Wedding rings, where does the phenomenon actually come from?
History of the wedding ring
When we talk about the history of the wedding ring, we can travel back in time and around the world. The modern wedding ring as we know it today originates from the Egyptians about 5000 years ago, but long before that time, the Neanderthals also knew a marriage symbol that we can characterize as a wedding ring. Although there is little scientific evidence for this, there are indications that round symbols were made of natural material to symbolize the merging of souls. For example, love knots were made of human hair and were worn on the finger of the partner.
The Egyptians
About 5000 years ago in Egypt the modern wedding ring originated. In addition to the use of primitive materials such as leather, bone or ivory, the first wedding rings were also forged from precious metals such as gold and silver. The wedding ring even existed before coinage and was also used to pay before coinage. This also directly symbolized marriage; during the wedding the man put a ring on his wife's ring finger, as a symbol that she could now also lay claim to his possessions. But in addition the wedding ring (or ring-money) also had a romantic tone. The round shape reminded the Egyptians of the sun and moon and symbolized eternity as a metaphor of the love between two people. But still the wedding rings were increasingly seen as a form of wealth and status rather than romance.
Roman times
The Romans adopted wedding rings as a symbol from the Egyptians. Only when they realized that precious metals lasted longer than ordinary iron or bronze did they also start making wedding rings from gold and silver. The wedding rings were given the shape or image of a key, which symbolized that the woman 'enclosed' the heart and possessions of the man. In Roman times, the woman was entitled to half of the possessions of the man after marrying.
The key symbol was later replaced by a snake (symbol of eternity) and under the influence of the Christian faith and a bit later, this became an engraving of a cross. Even for the cynical Romans, wedding rings were more of a 'purchase agreement' than a romantic gesture. A wedding ring made a woman economic property for a man if she accepted a wedding ring and in return the woman was entitled to half of the man's possessions.
A pact forever
In Asia, the possessive pronoun was taken quite literally, where rings were even made in such a way that you could not take them off without the ring falling apart. This way, a man or woman would always know when one of the two would break the pact.
Medieval Europe and the Western World
When gold coins became an official currency in medieval Europe, gold wedding rings were also forged on a large scale and it was not long before other valuables such as gemstones were added. From that moment on, the ring became less a symbol of the economic property of the partner, and more a status symbol for the partner that the bond symbolized. In the western world as we know it today, the wedding ring still has a significant value, but laws (and conditions) stipulate what the economic status of the partners is in relation to each other.
