We thank you for all the kind response regarding the heart jewelry articles that we have written in the past. It’s very heart-warming. Today we would like to go back in time a bit further and write a more “generic” history of jewelry in general. The art form that we know of as “Jewelry Making” as been around for thousands of years, and different cultures have incorporated it in different ways. If we examine their pieces of jewelry we will gain some insight into the inner working of these ancient cultures.

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.

When we think of Egypt images of the Great Pyramids and the Ancient Sphinx come to mind. And jewelry making? Not so much…but it is in Ancient Egypt (about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago) that we find the first signs of established jewelry making. Egyptians made their jewelry out of many of the materials that we use today…such as gemstones, but they preferred to make their jewelry out of glass, as it could be colored to satisfy their needs and tastes. For every gemstone that they could find, they were able to create a glass replication that could mimic it. As years went on, other cultures, such as the Phoenicians, used Egyptian jewelry as a template for their own designs.

Color was very important for the Ancient Egyptians. To them, different colors meant different things. If we would like to examine this matter further, we need to look no further than the Book of the Dead. It tells us that the necklace of Isis that was to be placed on the mummy’s desk needed to be red. The color red would satisfy Isis’s need for blood. Green jewelry on the other hand symbolized new growth in the area of fertility and crops. Egyptian jewelry was made primarily in large workshops that were attached to temples and palaces.

Around 4000 years ago we see jewelry development and production starting to spring up in the cities of Sumer and Akkad in Ancient Mesopotamia. This jewelry tended to be made from metal leaf, and was often set in a large number of brightly-colored stones, such as lapis, jasper, agate, and carnelian. They also incorporated various shapes, such as grapes, leafs, cones and spirals into their designs. Since the Ancient Mesopotamians were also masters in the area of record keeping, huge archives of detailed records relating to the creation and trading of jewelry have been unearthed in various archaeological sites.

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.

My mom is the nicest person in the world. It doesn’t matter how much my bro and I trouble her, she never gets loony. Even if we mess the house up and turn it into a war area, she always has a smile on her face. I remember when I was younger, my brother and I were playing and he kidnapped my Barbie doll toy and hid it in the house. In my try to find it, I turned the house inside out and made an comprehensive complete mess. While playing with my bro, I never realized how bad the messes that we created were, but it always fun to run around without a care, not worrying about the mess.

One time we were goofing around the house the door bell rang. We were suddenly knocked back to our sense and roared Oh My Goodness we are in so much trouble! We had made the house into a mess, and it was obvious that our mom would kill us. We were both so scared but we had no choice but to open the door for our mom. Our mom walked in, saw the mess, and questioned if an alien had attacked. Initially the 2 of us were quiet but at last admitted that we were just playing. My bro had hid my toy and I was looking for it, to which my mum smiled and said so did you find her?

I was having a look at her face somewhat confused she took it so easy. She decided to help me find it, which was a relief. She played with us the whole day and eventually we found the Barbie. That is how superb she was. After we played, the three of us worked together to wash the house all without a frown.

Another time we were eating at my mother’s marriage in China. My brother and I were horse playing at the dinner table. Our mom hectored us and told us to be safe but we ended up dropping plates. To my astonishment, our mum started to scream and almost hit my bro. We were shocked because we’ve never seen this side of our mom before. Our father explained the marriage was very important to my mum and the plates were passed down generation to generation from her grand mother.

A little time had passed since that point and our parent’s anniversary was coming up and we wanted to surprise them. While they were out, we decided to cook them a nice dinner. Unfortunately while we cooked we broke another antique plate. My bro asked if there had been another copy that we could buy like the duplicate purse that our mum wears. I presumed it had been a excellent idea. I rushed to the shop and picked on up and replaced the plate we broke. We had dinner and she didn’t even notice. We had gotten away with the undeniable fact that we broke her plate. Our mom taught us a great lesson by buying herself a duplicate purse.