By about 4,000 years ago, jewelry making had become a significant craft in the Mesopotamian cities of Sumer and Akkad, in what is now Iraq. The Royal Cemetery of Ur, where hundreds of burials dating 2900–2300 BC were unearthed, produced evidence from tombs containing many artifacts in gold, silver, and semi-precious stones, such as lapis lazuli crowns embellished with gold figurines, close-fitting collar necklaces, and jewel-headed pins. In Assyria, men and women both wore lots of jewelry, including amulets, ankle bracelets, heavy multi-strand necklaces, and cylinder seals.
Jewelry in Mesopotamia tended to be manufactured from thin metal leaf and was set with brightly colored stones (chiefly agate, lapis, carnelian, and jasper). You can see many different shapes including leaves, spirals, cones, and bunches of grapes. Jewelers made pieces for people and also to decorate statues and idols. They developed a wide variety of sophisticated metalworking techniques, such as cloisonné, engraving, fine granulation, and filigree.
Mesopotamians kept extensive and detailed records about the trade and manufacture of jewelry, which have also been unearthed at various archaeological sites. One record in the Mari royal archives, for example, gives the composition of various items of jewelry:
1 necklace of flat speckled chalcedony beads including: 34 flat speckled chalcedony bead, [and] 35 gold fluted beads, in groups of five.
Greece
The Greeks started using gold and gems in jewelry in 1600 BC, although beads shaped as shells and animals were produced widely in earlier times. By 300 BC, the Greeks had mastered making colored jewelry and using amethysts, pearl, and emeralds. Also, the Greeks were the first to create cameos, using Indian Sardonyx, a striped brown pink and cream agate stone. Greek jewelry was often less elaborate than in other cultures, with simple designs and workmanship. However, as time progressed their designs grew in complexity and different materials soon emerged.
Jewelry in Ancient Greece was mostly worn for public appearances or on special occasions. It was frequently given as a gift and was mostly worn by women to show off their wealth, social status, and beauty. Some jewelry was believed to give the wearer protection from the “Evil Eye,” or give the owner supernatural powers, while other pieces had a religious symbolism. Older pieces of jewelry were dedicated to the Gods. The largest production of jewelry in these times came from Northern Greece and Macedonia. The Greeks created jewelry using two different methods: lost-wax casting and hammered sheet metal. Casting had been practiced since the late Bronze Age; however, in Greece, fewer pieces of cast jewelry have been recovered. The more common form of Greek jewelry was the hammered sheet type. Sheets of metal were hammered to thickness and then soldered together. The inside of the two sheets were filled with wax or another liquid to preserve the metal work. Different techniques, such as using a stamp or engraving, were used to create motifs on the jewelry. Jewels could then be added to hollows or glass poured into special cavities on the surface.
The Greeks took much of their designs from the outlaying areas of their empire, such as parts of Asia conquered by Alexander the Great. In their earlier designs, other European influences can also be detected. When Roman rule came to Greece, their influence began to be felt in jewelry design. By 27 BC, Greek designs were heavily influenced by the Roman culture. That is not to say that indigenous design did not thrive; for example, numerous multicolored butterfly pendants on silver foxtail chains, dating from the 1st century, have been found near Olbia, with only one example ever found anywhere else.
Rome
Although jewelry work was abundantly diverse in earlier times, especially among the barbarian tribes such as the Celts, when the Romans conquered most of Europe, jewelry changed as Roman designs developed. The most common artifact of early Rome was the brooch, which was used to secure clothing together. The Romans used a diverse range of materials for their jewelry from their extensive resources across the continent. They used gold and sometimes bronze or bone, and in earlier times, glass beads, and pearls. As early as 2,000 years ago, they imported Sri Lankan sapphires and Indian diamonds and used emeralds and amber in their jewelry. In Roman-ruled England, fossilized wood from Northern England, called jet, was often carved into pieces of jewelry. The early Italians worked in crude gold and created clasps, necklaces, earrings and bracelets. They also produced larger pendants that could be filled with perfume.
Like the Greeks, Romans often used jewelry to ward off the “Evil Eye,” given by other people. Although women wore a vast array of jewelry, men often only wore a finger ring. Although they were expected to wear at least one ring, some Roman men wore a ring on every finger, while others wore none. Roman men and women wore rings with engraved gems, used with wax to seal documents, a practice that continued into medieval times when kings and noblemen did the same. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Roman jewelry designs were absorbed by neighboring countries and tribes.
Next month: The Middl Ages and the Renaissance
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