.Gold has been mined and used for a variety of purposes for thousands of years. Oldest known gold discoveries date back to 5000 B.C. in Egypt. Since then,it has captured the fancy of mankind from Romans to Russians ,from Asians to Africans alike.The very first discovery of gold was along the rivers of Africa and Asia.The sheer ease with which the metal could be worked upon inspired craftsmen all over the world to make it into jewelry for adornment. Gold’s versatility,apart from its beauty makes it stand apart from all other metals.
Gold has always occupied a high place in society giving it the allure of wealth ,power and prestige. The desire to own gold goes back to the beginning of time where people associated magical importance to it. The earliest gold jewelery, dates back to the Sumer civilization that flourished between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Iraq .It was widely worn by both men and women.Emperors and kings wore gold for various purposes to show off their wealth and position in society. The way gold lasts in spite of the passing of time is one of the main reasons, it is so extensively used. An example of this is that the boy King Tutankhamun of Egypt died in 1350 BC and was buried with a large amount of gold jewelery. Today,even 3000 years later, the gold remains as sparkling and as lustrous as it did the day it went underground.
Gold was said to be in such huge abundance in South America before the Conquistadors invaded, that many adventurers recalled accounts of solid gold blocks being used as doorstops.
Gold has been used from ancient times in all countries.Here are a few examples:
The Egyptians
Egypt had a lot of gold, in the Eastern Desert and in the south. The goldsmith’s repertoire of skills advanced rapidly due to this.
The Etruscans
Around 700 BC, a gold jewelery industry was established in Etruria in Italy. Although this jewelery was made for only a short time , it is well known because of its intricacy and amazing use of granulation work.
The Romans
When Rome expanded its Empire to take in most of the world from Britain to the borders of Persia, it inherited the Greek empire and often the Greek jewelers . Gold jewelery was in great demand and rich members of Roman society were proud of their collections
Byzantine jewelery
Gold jewelery became extremely ornate as the Roman Empire progressed. But later,early Roman jewelery was largely replaced by more intricate gold jewels made with bright gems. The sixth and early seventh centuries AD saw the production of beautiful and magnificent Byzantine gold jewelery .
Why Gold is Unique
Gold is everlasting. Of all the precious metals in the world, only gold has lustrous beauty, easy workability, sparkle,rarity, and indestructibility. Not even diamonds possess all these characteristics.Gold does not rust, tarnish or corrode.It virtually lasts forever. Its no wonder that gold remains so precious,loved ,rare and valuable even today.
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