Click here (womeninthebible.net) to browse a decent overview of the material culture...
Does anything(s) in particular grab your attention about the clothing, jewelry, and cosmetics of the era?
7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
"Jewelry is transportable wealth. It is also an in-your-face status symbol letting everyone know just how rich you are." Not much has changed with gold continuing to be the bling of choice for many women (and men) today. We still adorn not only for ourselves but for the benefit of those around us. Julie
Jewelry (precious metals and jewels) still in some cultures today are deemed a more reliable source of wealth than paper currency which can lose its value.
Agreed. People still adorn and dress themselves in a particular way to define themselves whether it is to portray a certain status or show inclusion in a particular group.
I wonder whether jewelry in the ancient world (and perhaps modern world?) said more about the woman, or the man who typically provided it for her (engagement rings, anyone?).
I think it is really interesting that widowed women would wear another style of clothing to show that they were widowed. I wonder if they did this to exploit he fact or because they just didn't feel up to it to wear the normal outfit. After someone you care about dies, you tend to feel 'blah' and don't dress the same because you don't have it in you. The little blurb on the widows outfit seems that they may wear it so others know what they are widows because the woman took hers off to pursue a man and then put it back on to go back to her daily life.
Definitely some of the engagement rings today are a huge symbol of wealth in our materialistic world. Everyone wants to see the ring and assess its size and cost versus its symbolic meaning of love and in some respects ownership. Ownership in the sense that wearing a wedding ring signifies to others that you 'belong to someone else'. Having a huge and expensive ring is sort of equivalent to a bride price in that it can elude to a bride's worth and the ability of the man to provide or display the wealth he already has.
If you think about it.....modern culture hasn't changed too much. Kids see wealthy people and want to mimic them. Most families can't afford to allow that so we make fake jewelry. Just a small example on a bigger scheme. - Angela R.
7 comments:
"Jewelry is transportable wealth. It is also an in-your-face status symbol letting everyone know just how rich you are." Not much has changed with gold continuing to be the bling of choice for many women (and men) today. We still adorn not only for ourselves but for the benefit of those around us. Julie
Jewelry (precious metals and jewels) still in some cultures today are deemed a more reliable source of wealth than paper currency which can lose its value.
Agreed. People still adorn and dress themselves in a particular way to define themselves whether it is to portray a certain status or show inclusion in a particular group.
Stephanie
I wonder whether jewelry in the ancient world (and perhaps modern world?) said more about the woman, or the man who typically provided it for her (engagement rings, anyone?).
pdk
I think it is really interesting that widowed women would wear another style of clothing to show that they were widowed. I wonder if they did this to exploit he fact or because they just didn't feel up to it to wear the normal outfit. After someone you care about dies, you tend to feel 'blah' and don't dress the same because you don't have it in you. The little blurb on the widows outfit seems that they may wear it so others know what they are widows because the woman took hers off to pursue a man and then put it back on to go back to her daily life.
-Mylinda Johnson
Definitely some of the engagement rings today are a huge symbol of wealth in our materialistic world. Everyone wants to see the ring and assess its size and cost versus its symbolic meaning of love and in some respects ownership. Ownership in the sense that wearing a wedding ring signifies to others that you 'belong to someone else'. Having a huge and expensive ring is sort of equivalent to a bride price in that it can elude to a bride's worth and the ability of the man to provide or display the wealth he already has.
-Stephanie
Whoops, embarrassing typo alert. Make that 'allude to a bride's worth' not elude.
-Stephanie
If you think about it.....modern culture hasn't changed too much. Kids see wealthy people and want to mimic them. Most families can't afford to allow that so we make fake jewelry. Just a small example on a bigger scheme.
- Angela R.
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