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Decorations: Ear-rings

No custom is more ancient or more universal than that of wearing EAR-RINGS. Among the Hebrews their use appears to have been confined to the women. That they were not worn by men is implied in the Book of Judges, where they are mentioned as distinctive of the Ishmaelite tribes. Ear-rings are seen as decorative ornaments on the Assyrian bas-reliefs. Those worn by the Egyptian ladies of high or royal rank were sometimes in the shape of an asp, set with precious stones. Three pearls, increasing downwards in size, composed the ear-pendants most admired by the queens of ancient Persia. The Rev. Mr. Rawlinson, in his "Five Great Monarchies of the Eastern World," describes a king of ancient Persia as richly adorned with gold ornaments. He had ear-rings of gold in his ears, often inlaid with jewels; he wore golden bracelets on his wrists, and he had a chain or collar of gold about his neck. In his girdle, which was also of gold, he carried a short sword, the sheath of which was formed of a single precious stone, perhaps of jasper, agate, or lapis-lazuli. Golden ear-rings with precious stones set in them were found in the tomb of Cyrus, at Pasargadae. When Hera adorns herself to captivate Jove, it is said by Homer-- "Her zone, from which a hundred tassels hang She girt about her; and in three bright drops, Her glittering gems suspended from her ears, And all around her grace and beauty shone."

The ear-rings worn by the ladies of Greece and Rome were also generally of pearls, three or four to each ear, sometimes of immense value, besides others of precious stones.