THE POWER THAT BE...
Great gems went with great people...
gems were the historic perfume of the rich and powerful...
history was about the rich and the powerful. The gems went along with it.... Only in the last few hundred years were they ( jewels ) considered a form of monetary exchange. For most of man's history they were considered to have magical powers.
--Richard B Sapir
The power which jewelry embodied and reflects about its wearers have been held important to man since primitive times. Anything bright and colourful found in the earth or sea was prized by early man, perhaps because possession of it set the person apart. The possessor could thereby assume powers over his peers and attribute them to the object. Or perhaps it was the object which bestowed its power to the possessor. Up to the present, jewelry has been an individual adornment quick to identify rank, authority, wealth and influence to both those who wear it, and, in its absence, to those who merely observe it.
Jet, shale, amber, ivory and shell are among those first materials used in the making of personal adornment. Frequent mention ofcertain gem stones in the Bible attest to the importance of them in early recorded history. The breastplate of the highest priest, for example, contained twelve stones of great value, each engraved with the name of one of the tribes of Israel. Persians, Indians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and the now extinct civilizations in South America all held precious stones in high esteem with legengds concerning their method of formation and thier so-called "virtues".
The center of the ancient jewel trade was Alexandria where traders from Athens, Persia, Egypt and Rome gathered. The Romans learned to gather gems from Greek collections which they plundered and brought home. In turn, the Roman soldiers introduced the riches of the East to the West. Cleopatra reputedly entertained Caeser in a banquet hall with porphyry column, ivory porticoes, onxy pavement, thresholds of of tortoise set with emerald, furniture inlaid with yellow jasper, and couches studded with gems. Julius Caerser learned quickly. He collected many precious stones himself before he declare pearls prohibited from all below a certain rank and forbid any gems to be worn by unmarried women. Among the great Roman collections of old, those of Alexander the Great, Hadrian, Pompey and Augustus remain infamous. Still, the largest collections known are those of Indian princes. In the thirteen century, Marco Polo recorded previously unkown, and since unmatched, collections in India, China, Burma and Sri Lanka.
Great gems went with great people...
gems were the historic perfume of the rich and powerful...
history was about the rich and the powerful. The gems went along with it.... Only in the last few hundred years were they ( jewels ) considered a form of monetary exchange. For most of man's history they were considered to have magical powers.
--Richard B Sapir
The power which jewelry embodied and reflects about its wearers have been held important to man since primitive times. Anything bright and colourful found in the earth or sea was prized by early man, perhaps because possession of it set the person apart. The possessor could thereby assume powers over his peers and attribute them to the object. Or perhaps it was the object which bestowed its power to the possessor. Up to the present, jewelry has been an individual adornment quick to identify rank, authority, wealth and influence to both those who wear it, and, in its absence, to those who merely observe it.
Jet, shale, amber, ivory and shell are among those first materials used in the making of personal adornment. Frequent mention ofcertain gem stones in the Bible attest to the importance of them in early recorded history. The breastplate of the highest priest, for example, contained twelve stones of great value, each engraved with the name of one of the tribes of Israel. Persians, Indians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and the now extinct civilizations in South America all held precious stones in high esteem with legengds concerning their method of formation and thier so-called "virtues".
The center of the ancient jewel trade was Alexandria where traders from Athens, Persia, Egypt and Rome gathered. The Romans learned to gather gems from Greek collections which they plundered and brought home. In turn, the Roman soldiers introduced the riches of the East to the West. Cleopatra reputedly entertained Caeser in a banquet hall with porphyry column, ivory porticoes, onxy pavement, thresholds of of tortoise set with emerald, furniture inlaid with yellow jasper, and couches studded with gems. Julius Caerser learned quickly. He collected many precious stones himself before he declare pearls prohibited from all below a certain rank and forbid any gems to be worn by unmarried women. Among the great Roman collections of old, those of Alexander the Great, Hadrian, Pompey and Augustus remain infamous. Still, the largest collections known are those of Indian princes. In the thirteen century, Marco Polo recorded previously unkown, and since unmatched, collections in India, China, Burma and Sri Lanka.
Many of these early collectors believed that precious gems actually lived and were capable of maturing or "ripening." Some thought that tropical heat was necessary for the full development of their forms, and in the seventeenth century Garcilaso de la Vega in South America wrote that emeralds "take their tinture from the natue of the soil from whence they are produced, ripening there with time like fruit in their proper season." It was also widely believed in these times that gems were capable of human feeling and passions so that they could express jealousy or shock. For example, as will be seen in the individuals sections which follow follows in this note, pearls, diamonds, coral, emeralds, and other stones were believed to anticipate the future, respond to their owners'state of health, and express feelings so that they took on the properties of fetishes.
These and the other gems have been credited with occult powers since ancient times. They were first, perhaps, worn as amulets, and later as ornaments. Many astrologers and students of ancient teachings believe that each stone has its own personality and attributes. Rambam, the great Maimonides, on the other hand, wrote that, "there is no wisdom in a stone, for it is not the property of objects to be wise. . . the only value in adiamond or in ant other gem is what man places onit. Otherwise it is no different from the pebble underfoot. astone can no more make a person wise than it can make him good. A stone has no will of its own, much less power to act on it" Maimonidaes further illustrated his point by asking if a one carat diamond made a persbn somewhat bright and a ten carat diamond made him a genius.
People believed these things about stones because life was just too powerful and terrifying without them. people have known since early ages that the great and terrifying things of life are always beyond the absolute control of man.
Necklaces
Among the most ancient forms of jewelry is the is the necklace, for very old beads of pebbles, bone and shell are known from the earliest to mankind. Stone Age teeth strung together into necklaces have been found in cave deposits. since then, each civilization has contributed its forms of ornamental and revered neckwear. Egyptian necklaces of gold and gem stones from around 2000 B.C. show rounded and polished gems. greek and Roman strings of beads include the liberal use of agate and ,ore elaborate settings. As new sources of different gems became known , their appearance in the highest levels of societies are seen at each age...
These and the other gems have been credited with occult powers since ancient times. They were first, perhaps, worn as amulets, and later as ornaments. Many astrologers and students of ancient teachings believe that each stone has its own personality and attributes. Rambam, the great Maimonides, on the other hand, wrote that, "there is no wisdom in a stone, for it is not the property of objects to be wise. . . the only value in adiamond or in ant other gem is what man places onit. Otherwise it is no different from the pebble underfoot. astone can no more make a person wise than it can make him good. A stone has no will of its own, much less power to act on it" Maimonidaes further illustrated his point by asking if a one carat diamond made a persbn somewhat bright and a ten carat diamond made him a genius.
People believed these things about stones because life was just too powerful and terrifying without them. people have known since early ages that the great and terrifying things of life are always beyond the absolute control of man.
Necklaces
Among the most ancient forms of jewelry is the is the necklace, for very old beads of pebbles, bone and shell are known from the earliest to mankind. Stone Age teeth strung together into necklaces have been found in cave deposits. since then, each civilization has contributed its forms of ornamental and revered neckwear. Egyptian necklaces of gold and gem stones from around 2000 B.C. show rounded and polished gems. greek and Roman strings of beads include the liberal use of agate and ,ore elaborate settings. As new sources of different gems became known , their appearance in the highest levels of societies are seen at each age...
posted by Shahul Hameed at 12:22 AM
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