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Columbian Gold Jewelry

Ancient civilizations made use of precious metals, gems and gemstones in the adornment of royalty and as symbols of power and influence for as long as history has been recorded. Cultures have been destroyed and rebuilt because of the massive control, greed, status and wealth gold has exhibited to its beholder. Gold jewelry was highly regarded among the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Rome and Greece and played a significant role in sociological, archaeological and anthropological development of these societies. The craftsmanship of these ancient masterpieces is unparalleled. The Pre-Columbian societies of North American Indians Ghd Hair Straighteners, Mayans, Incans and Aztecs have also utilized gold jewelry in rituals, hierarchy, mysticism and idolatry. Gold jewelry is referenced throughout biblical, ecclesiastical and religious history in revering or rebelling against God.

The oldest known gold jewelry was found in the Middle East, in Mesopotamia, where the first known civilizations existed. Royal Sumerian and Egyptian jewelry are the oldest known artifacts of gold jewelry in the history of man, dating to the third millennium BC. Queen Zur and Queen Pu-abi’s gold jewelry collections found in the Royal Tombs of Ur in Sumeria unveiled priceless jewelry of gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise and carnelian, the popular adornment of ancient times. The Queens’ adornments also included gold pendants inlaid with depictions of mystical animals and plants. Bracelets of turquoise and gold, golden pins, rings, robes and ornaments of gold appear in Prom Gowns excavated Egyptian tombs of queens and kings.

Many of these 3000 year-old artifacts were stolen by tomb raiders although the golden treasures of Tutankhamen’s tomb were entirely intact when discovered in 1923. The Pharaoh’s grave housed the largest collection of handcrafted gold jewelry and other gold relics to date. During the Persian Empire, located in modern day Iran, gold was used in artwork and as part of Zoroastrianism, depicting golden animals. Persian gold headdresses and jewelry crafting style permeated the region for centuries, influencing evening Gowns all of the ancient Middle Eastern civilizations.

The advanced craftsmanship and skill of goldsmiths in Pre-Columbian American societies is some of the most impressive in the history of gold jewelry making. Long before the Spanish and the Catholic Church invaded, stole and melted down Indian gold jewelry and wares in order to recover their depressed economy by shipping large amounts back to Spain, the Incas, Mayas and Aztecs used gold to adorn tombs, decorate royalty, embellish religious icons and bedeck themselves in gold jewelry.

The Incas regarded gold as ‘the sweat of the sun’ and, after overtaking the Chimu Empire, developed elaborate techniques using the talents of the Chimu goldsmiths to fashion gold jewelry, weapons, statues, effigies, pottery, headdresses, funerary masks and vessels. The Chimu, Incas, Mayas and Aztecs were accomplished gold jewelry makers utilizing techniques of granulation, pressing, hammering, inlay, filigree and lost-wax methods all of which are still used today in modern fine jewelry making. These Pre-Columbian cultures invented technology for mining gold and other metals, beginning with the higher civilizations of Mexico and spreading southward along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Panama and Costa Rica

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