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The highly skilled craftsmanship demonstrated by these pieces suggests the development of skills and technology over an extended period perhaps dating hack for at least several centuries. Gold and silver jewelry and silver beads and ornaments found in other tombs in the region, including those at a child's grave in Susa and a silver pin at a Sialak excavation in Ira, dating to even earlier times, all seem to corroborate these postulates and observations. The early Sumerians enjoyed a developed economy relying on distant trade with most of the their silver imported from northern Cilicia and Elam, and one can reasonably speculate that silver jewelry and silver beads, ornaments, vessels, and artifacts were among their varied export products.
Though rich in gold as evidenced by King Tut's treasures (circa 1:300s B.C.) discovered in 1922, silver was a scarce metal in ancient Egypt, and the early texts mention silver before gold, implying a higher value and prominence for silver. A decree in the Code of Menes, whose reign is stipulated at circa 3500 B.C., proclaims that "one part of gold is equal to two and one-half parts of silver in value." There were only two silver objects (a vase and a trumpet) among many artifacts found at Tutankhamun's tomb and these as well as a few jewelry and silver beads pieces were of electrum (natural alloy of gold and silver) quality rather than fine silver. But there is clear evidence of highly revered silver imports from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Nevertheless, these and other Egyptian finds reveal the artistic genius and well-developed craftsmanship of the highly skilled Egyptian artisans whose magnificent gold pieces have inspired so many over the centuries
On the other hand, both Asia Minor and Greece were rich with silver deposits. Some of the gold and silver artifacts, including jewelry and silver beads, unearthed on mainland Greece, Lemnos, and Cyclades date back before the arrival of the Greek tribes, and the now famed Mycenaean treasures unearthed by Heinrich Schliemann with a gold mask attributed to the Homeric legendary king, Agamemnon, also included silver artifacts, ornaments, and jewelry and silver beads, many of which are in the collection of the National Museum in Athens. So were silver objects present among the treasures of Knossos in Crete, excavated by Arthur Evans, reflecting the highly developed Minoan civilization. In Asia Minor, during the Bronze Age (ca. 3300 - 1200 B.C.) there developed a group of city-states as evidenced by finds in Lindar, Arsalan Tepe, Kurban, and Troy which were heavily dependent on trade and metalwork. In Troy, also first excavated by Schliemann, there were many gold and silver artifacts among the nearly 9,000 objects unearthed, including exquisitely handcrafted jewelry and silver beads. Although Schliemann also attributed these to the Homeric Troy of King Priam, they predate the estimated Homeric Trovan era (Troy IV) by many centuries, dating back to ca. 2500 B.C. (Troy Il). In general, these finds in Greece and Asia Minor demonstrate astonishing metallurgical and artistic achievements, utilizing a broad range of techniques, including embossing, repousse, engraving, inlaid, and cloisonne works. They are also among the now increasingly undisputed scientific and archaeological finds that suggest the very early artistic, intellectual, cultural, and commercial interdependence of Eastern Mediterranean's evolving civilizations on the three bordering continents, Mesopotamia, the Indus valley, and central Asia, extending to Britain and China.
Far less speculation is required when we examine the later societies in Western Asia and the Mediterranean Sea coasts, many of which have left behind exquisite works of art and craftsmanship, including jewelry and silver beads, executed in silver. Among the famous silver mines during the classical period are the Larium silver mines in Greece mentioned by several ancient historians which provided an ample supply of silver, not only for manufacturing silver objects and an abundance of Greek silver coins, but also instrumental in financing the defense of the nation during the Persian Wars: or the Greeks' own foreign military adventures and exploits throughout the Mediterranean Sea. One wonders about the course of history if Themistocles, the leader of one Athenian faction, anticipating the Persian invasion, had not convinced the citizens to spend the revenues from the Larium silver mines on a ship building project instead of distributing it among the freemen at ten drachmas per head, a measure that later proved instrumental in defeating the Persian naval force at Salamis. The extraction at the Larium mines continued until modern times when it was finally closed in the mid nineteenth century. Later the "Hellenistic" era witnessed the development of new styles and production of exquisite gold and silver jewelry and silver beads which were products of the integration of various techniques, materials, and designs from the vast lands and diverse people conquered by Alexander.
Both the Romans and Byzantines manufactured silver jewelry and silver beads in a variety of exquisite designs, demonstrating outstanding craftsmanship which has been imitated by or inspired many jewelers and silversmiths throughout the ages. There was already a strong artistic Etruscan tradition, predating the Roman Empire, in jewelry and silver beads manufacture and designs, itself influenced by the Phoenicians, but with the spoils of the conquest came riches of the east and many cross cultural influences before the development of distinct Roman artistic expression and domestic jewelry and silver beads manufacture. The Spanish mines were the main
Taken from www.silver-bali.com
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