Good day dear Hive friends, first of all I would like to wish you all a pleasant day and hope you were able to have one or the other positive experience today! In this post, I would like to discuss an interesting historical topic and hope you can learn something new.
In the past, I have already gone into more detail about the history of blacksmiths and goldsmiths and if you want to learn more about it, you will find contributions from me on this topic here or here. In this article, I would like to specifically address the connection of goldsmiths and minerals and the history of the processing of minerals is already tens of thousands of years old and already in ancient Egypt many pieces of jewelry were made from minerals which the pharaohs and kings wore and the beloved mineral in ancient Egypt was probably Lapis Lazuli. The technique for processing stones was already coined in prehistoric times and minerals were brought into various forms and weapons or everyday objects were made with them and the processing of raw minerals have also been formative for the goldsmiths. For the ancient Egyptians, gold also had a high priority and was an important basis for blacksmithing and with the beginning of the Copper Age, which can be traced back to 4000 BC in Egypt, more and more other metals were combined with gemstones to produce jewelry or other objects and the Egyptians can generally be considered one of the most important figures in the history of goldsmithing. Formative for the art of goldsmithing on the American continent were also the ancient Maya, Inca or Aztecs who were known for working with minerals such as obsedian and have forged a lot of gold and the Aztecs even had their own protective god of the goldsmiths which was known under the name Xipe Totec.
Over time, the techniques for the production of jewelry have been refined and the goldsmiths have changed more and more and with technical aids it was possible to work more precisely and the new knowledge about minerals has also opened new doors for production. The name of the goldsmith as it is known today comes from the Middle Ages and traditionally the goldsmiths used gold, silver, bronze, copper for the production of their works, but minerals were also essential for the production of jewelry pieces and at that time these jewels were almost exclusively popular with nobles and jewelry was used to present themselves and was considered a kind of status symbol. From the 17th century, the trade of minerals from the East and America flourished more and more and this ensured that the goldsmiths could meet the ever-growing demand for jewelry and also sell new products. Naturally, the ever-growing trade in minerals and the resulting demand for jewelry also promoted more and more the general growth of goldsmiths and many people recognized and the growing creativity as well as the new jewelry from which minerals from other continents have been integrated which also helped that the reputation of the goldsmiths grew more and more.
Thanks for taking the time to read through my post and I hope you like it and can learn something new about history, I created the artworks with the help of artificial intelligence!