Egyptian Jewelry-A New Revolution In Jewelry

By Rachana Agarwal

Egypt, the land of Red Sea is always a mischievous place for tourists. From its jewelries to its status and masks, everything has a distinctive feature to make it really unique and lovable.

The history of Egyptian jewelry is as old as its pyramids covering a long journey from the era of pharaohs to this generation with a modern outlook. Starting with materials like bones, stones and woods to serve religious and spiritual interests, earlier jewelries made their mark during the Badari and Naqari eras. The most common symbol of that era is "Ankh" that exists till now. Other symbols like a lotus flower, an eye and the falcons were also used to describe emotions of that period.

After the rise of middle kingdom, there was a swift shift in jewelry designing in Egypt. Now, gold was included in making jewelries to cater special need of pharaohs, who want look better with a touch of yellow gold in their personality. They also included semi-precious materials for carving jewelries. Not only this, they also had a tradition of burying jewelries of daily use with their dead body. So, jewelries made in gold such as earrings, rings, vest, necklaces and crowns were found from mummies. Vest, a thick plate of gold worn around chest was very popular at that time.

After the arrival of Christianity, cheaper materials were used to make some beautiful jewelry without loosing their attraction and brilliance. Traditional Christian symbol like crosses, a branch leaf and pigeons were made in abundances. Ancient "Ankh" marks were also made during this period. Later when country adopted Islam as their official religion, men turned towards silver for decorative themselves as gold is prohibited in Islam religion. Thus, the history of jewelry is a long tale with different tastes and shades.

Now, the Egyptian jewelry has changed completely. Maintaining its traditions, gold has retained its supremacy in jewelry business of the country. There are lots of ornaments such as rings, earrings, bracelets and neck wears are available in the market depicting the rich culture of the country and their jewelry. Gold in form of embroidery, ceramics, density and even photography are used now to widen the usage of gold today. On the other hand, silver jewelry in combination with different precious and semi-precious gems is also storming the market these days ranging from ancient style to modern design beautifully.