Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-08-09
EARRINGS ARE OLD
AS HISTORY ITSELF
Patriarch Jacob Buried a Lot
of Them-Fa fashionable Before
Pyramid Era.

\ curious instance of the surviva
ans revival of a fashion which
cszssNated in the remotest times i:
ghe earring, Worn by the kings O.
tsxN2t. and extremely popular amons
TIE ladies Of ancient Rome, il subse
Gsss}st'N lost favor until the gay day.
~ sAc stuart. period, after which il
sam dropped out. and has now once
,stcsse vesained popularity. The very
earliest mention of this form OF
decoration is 10 be found in the Book
~ Genesis.
Jacob IL Will be remembered, on
reScAinx Bethel buried certain
strange idols. among them some ear
rsakS belonging to his family. Doubt
les these ornaments We're regarded
purely in Il propitiatory light as
Srsoiets or taliSmans, such being still
their principal Office in the East to-
dsS.
That they are of eastern origin is
certain. and among orientals. with
the exception of Greeks and He
o-sws. II has always been the Gus
tom Tor both sexes to wear them,
while frequently only one ear was
adorned. Among other races. how
ever, earrings were always worn IN
rSsrS. and by the women only.
Earrings on Statues.
Excavation has frequently brought
70 light statues. Greek, Egyptian,
ASSSrian and Etruscan, to the ears
Of which were attached rings of mar
Velous beauty. and commonly of two
distinct types, the earlier one con-
SiSting of two halves and decorated
with some animals head. as that of
a lion or bull. the latter attached to
the ear bv a hook in the form of a
i -.
bearing delicate figures-a tiny Vic
tory or Eros playing some musical in
strument.
IN course of time. and by a natural
process of fashion. the Greek rings
assumed such dimensions that they
could no longer be attached to the ear
Lobe. but depended instead from a
6iadem or tress of hair.
In Egypt the earrings were of an
extremely simple character. often
merely a ring-shaped hook hung with
some symbolieal pendant They were.
however, used only in a sacred sense,
being worn by the sovereign on great
occasions. as may be judged from the
massive head upon the statue Of
Rameses II. in the British Museum,
in the ears of which holes are pierced.
Wonderful workmanship is seen in
the earrings recovered from the
tombs of Greek settlers in the Crimea,
while the sepulchres of ancient Etru-
ria have yielded rings not unlike
those found in Greece, usually saddle
shaped or decorated with small en-
ameled figures of birds. such as cocks,
swans. geese, peacocks and doves.
The Phoenicians, we are told, used to
pierce the upper part as we'll as the
lobes of their ears, inserting plain
rings. from which depended drop
shaped pendants or ornamental bas-
kets of grain. Rings were also at
tached to the hair on each side of the
head.
Gems of Roman Ladies'.
Simple enough, but of priceless
value. were the pearl earrings worn
by Roman ladies'.
Pearls had been imported into
Rome in large quantities about the
time of Sulla, and later Pliny wrote:
They seek for pearls at the bottom
of the Red Sea and search the bow
els of the earth for emeralds to dec
crate their ears while Seneca thus
piquantly refers to the new fashion,:
The extravagant fools probably
think their husbands are not suffi-
GENTLY plagued without their having
two or three heritages hanging down
from their ears.
Early Byzantine earrings followed
the Roman cast to large extent,
though usually crescent shaped and
richly ornamented. Earrings were
put to strange uses In those luxur-
ious times, for of Antonio, the wife
of the Roman Drusus, it is related
that she attached a valuable pair to
her pet lamprey.
Earrings were not particularly pop
ular among the Franks-at least they
amounted merely to a ring of plain
silver wire-and, indeed, we do not
again find them in favor until the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
though they seem to have been pop
ular enough with the ladies' of Will
lam is court.-London Globe.