Importance of Jewelry in Ancient Myths
Jewelry, as we understand it, has been around for at least 75,000 years--almost as old as humankind itself. Early humans created ornaments and figurines from the things around them: shells, bones, stones and even egg shells. As time went on, metalworking and mining technology improved dramatically. In the time of ancient Egypt and Greece, jewelry began to take on a form and identity similar to what we know today, with precious metals and stones. But the function of jewelry was always the same: to denote and accentuate the status of the wearer.
And with that status certainly came a mysterious, almost magical allure. Thus, we find ancient mythology full of magic amulets, pendants, necklaces and rings. In every culture throughout antiquity, jewelry plays an important role in myths, legends and other stories.
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Ancient Egypt: Amulets
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In the time of the Pharaohs, magic became a very exacting and precise science. And for a practitioner of magic, nothing was as important as having the right magical amulets for the job. Amulets were carved pieces of stone, faience (glazed ceramics) or metal--sometimes with precious stones added--that had a specific magical function. Many amulets represented a specific deity, and granted the bearer of the amulet the powers of that deity. For example, an amulet representing "The Eye of Horus" granted the owner the divine vision of Horus, the falcon-headed god who lived in the sky.
Ancient Egypt: Amulets for the Dead
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In Egyptian mythology, amulets were as important to the dead as they were to the living. Every mummy was buried with certain amulets to help protect the soul from various spiritual threats on its journey through the underworld into the Kingdom of Osiris. For instance, during a soul's judgment in the underworld, it was believed that the heart was weighed against a symbolic feather (symbolic feathers, luckily, weighed a lot more than real ones) representing truth. To assist the soul in this challenge, a "scarab"--or beetle-shaped amulet--was often placed over the heart of the deceased, and inscribed with a magical spell from "The Book of the Dead."
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Ancient Greece: The Ring of Gyges
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The Greeks, like the Egyptians, often ascribed magical properties to jewelry. Stories of magic rings, pendants and necklaces are woven throughout Greek mythology. Many of these stories, such as the "Ring of Gyges," in which the ring grants the wearer invisibility, tend to explore questions of human morality. In the Gyges myth, Gyges, a lowly shepherd, uses the magical ring to infiltrate the king's palace, kill him, seduce his wife and become king himself--clearly another lesson in how "power corrupts."
Ancient Greece: The Necklace of Harmonia
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Another Greek myth is "The Necklace of Harmonia," which can grant its wearer eternal youth, but in doing so brings some terrible curse upon her. Seeking eternal youth, Queen Jocasta, mother of Oedipus, was said to have worn the magic necklace when she unknowingly copulated with her own son, then threw herself to her death. Again, we can see this myth exploring a moral question: What is eternal youth really worth?
Scandinavia: Brisingamen
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The Vikings, fierce warriors from Scandinavia, also told stories of fabled jewelry with mystical powers. The goddess Freya, wife of Odin, wears a magical necklace of amber called "Brisingamen." This enchanted talisman is known as "the jewel that cannot be resisted."
In many ways, the story provides inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's, "Lord of the Rings." Brisingamen brings ruin upon those who covet it. Only Sigurd, the legendary hero who slayed the dragon Fafnir, was said to have resisted the allure of Brisingamen. Like the Greek myths, the Brisingamen story creates a hypothetical situation that allows us to gauge human morality.
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- Photo Credit All images appear courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
