Gold necklace with rows of pendants in the shape of leaves, seeds, and pointed amphorae, Thessaly, Greece, ca. early 2nd century BCE (Benaki Museum of Greek Civilization)

In the ancient world, jewelry conveyed many meanings. First and foremost, people across cultures and throughout millennia adorned themselves with jewelry for decorative purposes. It is sometimes startling to realize how “modern” a piece of ancient jewelry can be—a realization that surely derives from our common human heritage and our collective understanding of beauty.

Pair of ribbed earrings, New Kingdom, Egypt, ca. 1479–1425 BCE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Jewelry also communicated the status and wealth of the wearer. Quite literally one of the first status symbols, jewelry conveyed wealth through the use of precious materials like gold, rare stones from faraway lands, and highly skilled craftsmanship. While this may seem ostentatious, in fact gold jewelry in ancient times was a form of portable wealth. Jewelry was a way for people to carry their wealth with them as they moved or preserve it during times of misfortune—for example the Romans who wore or carried jewelry as they fled Pompeii during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Storing wealth in jewelry also enabled families to pass it down through future generations, a tradition that continues today.

Mummy portrait of a woman, Egypt, ca. 100 CE (J. Paul Getty Museum)

But perhaps most importantly, jewelry was worn for its symbolic and amuletic properties in ancient times. In many ways, jewelry is a manifestation of human beliefs, fears, and hopes. The symbols incorporated into ancient jewelry invoked these beliefs, by referencing the gods, the natural world, and the myths and legends that guided life in ancient times. In this way, ancient jewelry and can be “read” like a text. The meaning of the symbolism contained in ancient jewelry, once decoded, gives voice to the past.

Many of the symbols often found in ancient jewelry represent seeds, leaves, fruit, and flowers found in the natural world. This was a way the wearer could invoke important concepts such as fecundity, prosperity, and abundance, all critical to survival in ancient agrarian cultures, as well as appeal to the gods who were associated with these symbols.

For example, a common motif in ancient jewelry is a cluster of granules, small gold orbs that are arranged in triangles or pyramids. (This is partly because granules naturally cluster together in triads—as in geometry, the most stable way to stack identical spheres is a pyramid.) These small clusters of granules resemble mulberries or a cluster of grapes, both symbols of abundance in the ancient world.

Granule clusters are often found connected to earrings or pendants, sometimes forming a point below a bead or stone. Some of the earliest examples were found in ancient Mesopotamia, including earrings found at the site of the ancient city-state of Mari. This style of earring continued to be popular throughout the ancient Mediterranean, even into Roman times, with variations on the numbers and size of the granules.

Gold earring with clustered sphere, Roman, 2nd–3rd century CE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Gold earring with clustered spheres and pyramidal granulation, Roman, 2nd–3rd century CE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

In ancient Greece, grapes were closely associated with the god Dionysus, worshipped as Bacchus in Roman times. The god of wine and revelry, Dionysus represents the abundance of the natural world and the intoxicating powers of nature. Female followers of the cult of Dionysus, called the Maenads, were believed to be “mad women” who retreated to the mountains at night to take part in ritual drinking and dancing. Thus, Dionysus was a symbol of feminine freedom as well. Symbols such as grapes, wine, and wine jars were often incorporated into women’s jewelry to invoke to Dionysus.

Earring in the form of a scroll-handled vase composed of hollow balls designed to resemble grape cluster, Parthian, ca. 1st–2nd century CE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

In ancient Greece and Rome, wine was often stored and transported in a vessel called an amphora. These vessels have a rounded base and a narrow neck, often flanked by two handles, and have been excavated in great quantity across the ancient Mediterranean.

Amphorae excavated at Pompeii, 79 CE (photo by Alexis Menten)

Miniature versions of the amphora, called amphoriskos in ancient Greek, were also used to store other valuable contents, such as scented oils or perfumes.

Gold amphoriskos (oil flask) with inlaid garnets, Greek, 3rd century BCE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The common use of the amphora in everyday life made it a powerful and universally recognized symbol of prosperity and abundance. Amphorae in various forms were given as symbolic gifts and prizes for social and ceremonial purposes. They were also incorporated into various forms of jewelry, including earrings and pendants dangling from a loop-in-loop strap chain.

Gold strap necklace with seedlike pendants, Greek, ca. 330–300 BCE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

As the symbol of the amphora was replicated in ancient jewelry, it became stylized in various ways. In its most simplified form, only the elegant silhouette of the vessel is evoked.

Gold necklace with pendants, Greek, 5th century BCE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Gold earrings with pendant vase and ring, Etruscan, 4th century BCE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Stones were also used to allude to the amphora shape.

Gold necklace with amphora pendant, Byzantine, 4th century CE (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The amphora, the grape cluster, and other symbols of abundance were believed to invoke the powers of the gods and confer prosperity upon the wearer. Once recognized, these symbols turn ancient jewelry from simply a beautiful ornament into a powerful object that connects to the hopes and dreams of those who wore it.