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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.

In Ancient Africa the homo sapiens provide us with the first signs of a culture using jewelry. Snail shell beads have been found at the Blombos Cave in South Africa that date back to over 75,000 years ago. At Enkapune Ya Moto in Kenya beads made from ostrich egg shells have been found that date back to over 40,000 years ago.

Egypt is known for the Great Pyramids and the Ancient Sphinx, but it has created some remarkable jewelry as well. In fact, we see the first signs of established jewelry making starting to appear here around 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. The Egyptians used many of the materials that we use to make jewelry today, such as gemstones, but glass was their preferred medium. With glass they could color it to satisfy their various tastes and needs. In fact, for every gemstone that they could find in nature, they were able to make a glass replicate of it. As time passed on, other cultures, such as the Ancient Phoenicians, used Egyptian jewelry as a template for their own unique 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.

Did you enjoy our little departure from our regular heart jewelry articles? It’s very interesting to see how the art form of jewelry making has developed over the history of man.

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.