Jewelry and seals

Both men and women wore jewelry: bracelets, ankle ornaments, necklaces and fine gold chains, earrings, nose rings and finger rings. Stones were set in gold or silver, rounded and polished rather than cut with facets. Jewelry was a gift — Abraham’s servant put a ring on Rebekah’s nose and bracelets on her wrists (Genesis 24:47) — a store of wealth and a prize of war. The royal headdresses from the graves at Ur, about 2700 BC, show the skill of early jewelers, and Isaiah lists the finery of Jerusalem’s women (Isaiah 3:18–21).

A seal was a small engraved stone or ring pressed into soft clay to leave its owner’s mark. It showed that a jar, a door or a document had not been opened, and it signed letters and deeds. The Greek historian Herodotus noted that every Babylonian gentleman carried a seal and a walking stick. Seals hung on a cord around the neck or wrist — Judah left his seal and cord with Tamar (Genesis 38:18) — or were worn as a signet ring. Pharaoh put his signet ring on Joseph’s finger (Genesis 41:42), and a Persian decree sealed with the king’s ring could not be revoked (Esther 8:8).