Be as beautiful as Tutankhamun

Egyptian gold was discovered centuries ago, and the ancient Egyptians themselves are considered pioneers in goldsmithing. The art of making their mysteriously glittering jewelry instills wonder and awe to this day. How did their history with jewelry making begin, and who took the most pride in it?

At first, gold was cold-forged in Egypt, and its form was quite unpolished. In the 4th century BC, gold smelting was initiated using a special blower. This enabled the Egyptians to forge the desired jewelry shapes and combine the resulting form with any decoration, such as wood or stone. It was accepted that the more gold jewelry one owned, the richer the person certainly was. Oriental jewelry in Egypt thus became a kind of measure of a person's worth. Over time, gold was established as the main means of payment. This method of payment was used mainly on the Nile. Soon, around the 2nd millennium BC, Egyptian craftsmen learned how to separate gold from silver. As a result, they were able to start making beautiful ornaments, such as necklaces and bracelets with lapis, turquoise or tinted glass to imitate precious stones.

It's a shame that so little jewelry remains from this period. The tomb robbers from the famous Valley of the Kings deprived us of the opportunity to admire all the artistry of Egyptian goldsmiths. Fortunately, at least some of the mysterious jewelry was found, such as the famous royal bracelet from the Zer tomb. It is the oldest example of ancient Egyptian jewelry art. This phenomenal bracelet belonged to none other than the wife of Tutankhamun himself - Egypt's most famous ruler.

The most illustrious king of the Egyptian land idolized jewelry. Not only did he appear loftier in it, but in addition, these ornaments had a truly religious dimension for the ruler. For they were his link to the gods - to say the least, that's what he believed. All sorts of earrings, necklaces or crowns protected the wearers from disease, misfortune and disaster, as well as gave hope for a better life after death and illuminated the way to the new world. No wonder, then, that Tutankhamun's tomb was filled to the brim with jewelry.

Cleopatra, on the other hand, who was the last queen of Hellenistic Egypt, was not fond of glittering ornaments. She wore herself rather modestly, trying to avoid jewelry. However, when she did put it on, it was usually very discreet earrings, necklaces or strings of stones. One of the more spectacular elements of her attire were her heavy, thick bracelets of gold, which usually bore an animal motif. Ornaments characteristic of Egyptian culture appeared on her jewelry from time to time. It was possible, among other things, to spot the famous signs, called ankh, on her ornaments. In Egyptian mythology, this was a hieroglyph, meaning life, and this symbol, worn in the form of jewelry, was supposed to make the person immortal. Cleopatra put on tons of glittering jewelry only when she was to meet with some mighty and influential ruler, such as Julius Caesar. Such numerous ornaments were meant to signal to the ruler in question that Egypt was a strong and independent empire, even under the command of a woman. Outside of these important meetings, Cleopatra never flaunted her person or wanted to signal her superiority with ornate jewelry. So where did it come from that the queen loved glamour and gold?

Funny that people just associate Cleopatra with tons of gold, oriental necklaces, huge earrings and rings with precious stones. After all, it was the reign of the Pharaohs that started the fashion for this type of jewelry. So when deciding to wear a gold ornate Egyptian necklace around your neck, don't think that you look like Cleopatra. Rather, think that right now you are as beautiful as... Tutankhamun.