Silver Jewellery to Infinity and Beyond – Silver jewelry is a normal part of our modern daily life, but what did our ancestors do for gifts and trinkets in the past?
If silver was not there to be desired and cherished, what would these silver jewelry alternatives be?
Jewelery and life in antiquity
These ancient Egyptians did not have to go far to find a satisfactory alternative to the silver that we all enjoy today, for their preference was for jewelry and ornaments made of rare, luxurious, and easy-to-work gold. There were even purpose-built workshops attached to palaces and temples where masterpieces of the rich and influential were created. silver jewelry for eternal love
The general public did not pay much attention to jewelry, period, silver jewelry, or gold jewelry. Not for them is the strong symbolism of power and wealth enjoyed by those who own such a gem. In the land of the living, green gems were used to ensure the fertility and growth of crops. – Spoo-Design
Cleopatra’s all-time favorite jewelry was the sumptuous green emerald found locally around the Red Sea, but any silver needed for uncommon silver jewelry had to be imported from elsewhere.
Jewels and death in antiquity
Gold jewelry was not only important in life but even more important in death for the greatness and power of ancient Egypt. Her Book of the Dead even states that the color of Isis’s primary necklace placed around the mummy’s neck should be red to satisfy Isis’s need for blood.
Orkney Stone Age jewelry
While the Egyptians celebrated gold jewelry 5,000 years ago, the inhabitants of Skara Brae in Orkney were apparently completely unaware of the presence of silver jewelry or any other form of metal decoration.
The astonishing ruins of the Stone Age village of Skara Brae in Skell Bay were unearthed beneath the dunes during a violent storm in 1850. The Orkneys were well accustomed to the wrath of the storm winds that regularly reached their islands during the winter – sometimes in the summer!
Found at one of the gates of this stunning village, not a piece of silver jewelry, but a broken beaded necklace indicating that the wearer would have been left in a hurry – perhaps to escape the huge amounts of sand that had been whipped up in a violent storm. Storm and home invasion. The same kind of storm that would expose these dwellings to the world again after thousands of years.
Therefore, while silver jewelry was quite alien to the inhabitants of Skara Brae, they made good use of what they had at their disposal – small polished and carved pebbles by the mighty sea and perfect little shells of various shapes – to create beautiful and unique and precious ornaments for them like jewelry. Gold and silver jewelry for the Egyptians.
Ancient Silver Jewelry
At the same time as Skara Brae, a few hundred years or so, the Orkney people were building the Brodgarr Ring.
This stunning stone circle is built of 60 megaliths between 7 and 15 feet in height and is the third largest of its kind in the UK. No one is quite sure of the usefulness of this amazing feat of engineering and construction, but whether it is astronomical, religious or ritualistic, the sheer number of working hours and the importance attached to its creation cannot be denied.
Its mystery has persisted for thousands of years, but its creators in 2500 BC never imagined that one day its amazing construction would be attached to a piece of silver jewelry to be enjoyed and appreciated by lovers of silver jewelry and gold jewelry in the 21st century.
Imagine how much they would be surprised and admired a beautiful, shiny, smooth and precious piece of silver jewelry if it had been presented to them thousands of years ago, long before the merchants of these goods arrived in the Orkney Islands. Read Our Blog
How I would love to be able to show them the lovingly and delicately crafted Silver Ring of Brodgar jewelry store in Orkney today. The Ring of Brodgar ring is popular as a wedding ring or was purchased as a cherished souvenir of the amazing Ring of Brodgar visit by modern Orkney visitors from all over the world, including Egypt!
