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Jewelry taken from Queen Puabi's tomb at Ur in ancient Sumeria, 3rd
millennium BC.
The illustration at far right is part of the crown - the various pieces could be arranged in several different ways
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Polished beads found in
the tomb of Queen Puabi
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Gold jewelry from Troy II, 3rd millennium BC |
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Egyptian, 5th dynasty,
collar and bracelet
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Mycenaean gold pendant, 17thcentury BC
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Jewels of a princess, c1500BC |
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Necklace circa 14-13th
century BC, found at Mari, a flourishing city west of the
Euphrates
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Necklace beads, 13th
century BC
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THE NIMRUD JEWELRY
'Last year, exploring an inner room of the palace, a team of laborers (headed
by Muzahim Mahmoud Hussein, leader of the Iraqi team at Nimrud) stumbled
across a tomb that contained a small collection of necklaces, earrings
and gilded pins. In April, Muzahim found what looked like a piece of
pavement. When he and his workers cleared off the dirt, they uncovered a
small ceramic pipe resembling an air vent. The "pavement"
turned out to be the arched roof of a small rectangular tomb. Inside: a
dusty sarcophagus. "I pried the top off with an iron bar,"
says Muzahim. "There was more dust inside, but when I held up the
light, it was reflected back into my eyes by the gold."
Much of that gold
turned out to be priceless jewelry draped around the skeleton of a young
princess named Yabahya, tentatively identified as the daughter of one of
Assyria's most renowned and feared kings, Sargon II. Nearby, still more
jewelry and gold ornaments were piled. Mingled with the dried bones were
dozens of delicately sculpted gold rosettes, scattered like flowers over
the body of the dead princess.' (Quoted from Time magazine
article, Philip Elmer-Dewitt, October 13 1989)
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Necklace from the tomb at the ancient city of Nimrud, in Iraq.
Nimrud was the capital of Ashurnasirpal II, an Assyrian king of the 9th
century BC
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Nimrud: ugal or headdress worn by the Queen
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Nimrud: gold bracelets
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Nimrud: gold necklace
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Gold jewelry from the tomb at Nimrud
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The woman on this ivory plaque wears an
Egyptian-style wig and an elaborate ornament with pendants in her
hair. The image fits the description of Jezebel in 2 Kings 9:30-37.
This type of jewelry was found buried with a royal woman of the Assyrian
court at Nimrud.
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Egyptian, 22nd dynasty. During the rule of this dynasty, Shoshenq I
invaded the kingdom of Judah and Israel, and overran Jerusalem and
nearby cities in about 925 BCE. He took the Temple and palace treasures,
including the golden shields of Solomon, back to Egypt.
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Gold diadem embellished with blue, green, red, and white enameled flowers;
from a tomb at
Canossa, 3rd century
BC
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Greek diadem, 300BC. In Israel, construction of the 2nd Temple had begun
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Gold bracelet and earrings from Pompeii
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Left, gold hairnet fragment; right, woman with hair covered by hairnet,
probably gold filigree
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Statue of Antonia Minor
wearing
a beaten gold tiara
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Hairstyles, early Roman period
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Various designs of jewelry from the Fayum coffin portraits
See BIBLE
ARCHAEOLOGY: FAYUM |
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Survival
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One way or another, almost all
of the jewelry from ancient times has been destroyed. A few pieces survived
in hiding places, put there long ago for safe-keeping
during wars and invasions. The precious pieces were left untouched for millennia
because the people who knew where the treasure was hidden were slaughtered or taken
captive, never to return to their home. The secret of the jewelry's
location died with them.
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Style
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We have very
little to go on, but we know that the Jewish people
borrowed craftsmen from surrounding countries like Phoenicia. These men
produced designs similar to the ones they made in their native
countries, so it is fair to assume that Jewish women wore jewelry
similar in design to Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Assyrian pieces. During
the later Greek and Roman periods, admiration among the upper classes
for foreign fashions and design was strong, and Jewish women wore
jewelry similar to pieces worn in ancient Greece and Rome.
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Links with the Bible
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*
During the reign of Solomon's son Rehoboam, Judah was overrun by
the Egyptian ruler Shoshank I, 22nd Dynasty. Rehoboam was forced to pay a ransom to
get rid of him, including not only the Temple treasures,
but the jewelry belonging to the royal women of Judah, which was
probably taken back to Egypt to be melted down and re-used in Egyptian
jewelry (see 22nd Dynasty jewelry above).
* 'The Assyrian
came down like a wolf on the fold, and his cohorts were gleaming with
purple and gold....'. King Sargon II of Assyria (721–705)
is famous for his conquest of Israel. He took the ten tribes of Israel,
the Lost Tribes, into captivity (2 Kings 17:6). See Nimrud Jewelry
above.
* The woman at
the window, with her head adorned, is a frequent motif in the ancient
near-Eastern world. Jezebel is described like this immediately before
her death (2 Kings 9:30-37); see the ivory plaque below.
* See also Genesis 24:53, Exodus 32:24, 35:22,
Hosea 2:13.
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______________________________________________________________________________
INTERESTING
SITES - photographs, reconstructions,
information
BIBLE
ARCHAEOLOGY: FAYUM PORTRAITS
Jewelry from 1st
century Egypt in the fascinating Fayum portraits
WOMEN
IN THE BIBLE: JUDITH
A Bible story that mentions specific jewelry - Judith's tiara
WOMEN
IN THE BIBLE: REBECCA
The gifts of jewelry given to Rebecca
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______________________________________________________________________________
Jewelry
from the Bible period - Archaeology of The Bible -
Bible Study Resource
Jewelry in the Ancient World
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