The ancient Egyptian style is very in style at the moment just look at Katy Perry in her video for Dark Horse.
The Ancient Egyptians have fascinated peopled for centuries and numerous revivals of their style have been invented and reinvented over the years and probably will continue to for centuries to come.
Ancient Egypt was a Civilisation from around 3100BC that was one of the first big civilisations to become powerful in the world.
Everyone wore jewellery from the very poor to the pharaohs, this was mainly because they believed in evil spirits that could harm them. The jewellery was a way of protecting them from the evil. Jewellers would need to know what the person needed protecting from, certain colours of gems or metal could mean different gods or goddesses and it was important he got it right or it may affect the spiritual value of the piece.
Amulets and charms where worked into pieces of jewellery to protect the wearer or infuse them with power. Some amulets were made to take with the person into the afterlife as well and where placed on the body and wrapped into there mummy's binding. One amulet that was a favourite for the afterlife was the heart scarab, placed on your heart. This amulet would help protect your heart from becoming separated from you in the underworld. The heart was believed to record your life on it and would be weighed against the weight of a feather by the goddess Ma'at. If the scales balanced you gained entry into the afterlife, the heart scarab stopped your heart betraying you when you got to the goddess.
The picture below is of a necklace recovered from the pharaoh Tutankhamen's tomb. He was wrapped with 35 different objects arranged seventeen groups and between 13 different layers. This necklace was the last of four, and shows hawks heads with tubular beads between.
The main materials used to craft jewellery would be gold and copper which were readily available to them, the gold was mined in the Nubian desert. Stones were inlaid into the pieces and they used pearls and emeralds the most although they also favoured lapis lazuli, turquoise, garnet, obsidian, rock crystal and carnelian. I imagine their jewellery must have been really striking when they where first made as all their materials have very strong vivid colours.
The poor couldn't afford the gold and precious gems so opted for copper and painted clay, bone, shells, stones or animal teeth to look like the gems.
The most popular among the ancient Egyptians and quite possibly the most well known of the jewellery was the wide collar necklace. made with beads that were worn around and were as wide as the shoulders. It is this necklace that has made a resurgence back into the popular eye. Some dresses even come with it already sewn in around the neck.
Here are some modern examples of the ancient Egyptian style.
Ancient Egypt was a Civilisation from around 3100BC that was one of the first big civilisations to become powerful in the world.
Everyone wore jewellery from the very poor to the pharaohs, this was mainly because they believed in evil spirits that could harm them. The jewellery was a way of protecting them from the evil. Jewellers would need to know what the person needed protecting from, certain colours of gems or metal could mean different gods or goddesses and it was important he got it right or it may affect the spiritual value of the piece.
Amulets and charms where worked into pieces of jewellery to protect the wearer or infuse them with power. Some amulets were made to take with the person into the afterlife as well and where placed on the body and wrapped into there mummy's binding. One amulet that was a favourite for the afterlife was the heart scarab, placed on your heart. This amulet would help protect your heart from becoming separated from you in the underworld. The heart was believed to record your life on it and would be weighed against the weight of a feather by the goddess Ma'at. If the scales balanced you gained entry into the afterlife, the heart scarab stopped your heart betraying you when you got to the goddess.
The picture below is of a necklace recovered from the pharaoh Tutankhamen's tomb. He was wrapped with 35 different objects arranged seventeen groups and between 13 different layers. This necklace was the last of four, and shows hawks heads with tubular beads between.
The main materials used to craft jewellery would be gold and copper which were readily available to them, the gold was mined in the Nubian desert. Stones were inlaid into the pieces and they used pearls and emeralds the most although they also favoured lapis lazuli, turquoise, garnet, obsidian, rock crystal and carnelian. I imagine their jewellery must have been really striking when they where first made as all their materials have very strong vivid colours.
The poor couldn't afford the gold and precious gems so opted for copper and painted clay, bone, shells, stones or animal teeth to look like the gems.
The most popular among the ancient Egyptians and quite possibly the most well known of the jewellery was the wide collar necklace. made with beads that were worn around and were as wide as the shoulders. It is this necklace that has made a resurgence back into the popular eye. Some dresses even come with it already sewn in around the neck.
Here are some modern examples of the ancient Egyptian style.
Selena Gomez
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