Human Civilization’s Long Relationship With Gold

 |  by Michael Locklear

One of the richest and most complex stories of human history is the story of our relationship to gold. Throughout the history of the world Gold has played a major role from as early as 4000 BC to modern day. People fought wars over it, countries have risen and fallen because of it, and it has been used to express love and to cover mirrors for use by astronomers in modern celestrial observations.

Around 3600 BC the ancient goldsmiths were the first people to carry out the process of melting ores in order to separate the metals contained within. They heated their smelting furnaces with blowpipes made from clay. Even before then the Egyptian people, in what is known now as Eastern Europe, were using gold to fashion body decorations as early as 4000 BC.

The first discovery of gold was more likely than not made while walking along a stream or creek when someone spotted the sun flickering off a rock line in the water. Perhaps it was a child many thousands of years ago. The truth is no one really knows who the first person was to find gold.

As the old saying goes” gold is where you find it”and there is no doubt that the first discovery of gold was of the precious metal in its natural state. It is unlikely that the shiny stuff was discovered by any particular group but instead by many different groups in many different locations around the world. It is also believed that gold was the first metal to be discovered by early humans.

Since gold is so widely dispersed throughout the world it had a very early and strong influence on the emerging human cultures. Intrigued by its outstanding brilliance and natural beauty, as well as its ease of workability and resistance to deterioration, humans soon began to fashion objects from it.

Even though gold was most likely the first metal to be found by humans, it is not ranked high as a primary contributor to the development of human civilization. Iron and copper are generally considered to be more significant in the rise in human economic development and political power. Although gold was highly prized by ancient peoples and was linked to the gods and Royal power it was not plentiful enough to be used as practical tools or weapons. Due to its scarcity its use was not widespread and generally ended up in the hands of Pharaohs and Kings.

In the minds of human beings Gold has always had a powerful influence. Very little is known about the history of the earliest interactions of humans with gold however we do know that it has been long associated with deities and immortality and of course wealth. We also know that these associations were always widespread throughout the cultures of the world.

In the early civilizations the drive to possess gold was fueled by its relationship to gods and rulers. Gold was fought for and sought in the name of the King and used to glorify the gods of nearly every culture.