Ancient Jewelry

Eight pieces of Assyrian, Babylonian and Egyptian jewellery drawn from the originals in the British Museum — and examined, for once, as workmanship rather than as archaeology.

This site is the complete 1867 book Ancient Jewelry, page by page as originally printed — period spelling, remedies and opinions included. About this edition →

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As Pieces of Workmanship

1 section

The Eight Specimens

1 section

Soldering and the Blow-pipe

1 section

Rings, Chasing, and Wire

1 section

The Mounted Earring and the Jointed Bracelet

1 section

Gold Plate and Inlaying

1 section

Highlights

The Eight Specimens

The same antiquity cannot be claimed for the specimens chosen for illustration as for the relics of Queen Aah-hept; but the most…

Curious Facts

10 genuinely curious things this book actually says, each linked to its page.

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Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Ancient Jewelry (1867) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.