Throughout the millennia, gold has occupied a contradictory position in human history. Granted almost spiritual power, yet the object of the most materialistic struggles, the metal has always held sway over the human mind.

By Nina Cooper

Of all metals, gold is the softest and most malleable, yet has exercised the strongest hold on the human imagination. It appears naturally in its metallic form, which can be worked into complex shapes with the simplest bronze, bone, or wooden tools, meaning that gold could be worked into tokens, adornments, and talismans by the earliest craftsmen. In the modern age, contemporary goldsmiths are free to draw upon the entire history of gold work, echoing the past with ancient styles and techniques.

All civilizations, with the exception of the early kingdoms of China and Japan, valued and coveted gold. From the earliest times it was sought after for its shiny, golden color, which many people believed to have spiritual or magical powers. And from the beginning, it was fashioned into ornaments for personal adornment. Many volumes could be and have been written on the history of gold jewelry — to give a taste of this fascinating and complex subject, I have compiled a list of 12 insights into the world of ancient gold.

Ancient Jewelry, by Jack Ogden; 1992, © The Trustees of the British Museum; University of California Press.

Greek Gold, by Williams & Ogden; 1994, © The Trustees of the British Museum; Published by Harry N. Abrams Inc.

Ancient Egyptian Gold Jewellery, by Carol Andrews; 1990, © The Trustees of the British Museum; British Museum Publications.

Egypt produced 80 percent of the world's gold output in ancient times. They colonized Nubia for its gold and invented mining. One of the earliest surviving maps of the ancient world shows the locations of Egyptian gold mines, some of which reached depths of 300 feet. The Nubian mines alone produced over four million pounds of gold. In early Egypt, gold was strictly part of the sacred sphere, but eventually Egyptians began to use their gold as leverage to increase their power and manipulate their allies. Near Eastern Kings, who lacked local sources, were always pleading with Egypt for more gold. “Send me great quantities of gold, more gold than was sent to my father, for in the land of my brother, gold is as abundant as dust,” pleads Tshratta, King of Mittani. In exchange, they sent spices and other goods, betrothed their daughters and pledged support and alliance.

By the second half of the third millennium BC, Egypt was circulating gold rings of standard weights as money. The Middle Kingdom, 2040-1730 BC, marks a high point in the art of the Egyptian jeweler. Ajoure, chasing, repoussé, inlaying in cloisons, and granulation were used. A cylindrical amulet case from 1900 BC shows the earliest example of soldered granulation, using a silver-rich gold alloy. By this time, jewelry had acquired elaborate amuletic, social, and decorative functions. It's interesting to note that silver was rarer and more valued than gold because it had to be imported.

Gold in Iberia meant the region was repeatedly colonized or invaded by outsiders, including Minoans, Etruscans, and Romans. The Spanish jewelry firm Bagués draws on a long tradition of Mediterranean goldsmithing, including enameling, a process perfected by the Byzantines. Photo courtesy Bagués.

Mediterranean Innovation. By 1600 BC, the East Coast of the Mediterranean had become a center of innovation. Here merchants from Turkey, Mesopotamia, and Egypt came together. Jewelry produced in this area combined skills and fashions of diverse origins. However, by 1500 BC, Minoans dominated trade in the Mediterranean, especially gold and silver. They obtained gold from Iberia (Spain) and sold it to the Near East, and also exported gold jewelry worldwide. Gold work from as early as 2400 BC has been found in Minoan graves. The Minoans were eventually conquered by the Myceneans, from the Greek mainland, who had also adopted Minoan gold techniques.

From about 1000 BC, the seafaring Phoenicians spread new styles throughout the ancient world. Their motifs were derived from Egyptian patterns but were interpreted differently, using a great deal of granulation. Around 800 BC the Etruscans, from Italy, became a powerful maritime commercial power in the Mediterranean. Like the Greeks, they learned goldsmithing from the Phoenicians. The Etruscans colonized Iberia for its gold and became famous for their filigree and granulation work in which they depicted whole scenes in granulation instead of just geometric patterns. The Etruscans introduced coinage to early Romans and gave them their religion. Eventually they were absorbed by Rome.

By Hellenistic and Roman times, refining technology allowed jewelers to use almost pure gold. Previously, it had been used in its natural form, which contained up to 40 percent silver. Hellenistic and Roman gold rarely drops below 18 carats. Roman coins were initially almost pure gold but were later debased.

In early Rome, jewelry was a luxury under official disapproval, but when Rome annexed much of the Hellenistic world, the old austerity quickly vanished. Romans were the first to use niello, a black sulfide, and they initiated a new technique of cutting out patterns with chisels to create a lacelike pattern (opus interrasile). In 214 BC, the Romans conquered Iberia in search of gold. To mine it, they dug tunnels through mountains until they collapsed and diverted rivers to wash away the debris. In this manner they produced about 13,000 pounds of the metal a year. However, they spent all the gold on luxury items and were bankrupt by 300 AD.

Antique and Early Byzantine jewelry continued in the Roman tradition. Christian themes didn't begin to emerge until the 5th and 6th century. The carat system of grading gold originated in Byzantium where their coin, the solidus, was divided into 24 keratia.

Antioch and Alexandria were the greatest centers of gold jewelry production until the 6th century, when Constantinople overtook them. Gems began to dominate gold work but niello and pierced work were still very popular, and the Byzantines also excelled at enamel work. This was a period of great wealth; when Emperor Anastasius died in AD 518, he left 320,000 pounds of gold in the treasury.

In the 7th and 8th century, the jewelers in Constantinople enjoyed great prestige that extended far outside the empire. One of their necklaces has been found in a royal grave in China.

Europeans, Arabians, and Byzantines. The First Crusade, at the end of the 11th century, was at least as much about greed for gold as it was about religion. Early Medieval goldsmiths relied on captured or traded gold because very little gold was produced in Western and Central Europe at the time. In contrast, the Arab world had access to the rich gold resources of Nigeria and the Gold Coast.

After 700 AD, the economic strength of Byzantium also drew gold out of Europe. The gold was traded for Byzantine luxury goods like silk, cotton, and linen. As a result, silver became the metal of choice for European jewelry and coins. During this period, European jewelry styles were also strongly influenced by Byzantium.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, when the invention of the water wheel allowed mining in new areas, new sources of gold were found in Europe and more gold jewelry was manufactured. By the 15th century, standards were set and enforced for gold content in Europe. In England in 1478, all gold and silver, as well as the scales that weighed them, had to be brought to London to be tested and stamped; inspectors roamed the country for non-compliers. By the 15th or 16th century, Europeans also had drawplates with levers to pull wire.

The Mughal court in India was famous for its gem-encrusted gold ornaments, such as this head ornament of gold set with diamonds, pearls, and emeralds. Photo courtesy Georgia Chrischilles, Brussels, Belgium.

India and the New World. India was a legendary land of gold, as well as a major source and trading center for precious stones. The Mughal court in India was notorious for its lavish display of gem-encrusted gold jewelry and ornaments, and Europeans lusted after Indian gold, always trying to find easier ways to get to it. It was while searching for a sea route to India and that land's golden treasures that Columbus landed in the Americas — his first words there were, “Where is the gold?” However, it was Cortez, conqueror of the Incas, who captured tremendous stashes of the precious metal.

The wealth of gold ornaments found in Mexico and South America reflected a long tradition of goldsmithing. For instance, from 200 BC-600 AD the Nazca people of Peru used repoussé, hammered, and cut gold for bracelets and nose ornaments. From 300 AD-800 AD, the Mochica added embossing, soldering, inlaying, plating, and casting, including lost-wax casting to the store of techniques. Motifs included cat-demons, birds, fish, animals, human figures, and severed human heads.

In the 16th century, gold from the New World led to a surge in European jewelry production. Spain led the continent into an era of opulent adornment, while goldsmiths in France developed a wonderful technique for painting miniatures in enamel on gold. Cameos came into fashion as well. Competition among the courts of Europe for goldsmiths lead to a uniformity of style as princes vied to outdo each other.

This cicada of gold and pressed horn was made in 1890, but looks as if it could have been made by a modern artisan. Photo courtesy Facere Gallery.

Guilds and Enclaves. Historically, goldsmiths often lived in their own communities, which in many instances were attached to or associated with temples or palaces, as they were in the ancient Near East and Egypt. In Rome, temples sometimes provided sites for gold stalls. From Hellenistic times on, there were also independent workshops with stalls within the marketplaces of the cities. Medieval monasteries were an important source of patronage for goldsmiths, and up to the early 13th century, some goldsmiths were also monks. However, as cities grew in the 11th and 12th centuries, so did the population of urban goldsmiths. Shops were often located on bridges to catch passersby and the smiths were organized into guilds.

Guilds controlled quality, production techniques, and apprenticeship. In Europe, communities of smiths flourished in Bruges, Utrecht, Lubeck, Florence, Strasbourg, London, Paris, and Cologne, continuing to grow, except during periods of the Black Death. Mesoamerican goldsmiths were also organized into fraternities, inhabiting particular areas and placed under the protection of specific deities.

In general, goldsmith communities were not particularly well off. Clients provided the gold and the smith worked it, passing on skills and trade secrets from one generation to the next. It is much more common for us to know the name of the owner than that of the crafter of gold jewelry.

Goldsmiths migrated throughout the ancient world as kingdoms rose and fell. When Darius' palace was built at Susa in Iran, the goldsmiths were Egyptian and Medes, while the gold itself came fromAsia Minor and Afghanistan. An inscription from Alexandria tells of a goldsmith migrating from Egypt to Italy in the first century AD. This may have been a trend, since jewelry of this period is similar in both places. A revival of the goldsmithing art in Greece from 900-700 BC is thought to be due to an influx of Phoenician craftsmen who had kept the Mycenaen Greek traditions alive for five centuries and then reintroduced them to Greece where they had all but disappeared.

As the Roman Empire expanded, many goldsmiths migrated from the Greek East to Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome, where they began to organize guilds. In medieval times, goldsmiths migrated throughout Europe from one center of gold work to another seeking the most favorable circumstances. The city of Cologne alone sent smiths to Spain, the Baltics, Venice, Italy, France, and the Netherlands. Goldsmiths were also uprooted by war, often forced to move to new kingdoms as the captives of invading armies. This was the case when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, taking all the goldsmiths with him back to Babylon.

Goldsmiths were so sought after that kings and princes would do anything to keep them at court, sometimes crippling them to keep them from fleeing. Perhaps that is one reason that smiths in mythology are often lame. The Greek God and goldsmith Hephaestos had two broken legs and walked with gold crutches; his Roman counterpart, Vulcan, was also lame.

Gold became a symbol of wealth, elevating functional items to signifiers of status. Shown here is a chatelaine, ca. 1800. Photo courtesy Facere Gallery.

Status Symbol. Gold has traditionally been a sign of rank, and its use and possession was often restricted. In Sumerian graves, only royalty were buried with gold ornaments. Initially in Egypt the pharaoh and the gods owned all of the gold but the pharaohs were known to disperse gold pins in different shapes to courageous officers. During the Bronze age in Western Europe, gold was used to reinforce the emerging institution of chieftainship. In early Roman times there were strict laws governing who could wear gold rings and even high-ranking families could own only limited amounts of gold.

In the early Christian era, gold was used for Church relics but people were discouraged from wearing it. However, these rules were not without exception. Clement of Alexandria in the late second century explains, “Allowances must sometimes be made in favor of those women who have not been fortunate in falling in with chaste husbands, and who adorn themselves in order to please their husbands.”

From the 14th century, sumptuary laws restricted the wearing of gold jewelry in Europe to the wealthier or noble sections of society. Also, from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, gifts of gold chains traditionally rewarded loyal service to royal courts.

The Inca associated gold with the solar deity Inti, and the Imperial ruler controlled the supply. Gold was not allowed in widespread trade and commerce; the ruler distributed it himself as insignia to nobles who distinguished themselves in battle or service. Wives wore gold ear flares to distinguish rank.

From 1700-1900, the Asante controlled vast gold resources in Africa and used gold dust as currency, but gold jewels were restricted to the King, chiefs, and senior officials. At one time the Asante king required all gold ornaments to be melted down and recast each year; then he collected a tax on the new items.

Gold in Jewelry. Fashions in gold jewelry varied considerably according to time and place. Egyptians wore jewelry on every part of the body except the nose, but earrings appeared late, around 1500 BC, and the Pharaoh is never depicted wearing them. The Myceans preferred seal rings and earrings. Classical Greek men and women adorned themselves with gold; men wore finger rings and wreaths while women wore those as well as earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and diadems. Necklaces were usually worn tight around the neck like a modern choker, or sometimes to the base of the neck. Aphrodite, Eros, and Artemis were popular decorative motifs. Around 350 BC the Heracles knot, associated with marriage, became widespread. In East Greek cities the men wore more jewelry, including earrings, which were considered effeminate in Greece itself.

In the third and fourth centuries AD, gold became the preferred metal for hair ornaments in China. These ornaments were decorated with filigree, granulation, and precious stones. Necklaces were very rare in China before the seventh century AD. In early Japan there was some ceramic and stone jewelry, but from the mid-seventh century onward, there was almost no jewelry of any kind apart from a few hair pieces.

The custom of women wearing nose rings was introduced to India in the 9th or 10th century by Muslims, but never made it to Europe. Medieval jewelry was usually worn on clothing; brooches, rings, pendants, hat badges, and belt clasps were worn by both sexes. The heart-shaped ring brooch became a popular gift between lovers from the 14th century. As necklines fell lower and lower in the last decades of 15th century, the jeweled necklaces and chokers that had been so popular in classical antiquity came back in style and the medieval brooch fell out of fashion. Earrings and bracelets also reappeared. Wealthy or noble women began wearing pomanders and tiny prayer books, hanging from the waist on a long chain reaching almost to the floor. In Italy, women began to wear jewelry to enhance beauty instead of solely as a sign of rank. In the early Renaissance, men wore little jewelry with the exception of hat jewels, which were often quite elaborate. But gold chains became popular for both sexes. By the Baroque era (17th century), flowing silk fabrics replaced stiff renaissance fashions and the French court set fashions in Europe.

Romans initiated a new technique of cutting out patterns with chisels; this innovation is echoed in pieces by Janus Jewels, a modern jeweler greatly influenced by the Roman style. Photo courtesy Connie Tripodi.

Adding Stones. Almost from the beginning, rare and colorful stones have been used to embellish gold jewelry, but stone preferences varied widely. In Bronze- and early Iron-Age Europe, jewelry was rarely set with stones, but in Egypt and Western Asia, brightly colored stones were very popular, especially lapis lazuli and carnelian. In Egypt, the favored stones were carnelian, amethyst, garnet, lapis, green feldspar, jasper, and turquoise. Classical Greek gold is generally without gemstones, but garnets and emeralds were popular in the Hellenistic period. After Alexander the Great conquered vast territories, Greek jewelers also had access to chalcedonies, carnelians, amethysts, and seed pearls, which became very popular. Emeralds were favored in Roman and early Byzantine times.

When Rome annexed most of the Hellenistic world, they began to use sapphires and uncut diamonds. The cutting and polishing of diamonds was a medieval development in the second half of the 14th century, when diamonds began to gain popularity in Europe. Other gemstones were cut and faceted from earlier in the 14th century when sapphires and rubies were in great demand. Cut stones became the focus of European jewelry in the 15th century, and goldwork was reduced to mere framing. The supply of stones and the technology to cut and polish them improved markedly in the 17th century.

In the 16th century, gold from the New World led to a surge in European jewelry production; it was while seeking a sea route to India that Columbus landed in the Americas — his first words there were, “Where is the gold?” Techniques including repoussé, hammered, cutting, embossing, soldering, inlaying, plating, and lost-wax casting were known in the Americas by 800 A.D. Shown here are a Cocle disc (left) and a Lambayeque beaker (right). Images by Malkah Schmider, courtesy Ron Messick Fine Arts.

Spiritual Meanings. Because of its unique qualities, gold had spiritual meaning in many ancient civilizations. To the Sumerians, gold was divine, used to make sacred instruments for the temples. In early Egypt, gold was part of the sacred sphere, the solar metal. The pharaoh was the sun god Horus and gold was considered the God's body turned to metal. Later, the most widespread use of gold in Egypt was for jewelry production. Religious beliefs required the mummified body to be adorned with jewelry. Gold was preferred and often prescribed by the Book of the Dead.

In North Africa, the Sahara, and the Sahel, gold was considered an effective means of warding off the evil eye. But West Africans feared gold and avoided it because they believed it had a life of its own, an evil and dangerous spirit that had the power to kill, injure, or drive one insane.

In Colombia, a combination of gold and copper called tumbaga was popular. It was the color, not the percent of gold content, that was important to the Inca, who associated gold with the solar deity Inti. To the Aztecs and Mayas, jade was more valuable than gold — in fact, the Aztecs thought gold was the excrement of the gods. This belief certainly affected the way they regarded the Spanish lust for gold! However, the Aztecs did make gold nose ornaments and labrets that were worn through perforations in the lower lips of their rulers.

In Greece, wealthy citizens as well as the state regularly made lavish offerings of gold jewelry and ornaments to the gods as a means of gaining favor and establishing status. Gold jewelry was placed on cult statues in the temples.

Gold had no metaphysical value in Rome until 300 AD, when Constantine declared Rome Christian and melted down the statues of the old gods to mint coins and bail out the bankrupt kingdom. From then on, gold become an expression of light in the church, also held to represent the eternity of God because of its indestructibility, like the glow of the Holy spirit. It was used to adorn sacred basilicas, churches, and cathedrals until the late middle ages — master goldsmiths worked 15 years on Charlemagne's reliquary in Aachen. Medieval goldwork was justified as praise to God, but was always controversial.

From the earliest times, gold has played a central role in humanity's base struggles for power and wealth. At the same time, it has been closely linked to our efforts to connect with a higher being. In many ways, gold is an apt metaphor for these elements of human society that never change, even as empires rise and fall. Spain was plundered mercilessly for gold by the Etruscans and Romans, then went on to become a pillager of unequaled zealousness in the Americas. And the cycle continues to this day.