The ancient Egyptians made beautiful bracelets and armlets from gold, lapis, carnelian, red jasper, turquoise and malachite. They worked both with beads and with moulded pieces, and created some beautiful designs.
Four bracelets were discovered at Abydos in the tomb of King Djer of the First Dynasty. They were worn by an unnamed woman, thought to be a member of the royal family. The bracelets were held in place by linen bandages, which made it possible to recover them in their original order of stringing. The beads are composed of gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and amethyst and are of exquisite workmanship, demonstrating the skill of the ancient craftsmen in this early period of Egyptian history.
The Egyptians also created bracelets with complex patterns from small beads of gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, amethyst and carnelian. They also constructed beautiful hinged bracelets using gold and lapis lazuli.
Copyright J Hill 2010