Rings

Rings have been in use by people for thousands of years going back to Prehistoric times. Prehistoric rings from the Neolithic period have been found on the island of Java in Indonesia. Other prehistoric tings have been found by archeologists at sites all over the world, e.g. the British Isles, the islands of the Aegean Sea, and in North America.
The wearing of rings was already well established by the time of the rise of ancient civilizations. The ancient Egyptians wore rings as far back as around 3000 BC. Rings are known to have been worn around 1500 BC in the ancient Hittite civilization which existed in what is now Turkey. The Greeks and Romans wore rings, and the custom has continued to present times.
The ring pictured above was handcrafted by Rose and can be found on her website at Metal Jewelry Shaper

Letter Openers

An early predecessor of the letter opener was the pen knife which was used during the Middle Ages (and until metal pens were invented) to trim and sharpen the points of quills which were used for writing. In the 18th Century, printing was developed to the point where large numbers of pages were were printed on a large sheet of paper which was then folded and cut by hand with a paper knife. The paper knife by the 19th Century evolved into the letter opener which is still in use to open envelopes. The handles of letter openers have often been ornately decorated. The letter openers shown above are adorned with lampwork glass beads handcrafted by Rose and can be found on her web site at Beadshaper.
The featured creation on the Beadshaper web site in September is the Lilac Eyes Letter Opener.

Glass in Venice

During the early Middle Ages, there were glass makers in the Venetian area who made glass for church windows. Later as Venice grew as a major port for trade, the Venetian glass makers were influenced by the art of the East, particularly Islamic art. By the 13th Century, glass making had reached such importance in the Venetian economy that the Venetian government began taking measures to protect their glass industry and its secret methods for making the uniquely beautiful Venetian glass. The glass production was concentrated on the island of Murano. Foreign glass makers were not allowed in, and Venetian glass makers were not allowed to emigrate. However, by the 17th Century, some of the secret methods gradually filtered out to Venice's competitors in the outside world. The glass artists of Venice were then forced to become innovative in their art in order to stay a step ahead of their competitors. After the fall of the Venetian Republic at the end of the 18th Century, most of the innovation ended for a period of time. Venice continued to produce glass, particularly glass beads, in the same style that had been developed earlier. However, innovation in Venetian glass making was revived in the 19th Century along with the unification of Italy. Venice continues to be the most famous glass making city in the world even today.
The glass bead pictured here was made by the Beadshaper in California, but the glass she uses is imported from Italy. You can see more of her glass beads at Beadshaper

Beads and Superstition

Beads have been used for religious purposes and for purposes related to superstition. Although the line between the two can sometimes be fuzzy, I would define religion as a belief in a deity (or deities) to give meaning to our temporary lives in an otherwise chaotic existence. Superstition deals with small disconnected issues. The use of beads in superstition assumes that they have some magical power to ward off evils. Beads in religion are tools to help in communicating with God (or gods). Anyway, beads can be beautiful in their own right, whatever their purpose.
So, having defined superstition as well as I can, let’s go on to some of the history of beads and superstition.

Evil Eye
Probably, the most widespread superstitious bead with a long history is the Evil Eye. This type of bead dates back to prehistoric times and has been found particularly in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, Asia Minor, the Middle East, and Europe. The concept is that someone can cause you harm by giving you the Evil Eye. Beads shaped and colored to look like an eye were made to ward off this evil.

Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt heart shaped beads were believed to promote health. They were also often buried with the dead to continue good health into the afterlife. Another ancient Egyptian bead called the menat was believed to protect women and bring them love. A lotus shaped bead was believed to give intelligence, and a fish bead was believed to ward off evil. Eye shaped beads to fight the Evil Eye were typically blue in color.

Other Ancient Civilizations
The Romans believed amber beads could ward off illnesses. A ram shaped bead was believed by some Middle Eastern civilizations to give strength.

Adder Beads
Adder beads were beads made of a glass-like material found in Britain since ancient times. The peasants believed that they were made by adders (poisonous snakes). They were believed to cure various ills in people and livestock as well as to help with difficult pregnanciesThe Beadshaper will be offering her handcrafted lampwork glass beads and handcrafted jewelry at the Pasadena Bead and Design Show July 24-27, 2014 in the Pasadena Hilton Hotel, 168 S Los Robles in Pasadena, California. See Beadshaper for details.

Silver from Ancient Times through the Renaissance

The use of silver by man dates back to 4000 B.C. The first silver mines are believed to have been in Anatolia. The Anatolian mines supplied silver to the craftsmen of the ancient civilizations of Asia Minor, the Near East, and Greece. The cupellation process of extracting silver from ores containing silver and lead was developed in Chaldea around 2500 B.C. Silver mining in ancient times was often done by slaves because of the toxic effects of lead poisoning to the miners. The Minoan and Mycenaean civilization on the island of Crete became especially active in silver craftsmanship until their decline between 1600 and 1200 B.C. Then the silver mines at Laurium near Athens became the major source of silver for the emerging Greek civilization. The next major source of silver mining developed in Spain first supplying Carthage and later the Roman Empire. After the Moorish invasion of Spain in the 8th Century A.D., the source of silver for Europe was diversified into Central and Eastern Europe. After the discovery of the New World in 1492, new sources of silver were found in the Americas.
Rose will be presenting her lampwork glass beads and jewelry creations at the Pasadena Bead and Design Show July 24 - 27 as well as teaching various exciting jewelry making techniques. See Shows for details.

Women in Ancient Sumer

The most ancient civilization existed thousands of years ago in Sumer which was a collection of city states in Mesopotamia. The position of women in relation to men in Sumerian society varied according to which location in Sumer, at what point in history, and what level of society. As farming became more prevalent, men were more likely to do the heavy farm work (like plowing). Women would process the farm products (like churning milk, grinding grain, and weaving cloth. Although women were usually in a lower position than men, the difference was less in the earliest years than later. Women often sold the goods they made and went to the market place to buy the raw materials they needed to make the goods. The deity for many communities was often a goddess. In later years men engaged in commerce and women stayed home doing housework. Women in the nobility and priestesses could often read and write, but commoners did not. Women wore long tunics, henna make-up, and jewelry.
The bracelet pictured above is a nowadays bracelet hand made by Rose. See Metal Jewelry Shaper and Beadshaper for examples.

Pyramids

A pyramid is a 3 dimensional structure consisting of at least 3 sides in which all the sides are triangles which converge at the top. The greatest and most famous pyramids were built in ancient Egypt between 2600 and 1600 BCE. They were usually tombs for Pharaohs. They were supposed to represent the rays of the sun coming down and a pathway for the Pharaoh to ascend to the Heavens. Many of them were the largest structures built in ancient times. The pyramidal shape allowed for greater height by placing the largest (heaviest) part at the bottom becoming progressively smaller going up so that each level was lighter than the one supporting it below. They required the labor of thousands of workers. The Egyptian pyramids were preceded by the zigurrats of Mesopotamia which had a partially triangular shape although they did not converge in a point at the top. The native people of Mesoamerica (Mexico and adjacent parts of Central America) independently developed a civilization during Pre-Columbian times in which stepped pyramidal buildings played a role (more like ziggurats than Egyptian pyramids).
The pyramidal shaped (actually triangular because it is 2 dimensional) pendant pictured above can be found in the Metal Jewelry Shaper web site.