Gold's role in history, culture and religion.
This section of JewelrySupplier.com is intended to uncover references in history to gems, gemstones, minerals, crystals, precious metals and semi-precious stones and to investigate the role they played in the development of the cultures in which they were utilized. We believe examples of royal jewelry and ancient jewelry from anthropology, sociology and archaeology from the ancient societies of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and especially the work of Pre-Columbian American cultures of the North American Indians, Aztecs, Mayans, and Incans to be of craftsmanship that has not been equaled since. Where possible in our history of jewelry, we’ve tried to include methods of manufacture, materials and technology. From the bible, commerce, celestial beliefs to modern crystal collecting.
The history of gold is a long and complex one. It has been a symbol of wealth and a guarantee of power since its use first emerged. Because of its rarity, its usefulness and its beauty, gold has caused individual and national obsession and the destruction of cultures, and the emergence into power of others.
Africa
Many African cultures used gold on a large scale. In most areas, including
Senegal and the Gold Coast, the people used most of the gold to create
objects for the court of the local chiefs. The chiefs had workshops
exclusively dedicated to the production of their treasures, which were
extensive and elaborate and had ceremonial applications. However, the
peoples of the Ethiopian, Sudanese and Bantu regions did export some gold.
Asia
Though examples of Gold in use before the 17th century are rare
in India, Archaeologists have found pieces of Gold jewelry in the Indus
Culture as well as Buddhist Afghanistan that date from near the time of
the birth of Christ. India’s gold and jewelry use reached its summit
during the Mughal Empire’s reign between the 1500s to the mid 1700s. The
fashion of this time many included rich jewels and gold, each with its own
religious significance and purpose. In China, Gold use began around 1100
BC as inlay in bronze items and jewelry and continued through the many
royal dynasties. When the Chinese settled in Korea at around 210 BC, they
brought their knowledge of gold working with them. Indian, Chinese and
Korean use of Gold influenced the cultures of Southeast Asia but Gold
never became important in Japanese culture.
The inhabitants of Ireland have been prospecting for gold in rivers since
the Bronze Age. The Minoan Culture grew rich as a trading stop along
Mediterranean trade routes and as a result, its jewelry making flourished.
The Minoans began producing exceptional stamped gold sheeting and filigree
and granulated Gold jewelry, burial masks and beads by 2000 BC, which
spread to Mycenaean Islands and other Greek Islands and eventually on to
the mainland. These techniques of filigree and granulation show up in
Etruscan art, which saw elevated heights of beauty and technical skill as
a contrast to the time of the emergence of Greek culture, when Gold use
was rare. When Roman civilization began to flourish, the city began to
attract talented Gold artisans who created gold-framed cameos, necklaces,
pendants, bracelets, headdresses and earrings. Roman gold jewelry included
rings that only those citizens of the higher classes could wear but the
wearing of gold rings later included lower classes of warriors until
finally, by the 3rd century AD, anyone other than the very
lowest could wear a gold ring. Historians credit Roman Culture with the
advent of the ring used as a symbol of engagement. The use of Gold in Rome
grew beyond its use as jewelry and expanded into household items and
furniture in the homes of the higher classes. By the third century AD, the
citizens of Rome wore necklaces that contained Coins with the image of the
emperor. As Christianity spread through the continent, Europeans ceased
burying their dead with their jewelry and thus, few examples survive from
the Middle Ages, except those of royalty and from church hordes. Modern
historians gather information about the jewelry of the middle ages from
artwork and literature that began to develop during this time. Among
cultures of the Middle Ages, the Celts produced intricate Brooches while
nearly every other region produced gold religious items. By the
Renaissance, Classicism began to dictate the production of all art forms,
and resulted in a rebirth in jewelry as an art form, in fact historians
say artists such as Boticelli were apprentices in Goldsmith shops. In the
height of the Renaissance period, the houses of royalty competed to
accumulate larger collections of jewelry, which eventually slowed only to
increase again by the reign of Louis XIV in the 17th Century.
Renaissance designs would influence most of the jewelry styles of Europe
until the classic revival period of the 19th century. In the
next Century, cameos began to resurface in the Roman tradition with a Gold
frames as well as the chatelaine, an embossed gold pendant. Lavalieres,
small lockets made of gold and named for Louis XIV’s mistress from the
previous century were also popular. In the 19th century, the
Industrial revolution led to increased mining through lower costs and the
symbol of gold as an indicator of class disappeared. Berlin Iron jewelry
pieces were iron replicas given to Germans, who had turned in their Gold
to help pay for the war with Napolean.
Gold
Rush!
In Gold Rush times, news of the discovery of gold in a region could result
in thousands of new settlers who would risk their lives for the chance to
find gold. American Gold Rushes occurred in many of the Western States,
the most famous of which was in California at Sutter’s Mill in 1848.
Globally, Gold Rushes happened in Australia in 1851, South Africa in 1884
and in Canada in 1897. See Geography for more information.
The
Gold Standard
The Gold standard was a financial system meant to stabilize the global
economy. It dictated that a nation could not issue currency that exceeded
the amount of gold it held in reserve. Great Brittain was the first to
adopt this standard in 1821. The rest of Europe followed in the 1870s and
the system stayed until the end of the first world war, after which the US
was the only country still honoring the Gold Standard. After the war,
other countries were allowed to keep reserves of major currencies instead
of gold. This stayed until the great depression when the US blocked the
export of gold in the 1930s. By the middle of the century, the US dollar
had replaced gold in international trade. The US kept the dollar-gold
exchange until 1971.
Israel
Gold played an important role in the development of Hebrew culture as well
as its rise to power in the Middle East. While in the desert, the Lord
gave specific instructions to Moses for the construction of the High
Priest Aaron’s breastplate, which included Gold. See Ezekiel 28. King
Solomon reigned in the middle of the 9th century B.C. During
his reign he had power over glorious gold and precious stone mines. Using
the spoils from these mines, he added glorious adornments to the first
Temple, which he completed in his lifetime. In scripture many references
occur that indicate the value of Gold and use it to show the value of man’s
relationship with the Lord. See Job 28.
Middle
East
From archaeological digs, the use of Gold appears to begin in the Middle
East, in the sites where the first true civilizations began to rise.
Egyptian jewelry found in the tomb of Queen Zer and that of Queen Pu-abi
of Ur in Sumeria are not only the oldest pieces of
gold jewelry in existence, but also the oldest examples found of
any kind of jewelry. The finds dates from the third millennium BC. Zer’s
bracelets were turquoise and gold. Pu-abi’s tomb included a golden robe,
gold pins, amulets, wristbands, and many other rings and trinkets. Over
the centuries, thieves raided most of the Egyptian tombs, but the tomb of
Tutankhamen remained undisturbed until its discovery by modern
archaeologists. Inside they found what would be the largest collection of
gold and jewelry in the world. The collection of pieces included vast
quantities of jewelry, ornaments and masks and a gold coffin whose quality
showed the advanced state that Egyptian craftsmanship and goldworking had
reached during his reign in the middle of the second millennium BC. These
pieces are unmatched and represent the highest mark of skill in art ever
achieved in human history. Egyptian beliefs limited the palette of jewels
accompanying most Egyptian Gold to the three basic colors of Turquoise,
Carnelian and Lapis Lazuli. The Persian Empire, in what is now Iran, made
frequent use of Gold in its artwork in the ancient world as part of its
religion of Zoroastrianism. Persian goldwork is most famous for its animal
art, which continued, though modified, after the Arabs conquered the area
in the 7th century AD. Other styles of Persian gold jewelry and
headdresses eventually influenced the jewelry of Turkey. Turkish jewelling techniques of attaching smaller stones to larger stones with
the use of gold grew in popularity in the area until the styles of the
West began to grow in influence.
Pre-Columbian
America
The skill of Pre-Columbian American cultures in the use of Gold was
highly advanced. Indian goldsmiths had mastered most of the techniques
known by their European contemporaries when the Spanish arrived. They were
adept at filigree, granulation, pressing and hammering, inlay and lost-wax
methods. Out of greed and religious and racist ignorance the Catholic
Church and the Spanish conquerors melted down most of the gold the took
from the peoples of this region and most of the examples remaining have
come from modern excavations of grave sites. The greatest deposits of gold
in these areas in ancient times were in the Andes and in Columbia.
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