Ancient Egyptian Jewelry

Jewelry as Culture in Ancient Egypt

In a civilization that was full of wealth and treasures like ancient Egypt, women, and more precisely queens and the royal family ladies gave special attention to jewelry. Even men used to wear various pieces of jewelry as ornaments, personal adornment and sometimes magical mascots that they believed protected them against evils.

Most of these jewelries were made out of gold, silver, and electrum, a mixture of gold, silver, with glass and colorful semi-precious stones. Historians assert the ancient Egyptians started making use of precious stones more than 7000 years BC. The use of jewelry and ornaments represent a sort of religious matters. The Pharaohs used to give precious stones and valuable metals sacred and divine properties.

Gold appeared much later in the ancient Egyptian history. The most magnificent pieces of the jewelry of ancient Egypt can be found in the tomb of Tutankhamun collection of belongings. The 18th dynasty in the New Kingdom is featured with the extensive and skilled production of various pieces of jewelry.

The collections of jewelry of Tut Ankh Amun included 143 pieces of necklaces, waistcoats, pendants and earrings. This is in addition to gold covers for the fingers and toes.

The genuine ancient Egyptian jewelry didn’t depend on the metals used and colors, but also was distinguished by its marvelous designs. Wires of gold used to be formed with golden plates to form wonderful pieces of jewelry.

The precious metals and stones the ancient Egyptians used included lapis lazuli. This represented fertility and good luck. lapis lazuli was imported to Egypt from Western Asia. The ancient Egyptians also used agates of all colors including jewelry of dark brown and green which represented warmness in life.

Scarabs were the symbol of the morning sun as the ancient Egyptians used to view them turning around early in the morning. When the sun sets, the scarabs would disappear. This was why scarab represented fertility and good luck. They were made out of blue rocks or colored tiles.

The Pharaohs also loved emerald. This was unearthed in Egypt more than 4000 years ago. It was considered the most loved jewelry of Cleopatra. Some scholars also noted that Neuron wore eye lenses that were made of emeralds. 

The production of jewelry flourished in the reign of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. This was due to the explorations’ journeys carried out to the Eastern Desert of Egypt on regular basis. These metals like gold were treated and formed with the help of semi-precious stones and agates and turquoises.

Since the ruling period of the New Kingdom and until the Greco-Roman period, jewelries were part of the everyday lives of men and women, the living and the dead people in ancient Egypt. The Pharaohs also used to position jewelries in the tombs with the deceased.

Many collections of jewelries were found in various tombs of ancient Egypt. These included crowns, wreaths, various ornaments, golden hoops, various ornamented belts, and many more.

The ancient Egyptians also invented waistcoats that were only used in the Egyptian civilization. This was mainly made out of gold or sometimes gold plated.