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HANDS ON Traditional Crafts at The City of the Dead in Cairo

Jewellery

The oldest known jewellery, a set of beads skilfully made of shells, is 82,000 years old – jewellery ornaments may be more than display of wealth and status, or a mere fancy. Perhaps they reflect some very deeply rooted trait of human nature, present since the dawn of civilisation.

 

Jewellery made nowadays in Sultan Qaitbey’s area of the cemetery is produced in traditional materials using simple techniques to craft objects for the local market. Many are silver rings with semi-precious stones, traditionally worn by men in Egypt. Other products include rings and earrings for women, chains and pendants. Inspiration comes from both traditional forms of ornament used for centuries in Muslim society, and from ancient Egyptian art of the times of the Pharaohs.

This website is a result of a conservation and research project at the Hawd of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaitbey in Cairo's City of the Dead. The project was financed by the European Union Delegation to Egypt with a contribution from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and implemented in 2014 by Cairo-based ARCHiNOS Architecture in association with the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo under supervision of the Ministry of Antiquities and Heritage.

The web site is funded, produced, and designed by ARCHiNOS Architecture.

Website designed in 2014 by Maha Akl for ARCHiNOS Architecture.

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