SAEDNEWS: The tradition of giving wedding rings was first started by the ancient Romans.
According to SAEDNEWS: nearly 5,000 years ago, ancient Egypt was the first known culture where people exchanged "love rings," often woven from reeds or made of leather. It is said that the Egyptians viewed the ring—a circle—as a powerful symbol.
Rings were also used as personal signatures by the Greeks and Romans. It is said that signet rings inspired some of the earliest known engagement rings in Rome. Yes, in Egypt, rings were exchanged as love rings; then in Greece, rings were given to lovers featuring images of Eros, the god of love, or his cherubs. But it is believed that the Romans were the ones who linked the ring to marriage.
Typically, the ring depicted two hands joined together in love or agreement. These designs could be made of solid gold or engraved on stones such as beads, often carnelian, aquamarine, garnet, or agate. (These rings were popular in various styles for over a thousand years in Europe. They reappeared around 1100 and lasted for centuries.)
Ancient Wedding Rings
Wedding ring: gold ring with two hands, 16th century.
Intaglio ring, engraved gold and agate, 3rd century, Roman.
Ancient ring: three arrowheads of a blacksmith with a winged foot. Gold cameo and engraving, 1st century.
Over time, the Romans began personalizing wedding rings, moving from the gesture of shaking hands to engraving the couple’s own designs on the rings. During the Byzantine Empire in the Middle Ages, most rings were engraved with the face or full figure of the betrothed couple. When Christianity became the official religion of the empire, couples were often depicted with Jesus or a cross between them, blessing their marriage.
Gold wedding ring, 6th to 7th century, Byzantine.
