sand seven hundred shekels of gold. Job's friends, in the days
of his returning prosperity, gave him an ear-ring apiece, implying they were to be worn singly, or as mismated pairs.
Homer, who understood gods as well as men, adorns Juno
with ear-jewels, to captivate her inconstant spouse ; hence we
infer their use was familiar to the Greeks in his time. Pearls
were the favorite gem for ear-ornaments, both with the Greek
and Roman ladies, though various kinds of precious stones
were employed for this purpose. The fashion was carried to
such an excess by the women of the Roman Empire that the
guardians of the public welfare felt constrained to condemn
their luxurious habits in the most unequivocal language.
These jewels were at one time worn in England in the form
of keys, a custom alluded to by Shakspeare.
Bracelets. — Both armlets and bracelets have been considered a necessary appendage of royalty, especially by orientalists ; while in ancient Rome they were the symbols of honor or
the badge of servitude, according to the material of which they
were made, whether gold or iron. The bracelet, like the ear
and finger ring, can claim a high antiquity. The one presented
to Rebekah weighed one shekel, the value of which has been
variously estimated; and those worn by the Sabines were of
such beauty and richness as to ensnare the unfortunate Tarpeia into betraying her country, and, as a penalty for her crime,
she has ever since, according to legend, been compelled to sit
spellbound upon the Tarpeian Rock, in Rome, covered with
the jewels she so much coveted.
The Assyrian kings are represented in the bas-reliefs of
Nineveh adorned with bracelets ; and these ornaments have
been found in Egyptian remains inlaid with precious stones.
The use of jewels by the ancient Egyptians must have been
very general, since they bestowed them with a liberal hand
