Valley Ridge Academy PTO

Jewelry & Pattern

Although the clothing of the Ancient Egyptians was simple and plain, they made up for it with elaborate jewelry. All Egyptians valued jewelry such as necklaces, pendants, cuff bracelets and amulets. However, it was mostly wealthy Egyptians that could afford to wear jewelry made from shiny gold or precious gems and so such jewelry became associated with power, wealth and status. Precious and semi-precious gems such as emeralds, pearls, lapis lazuli, amethyst and turquoise were often inlaid into lavish pieces of Egyptian jewelry. The Egyptians wore their jewelry in life and in death as many pieces were entombed with them during burials. One popular item of jewelry was the neck collar. Neck collars were made of bright beads or jewels and were worn on special occasions. Their designs used pattern, symmetry and geometric shapes.

Interesting Facts about Ancient Egyptian Art

• They mostly used the colors blue, black, red, green, and gold in their paintings.

• A lot of Egyptian art depicted the pharaohs. This was often in a religious sense as the pharaohs were considered gods.

• Many of the paintings of Ancient Egypt survived for so many thousands of years because of the extremely dry climate of the area.

• Small carved models were sometimes included inside tombs. These included slaves, animals, boats, and buildings that the person may need in the afterlife.

• A majority of the art hidden in tombs was stolen by thieves over thousands of years.

Egyptian Papyrus Painting of Queen Cleopatra & Artifacts from King Tut's tomb