title: Flood myth

text: One example of a flood myth is the "Epic of Gilgamesh". Many scholars believe that this account was copied from the Akkadian "Atra-Hasis", which dates to the 18th century BCE. In the Gilgamesh flood myth, the highest god, Enlil, decides to destroy the world with a flood because humans have become too noisy. The god Ea, who had created humans out of clay and divine blood, secretly warns the hero Utnapishtim of the impending flood and gives him detailed instructions for building a boat so that life may survive. Both the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and "Atra-Hasis" are preceded by the similar Sumerian creation myth (c. 1600 BCE)—the oldest surviving example of such a flood-myth narrative, known from tablets found in the ruins of Nippur in the late 1890s and translated by Arno Poebel.


title: Flood myth

text: Yi Samuel Chen analyzed various texts from the Early Dynastic III Period through to the Old Babylonian Period, and argues that the flood narrative was only added in texts written during the Old Babylonian Period. With regard to the Sumerian King List, observations by experts have always indicated that the portion of the Sumerian King List talking about before the flood differs stylistically from the King List Proper. Essentially Old Babylonian copies tend to represent a tradition of before the flood apart from the actual King List, whereas the Ur III copy of the King List and the duplicate from the Brockmon collection indicate that the King List Proper once existed independent of mention of the flood and the tradition of before the flood. Essentially, Chen gives evidence to prove that the section of before the flood and references to the flood in the Sumerian King List were all later additions added in during the Old Babylonian Period, as the Sumerian King List went through updates and edits. The flood as a watershed in early history of the world was probably a new historiographical concept emerging in the Mesopotamian literary traditions during the Old Babylonian Period, as evident by the fact that the flood motif didn't show up in the Ur III copy and that earliest chronographical sources related to the flood show up in the Old Babylonian Period. Chen also concludes that the name of "Ziusudra" as a flood hero and the idea of the flood hinted at by that name in the Old Babylonian Version of "Instructions of Shuruppak" are only developments during that Old Babylonian Period, when also the didactic text was updated with information from the burgeoning Antediluvian Tradition


title: Flood myth

text: In Hindu mythology, texts such as the Satapatha Brahmana ( 6th century BCE) and the Puranas contain the story of a great flood, ""manvantara-sandhya"", wherein the Matsya Avatar of the Vishnu warns the first man, Manu, of the impending flood, and also advises him to build a giant boat. In Zoroastrian Mazdaism, Ahriman tries to destroy the world with a drought, which Mithra ends by shooting an arrow into a rock, from which a flood springs; one man survives in an ark with his cattle. Norbert Oettinger argues that the story of Yima and the Vara was originally a flood myth, and the harsh winter was added in due to the dry nature of Eastern Iran, as flood myths didn't have as much of an effect as harsh winters. He has argued that the mention of melted water flowing in Videvdad 2.24 is a remnant of the flood myth, and mentions that the Indian flood myths originally had their protagonist as Yama, but it was changed to Manu later.


title: Flood myth

text: In Plato's "Timaeus", written 360 BCE, Timaeus describes a flood myth similar to the earlier versions. In it, the Bronze race of humans angers the high god Zeus with their constant warring. Zeus decides to punish humanity with a flood. The Titan Prometheus, who had created humans from clay, tells the secret plan to Deucalion, advising him to build an ark in order to be saved. After nine nights and days, the water starts receding and the ark lands on a mountain.


title: Flood myth

text: The theme of divine punishmentin the form of a floodfor human wickedness recurs (Vineta, Genesis). Floods may appear local (Kitezh) or global.


title: Flood myth

text: Like many other folk-tale elements from around the world, the story of flood survival and human restart (motif A 1021.0.2 and associated elements) appears in Stith Thompson's "Motif-Index of Folk-Literature".


title: Flood myth

text: The Cheyenne, a North American Great Plains tribe, believe in a flood which altered the course of their history, perhaps occurring in the Missouri River Valley.


title: Flood myth

text: Floods in the wake of the Last Glacial Period are speculated to have inspired myths that survive to this day. Plato's allegory of Atlantis is set over 9,000 years before his time, leading some scholars to suggest that a Stone Age society which lived close to the Mediterranean Sea could have been wiped out by the rising sea level, an event which could have served as the basis for the story.


title: Flood myth

text: Mesopotamia, like other early sites of riverine civilisation, was flood-prone; and for those experiencing valley-wide inundations, flooding could destroy the whole of their known world. According to the excavation report of the 1930s excavation at Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara, Iraq), the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic layers at the site were separated by a layer of sand and silt that was interpreted as a flood layer. However, more recently it has been suggested that the nature of this deposit is more like that being created by river avulsion, a process that was very common in the Tigris–Euphrates river system. Similar layers have been recorded at other sites as well, all dating to different periods, which would be consistent with the nature of river avulsions.


title: Flood myth

text: The geography of the Mesopotamian area changed considerably with the filling of the Persian Gulf after sea waters rose following the last glacial period. Global sea levels were about lower around 18,000 BP and rose until 8,000 BP when they reached current levels, which are now an average above the floor of the Gulf, which was a huge () low-lying and fertile region in Mesopotamia, in which human habitation is thought to have been strong around the Gulf Oasis for 100,000 years. A sudden increase in settlements above the present-day water level is recorded at around 7,500 BP.


title: Flood myth

text: One hypothesis suggests that a meteor or comet crashed into the Indian Ocean around 3000–2800 BCE, creating the undersea Burckle Crater, and generating a giant tsunami that flooded coastal lands.


title: Flood myth

text: Historian Adrienne Mayor theorizes that global flood stories may have been inspired by ancient observations of seashells and fish fossils in inland and mountain areas. The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans all documented the discovery of such remains in such locations; the Greeks hypothesized that Earth had been covered by water on several occasions, citing the seashells and fish fossils found on mountain tops as evidence of this idea.


title: Flood myth

text: Speculation regarding the Deucalion myth has postulated a large tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea, caused by the Thera eruption (with an approximate geological date of 1630–1600 BCE), as the myth's historical basis. Although the tsunami hit the South Aegean Sea and Crete, it did not affect cities in the mainland of Greece, such as Mycenae, Athens, and Thebes, which continued to prosper, indicating that it had a local rather than a region-wide effect.


title: Flood myth

text: The Black Sea deluge hypothesis offers a controversial account of long-term flooding; the hypothesis argues for a catastrophic irruption of water about 5600 BCE from the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea basin. This has become the subject of considerable discussion. The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis offers another proposed natural explanation for flood myths; this idea is similarly controversial.


title: Flood myth

text: The earliest known hypothesis about a comet that had a widespread effect on human populations can be attributed to Edmond Halley, who in 1694 suggested that a worldwide flood had been the result of a near-miss by a comet. The issue was taken up in more detail by William Whiston, a protégé of and popularizer of the theories of Isaac Newton, who argued in his book "A New Theory of the Earth" (1696) that a comet encounter was the probable cause of the Biblical Flood of Noah in 2342 BCE. Whiston also attributed the origins of the atmosphere and other significant changes in the Earth to the effects of comets.


title: Flood myth

text: In Pierre-Simon Laplace's book "Exposition Du Systême Du Monde" ("The System of the World"), first published in 1796, he stated:


title: Flood myth

text: A similar hypothesis was popularized by Minnesota congressman and pseudoarchaeology writer Ignatius L. Donnelly in his book "" (1883), which followed his better-known book "" (1882). In "Ragnarok", Donnelly argued that an enormous comet struck the Earth around 6,000 BCE to 9,000 BCE, destroying an advanced civilization on the "lost continent" of Atlantis. Donnelly, following others before him, attributed the Biblical Flood to this event, which he hypothesized had also resulted in catastrophic fires and climate change. Shortly after the publication of "Ragnarok", one commenter noted, "Whiston ascertained that the deluge of Noah came from a comet's tail; but Donnelly has outdone Whiston, for he has shown that our planet has suffered not only from a cometary flood, but from cometary fire, and a cometary rain of stones."


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Anita Pallenberg (6 April 1942 – 13 June 2017) was a German-Italian actress, artist, and model. A style icon and "It Girl" of the 1960s and 1970s, Pallenberg was credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones: she was the romantic partner of the Rolling Stones founder, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, and later, from 1967 to 1980, the partner of Stones guitarist Keith Richards, with whom she had three children.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg was born on 6 April 1942 in Rome, the daughter of Arnold "Arnaldo" Pallenberg, a German-Italian sales agent, amateur singer, and hobbyist painter, and Paula Wiederhold, a German embassy secretary. The family was separated because of World War II, and she did not see her father until she was three years old. Her father later sent her to a boarding school in Germany so that she would learn the language. She became fluent in four languages at an early age.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg was expelled from school when she was 16, after which she spent time in Rome with the "Dolce Vita" crowd, and then went to New York City to hang out with Andy Warhol's Factory. She then began her career as a fashion model in Paris. She studied medicine, picture restoration and graphic design without ever completing a degree. Before settling in London, she had lived in Germany and her native Rome, as well as in New York City, where she was active in the Living Theatre, starring in the play "Paradise Now", which featured onstage nudity, and Andy Warhol's Factory.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg appeared in over a dozen films over a 40-year span. One of her first appearances was as the Great Tyrant in Roger Vadim's science fiction film "Barbarella" (1968); however, the character's actual voice was dubbed by Joan Greenwood. She played the sleeper wife of Michel Piccoli in "Dillinger Is Dead" (1969), directed by Marco Ferreri. Pallenberg also had roles in the German crime thriller "A Degree of Murder" (1967), which featured music composed by Brian Jones; the cult film "Candy" (1968) as James Coburn's possessive nurse; Volker Schlöndorff's "Michael Kohlhaas – Der Rebell" (1969), which was filmed in Slovakia; and the avant-garde "Performance" (1970), in which she played the role of Pherber. "Performance" was shot in 1968, but a nervous studio delayed its release.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg appeared in a documentary about the Rolling Stones, "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968), directed by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. In an interview she gave "The Independent," which published it on 16 March 2007, she related her encounters in Rome while "La Dolce Vita" (1960) was being filmed, with its director Federico Fellini, other filmmakers such as Luchino Visconti and Pier Paolo Pasolini, and with the novelist Alberto Moravia.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: "Barbarella." She portrayed "The Queen" in the comedy-drama "Mister Lonely" by Harmony Korine, and played a character named Sin in "Go Go Tales" (both 2007).


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: In the 1990s, Pallenberg returned to education to study fashion. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in London in 1994 with a fashion and textile degree. However, she decided not to forge ahead with a career in fashion, finding it too cut-throat and cruel.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg has been portrayed several times by other performers. Monet Mazur played a young Pallenberg in the film "Stoned" (2005), a biographical film about the last year of Brian Jones's life, while the NBC television show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (2006) included a story arc in which the character Harriet Hayes was hired to play Pallenberg in a film.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg is known for her romantic involvement with Rolling Stones band members Brian Jones and later Keith Richards. Pallenberg first met the band in 1965 in Munich, where she was working on a modelling assignment. Jones spoke German and they began a friendship that turned into a two-year relationship. She later recalled that they took a lot of acid during this time, but it caused Jones to have nightmares. She ended her relationship with Jones in 1967 after he became violent toward her during a vacation in Morocco, where he was then hospitalised. He died in 1969.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: In Morocco, Keith Richards saw Jones assaulting Pallenberg, and pulled her away and then took her back to England, where she moved in with him. She and Richards began a relationship that lasted until 1980, although they never married. Richards' lifestyle was not conducive to fatherhood, Pallenberg later explained. She was trying to raise their two young children but Richards was up all night and slept all day. Richards eventually was able to detox himself from drugs and stay clean, but Pallenberg continued to use them. This was what ended their relationship, according to Richards' 2010 autobiography. In 1981, after Richards and Pallenberg had split up, Richards stated that he still loved Pallenberg and saw her as much as he ever did, although he had already met his future wife, Patti Hansen.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: There were rumours that Pallenberg also had a brief affair with Mick Jagger during the filming of "Performance" and Keith Richards states in his autobiography "Life" that it happened. However, Pallenberg denied the affair, both in March 2007 when "Performance" was released on DVD and again during an interview in 2008.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg's burgeoning relationship with Jones helped renew his confidence and encourage him to experiment musically as the band were recording their 1966 album "Aftermath", while her intelligence and sophistication both intimidated and elicited envy from the other Stones. Pallenberg played an unusual role in the male-dominated world of rock music in the late 1960s, with Jagger respecting her opinion enough for tracks on "Beggars Banquet" to be remixed after she criticised them. In the 2002 compilation release of "Forty Licks", Pallenberg is credited as singing background vocals on "Sympathy for the Devil".


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Tony Sanchez's account of his time as Richards's bodyguard and drug dealer mentions Pallenberg's strange spiritual practices: "She was obsessed with black magic and began to carry a string of garlic with her everywhere — even to bed — to ward off vampires. She also had a strange mysterious old shaker for holy water which she used for some of her rituals. Her ceremonies became increasingly secret, and she warned me never to interrupt her when she was working on a spell." Sanchez goes on to describe Anita as having been "like a life-force, a woman so powerful, so full of strength and determination that men came to lean on her". Jo Bergman, who was the band's personal assistant from 1967 to 1973, said of Pallenberg: "Anita is a Rolling Stone. She, Mick, Keith and Brian were the Rolling Stones. Her influence has been profound. She keeps things crazy."


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Richards says she shared his addiction to heroin; she was charged first in the 1977 Toronto heroin arrest that led to Richards being arrested on charges that could have led to a lengthy prison sentence. A warrant for Pallenberg's arrest was the reason police came to search the pair's hotel rooms; she pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and was convicted and fined several weeks after Richards's arrest.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg spent a lot of time with singer Marianne Faithfull, Jagger's girlfriend in the late 1960s, who remained a friend of Pallenberg. They appeared together in the fourth series (2001) of the BBC sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" in episode four, "Donkey", with Faithfull playing God and Pallenberg the Devil.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: On 20 July 1979, a 17-year-old boy, Scott Cantrell, shot himself in the head in Pallenberg's bed with a gun owned by Keith Richards, while at the South Salem, New York, house shared by Richards and Pallenberg. The youth had been employed as a part-time groundsman at the estate and was involved in a sexual relationship with Pallenberg. Richards was in Paris recording with the Rolling Stones, but his son was at the house when the teen killed himself. Pallenberg was arrested; however, the death was ruled a suicide in 1980, despite rumours that she and Cantrell had been playing a game of Russian roulette. The police investigation stated that Pallenberg was not on the same floor of the house at the time the fatal shot was fired.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg and Richards together had three children: son Marlon Leon Sundeep (born 10 August 1969), daughter Dandelion Angela (who goes by her middle name; born 17 April 1972), and a son Tara Jo Jo Gunne (26 March – 6 June 1976). Tara Jo Jo died in his cot ten weeks after birth; the cause of death has been stated as SIDS or pneumonia.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg later stated that she first became pregnant in 1968, but that she was pressured to have an abortion so she could take part in the film "Performance", which caused her to feel extremely resentful. She became pregnant again with Marlon during the filming.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: After Tara Jo Jo's death, Keith's mother blamed Pallenberg and said she was an unfit mother, and took Angela to live with her. Pallenberg raised Marlon mostly on the road with the band, teaching him to read and write. When Marlon was eight, she moved into a house on Long Island, New York, so he could have a more routine life and go to school. In later years, she lived in Chelsea, London, but spent the winters in Jamaica.


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: At one point she expressed interest in writing a memoir but decided to not go ahead with it. "The publishers want to hear only about the Stones and more dirt on Mick Jagger and I'm just not interested", she said in 2008. "I had several publishers and they were all the same. They all wanted salacious. And everybody is writing autobiographies and that's one reason why I'm not going to do it. If young Posh Spice can write her autobiography, then I don't want to write one!"


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg suffered from hepatitis C, and had two hip surgeries, including a hip replacement, which caused her to walk with a limp. After detoxing in the early 1980s, Pallenberg abstained from drug use but later had a relapse. In 2014, she said she had been 14 years sober from drugs. She stopped drinking in 1987, but had a relapse with alcohol in 2004 after her second hip surgery. She regularly attended AA meetings. In August 2016, she told Alain Elkann in an interview when asked about growing old, "I am ready to die. I have done so much here. My Mum died at 94. I don’t want to lose my independence. Now I am over 70 and to be honest I did not think I would live over 40".


title: Anita Pallenberg

text: Pallenberg died on 13 June 2017, aged 75, due to complications from hepatitis C. She is survived by her two children and five grandchildren.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery (UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western perspective, the term is restricted to durable ornaments, excluding flowers for example. For many centuries metal such as gold often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for jewellery, but other materials such as glass, shells and other plant materials may be used.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery is one of the oldest types of archaeological artefact – with 100,000-year-old beads made from "Nassarius" shells thought to be the oldest known jewellery. The basic forms of jewellery vary between cultures but are often extremely long-lived; in European cultures the most common forms of jewellery listed above have persisted since ancient times, while other forms such as adornments for the nose or ankle, important in other cultures, are much less common.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery may be made from a wide range of materials. Gemstones and similar materials such as amber and coral, precious metals, beads, and shells have been widely used, and enamel has often been important. In most cultures jewellery can be understood as a status symbol, for its material properties, its patterns, or for meaningful symbols. Jewellery has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings, and even genital jewellery. In modern European culture the amount worn by adult males is relatively low compared with other cultures and other periods in European culture.


title: Jewellery

text: The word "jewellery" itself is derived from the word "jewel", which was anglicised from the Old French ""jouel"", and beyond that, to the Latin word ""jocale"", meaning plaything. In British English, Indian English, New Zealand English, Hiberno-English, Australian English, and South African English it is spelled "jewellery," while the spelling is "jewelry" in American English. Both are used in Canadian English, though "jewellery" prevails by a two to one margin. In French and a few other European languages the equivalent term, "joaillerie", may also cover decorated metalwork in precious metal such as "objets d'art" and church items, not just objects worn on the person.


title: Jewellery

text: Most cultures at some point have had a practice of keeping large amounts of wealth stored in the form of jewellery. Numerous cultures store wedding dowries in the form of jewellery or make jewellery as a means to store or display coins. Alternatively, jewellery has been used as a currency or trade good. an example being the use of slave beads.


title: Jewellery

text: Many items of jewellery, such as brooches and buckles, originated as purely functional items, but evolved into decorative items as their functional requirement diminished.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery can symbolise group membership (as in the case, of the Christian crucifix or the Jewish Star of David) or status (as in the case of chains of office, or the Western practice of married people wearing wedding rings).


title: Jewellery

text: Wearing of amulets and devotional medals to provide protection or to ward off evil is common in some cultures. These may take the form of symbols (such as the ankh), stones, plants, animals, body parts (such as the Khamsa), or glyphs (such as stylised versions of the Throne Verse in Islamic art).


title: Jewellery

text: In creating jewellery, gemstones, coins, or other precious items are often used, and they are typically set into precious metals. Platinum alloys range from 900 (90% pure) to 950 (95% pure). The silver used in jewellery is usually sterling silver, or 92.5% fine silver. In costume jewellery, stainless steel findings are sometimes used.


title: Jewellery

text: Other commonly used materials include glass, such as fused-glass or enamel; wood, often carved or turned; shells and other natural animal substances such as bone and ivory; natural clay; polymer clay; Hemp and other twines have been used as well to create jewellery that has more of a natural feel. However, any inclusion of lead or lead solder will give a British Assay office (the body which gives U.K. jewellery its stamp of approval, the Hallmark) the right to destroy the piece, however it is very rare for the assay office to do so.


title: Jewellery

text: Beads are frequently used in jewellery. These may be made of glass, gemstones, metal, wood, shells, clay and polymer clay. Beaded jewellery commonly encompasses necklaces, bracelets, earrings, belts and rings. Beads may be large or small; the smallest type of beads used are known as seed beads, these are the beads used for the "woven" style of beaded jewellery. Seed beads are also used in an embroidery technique where they are sewn onto fabric backings to create broad collar neck pieces and beaded bracelets. Bead embroidery, a popular type of handwork during the Victorian era, is enjoying a renaissance in modern jewellery making. Beading, or beadwork, is also very popular in many African and indigenous North American cultures.


title: Jewellery

text: Silversmiths, goldsmiths, and lapidaries use methods including forging, casting, soldering or welding, cutting, carving and "cold-joining" (using adhesives, staples and rivets to assemble parts).


title: Jewellery

text: Diamonds were first mined in India. Pliny may have mentioned them, although there is some debate as to the exact nature of the stone he referred to as "Adamas". In 2005, Australia, Botswana, Russia and Canada ranked among the primary sources of gemstone diamond production. There are negative consequences of the diamond trade in certain areas. Diamonds mined during the recent civil wars in Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and other nations have been labelled as blood diamonds when they are mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency.


title: Jewellery

text: The British crown jewels contain the Cullinan Diamond, part of the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found (1905), at 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g).


title: Jewellery

text: Now popular in engagement rings, this usage dates back to the marriage of Maximilian I to Mary of Burgundy in 1477.


title: Jewellery

text: A popular style is the diamond solitaire, which features a single large diamond mounted prominently. Within solitaire, there are 3 categories in which a ring can be classified into: prong, bezel and tension setting.


title: Jewellery

text: Some gemstones (like pearls, coral, and amber) are classified as organic, meaning that they are produced by living organisms. Others are inorganic, meaning that they are generally composed of and arise from minerals.


title: Jewellery

text: Some gems, for example, amethyst, have become less valued as methods of extracting and importing them have progressed. Some man-made gems can serve in place of natural gems, such as cubic zirconia, which can be used in place of diamond.


title: Jewellery

text: For platinum, gold, and silver jewellery, there are many techniques to create finishes. The most common are high-polish, satin/matte, brushed, and hammered. High-polished jewellery is the most common and gives the metal a highly reflective, shiny look. Satin, or matte finish reduces the shine and reflection of the jewellery, and this is commonly used to accentuate gemstones such as diamonds. Brushed finishes give the jewellery a textured look and are created by brushing a material (similar to sandpaper) against the metal, leaving "brush strokes". Hammered finishes are typically created by using a rounded steel hammer and hammering the jewellery to give it a wavy texture.


title: Jewellery

text: Some jewellery is plated to give it a shiny, reflective look or to achieve a desired colour. Sterling silver jewellery may be plated with a thin layer of 0.999 fine silver (a process known as flashing) or may be plated with rhodium or gold. Base metal costume jewellery may also be plated with silver, gold, or rhodium for a more attractive finish.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery has been used to denote status. In ancient Rome, only certain ranks could wear rings and later, sumptuary laws dictated who could wear what type of jewellery. This was also based on rank of the citizens of that time.


title: Jewellery

text: Cultural dictates have also played a significant role. For example, the wearing of earrings by Western men was considered effeminate in the 19th century and early 20th century. More recently, the display of body jewellery, such as piercings, has become a mark of acceptance or seen as a badge of courage within some groups but is completely rejected in others. Likewise, hip hop culture has popularised the slang term bling-bling, which refers to ostentatious display of jewellery by men or women.


title: Jewellery

text: Conversely, the jewellery industry in the early 20th century launched a campaign to popularise wedding rings for men, which caught on, as well as engagement rings for men, which did not, going so far as to create a false history and claim that the practice had medieval roots. By the mid-1940s, 85% of weddings in the U.S. featured a double-ring ceremony, up from 15% in the 1920s.


title: Jewellery

text: Some religions have specific rules or traditions surrounding jewellery (or even prohibiting it) and many religions have edicts against excessive display. Islam, for instance, considers the wearing of gold by men as Haraam. The majority of Islamic jewellery was in the form of bridal dowries, and traditionally was not handed down from generation to generation; instead, on a woman's death it was sold at the souk and recycled or sold to passers-by. Islamic jewellery from before the 19th century is thus exceedingly rare.


title: Jewellery

text: Some Christian denominations forbid the use of jewellery by both men and women, including Amish-Mennonites and Holiness churches. The New Testament of the Bible gives injunctions against the wearing of gold, in the writings of the apostles Paul and Peter, and Revelations, describes "the great whore", or false religious system, as being "decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand." (Rev. 17:4)


title: Jewellery

text: The history of jewellery is long and goes back many years, with many different uses among different cultures. It has endured for thousands of years and has provided various insights into how ancient cultures worked.


title: Jewellery

text: The earliest known Jewellery was actually created not by humans ("Homo sapiens") but by Neanderthal living in Europe. Specifically, perforated beads made from small sea shells have been found dating to 115,000 years ago in the Cueva de los Aviones, a cave along the southeast coast of Spain. Later in Kenya, at Enkapune Ya Muto, beads made from perforated ostrich egg shells have been dated to more than 40,000 years ago. In Russia, a stone bracelet and marble ring are attributed to a similar age.


title: Jewellery

text: Later, the European early modern humans had crude necklaces and bracelets of bone, teeth, berries, and stone hung on pieces of string or animal sinew, or pieces of carved bone used to secure clothing together. In some cases, jewellery had shell or mother-of-pearl pieces.


title: Jewellery

text: A decorated engraved pendant (the Star Carr Pendant) dating to around 11,000 BC, and thought to be the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain, was found at the site of Star Carr in North Yorkshire in 2015. In southern Russia, carved bracelets made of mammoth tusk have been found. The Venus of Hohle Fels features a perforation at the top, showing that it was intended to be worn as a pendant.


title: Jewellery

text: Around seven-thousand years ago, the first sign of copper jewellery was seen. In October 2012 the Museum of Ancient History in Lower Austria revealed that they had found a grave of a female jewellery worker – forcing archaeologists to take a fresh look at prehistoric gender roles after it appeared to be that of a female fine metal worker – a profession that was previously thought to have been carried out exclusively by men.


title: Jewellery

text: The first signs of established jewellery making in Ancient Egypt was around 3,000–5,000 years ago. The Egyptians preferred the luxury, rarity, and workability of gold over other metals. In Predynastic Egypt jewellery soon began to symbolise political and religious power in the community. Although it was worn by wealthy Egyptians in life, it was also worn by them in death, with jewellery commonly placed among grave goods.


title: Jewellery

text: In conjunction with gold jewellery, Egyptians used coloured glass, along with semi-precious gems. The colour of the jewellery had significance. Green, for example, symbolised fertility. Lapis lazuli and silver had to be imported from beyond the country's borders.


title: Jewellery

text: Egyptian designs were most common in Phoenician jewellery. Also, ancient Turkish designs found in Persian jewellery suggest that trade between the Middle East and Europe was not uncommon. Women wore elaborate gold and silver pieces that were used in ceremonies.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery of the Berber cultures is a style of traditional jewellery worn by women and girls in the rural areas of the Maghreb region in North Africa inhabited by indigenous Berber people (in Berber language: "Amazigh, Imazighen", pl). Following long social and cultural traditions, the silversmiths of different ethnic Berber groups of Morocco, Algeria and neighbouring countries created intricate jewellery to adorn their women and that formed part of their ethnic identity. Traditional Berber jewellery was usually made of silver and includes elaborate brooches made of triangular plates and pins (fibula), originally used as clasps for garments, but also necklaces, bracelets, earrings and similar items.


title: Jewellery

text: Another major type is the so-called "khmissa" (local pronunciation of the Arabic word "khamsa" for the number "five"), which is called "afus" in the Berber language ("Tamazight)". This form represents the five fingers of the hand and is traditionally believed both by Muslims as well as Jewish people to protect against the Evil Eye.


title: Jewellery

text: The oldest gold jewelry in the world is dating from 4,600 BC to 4,200 BC and was discovered in Europe, at the site of Varna Necropolis, near the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria. Several prehistoric Bulgarian finds are considered no less old – the golden treasures of Hotnitsa, Durankulak, artifacts from the Kurgan settlement of Yunatsite near Pazardzhik, the golden treasure Sakar, as well as beads and gold jewellery found in the Kurgan settlement of Provadia – Solnitsata (“salt pit”). However, Varna gold is most often called the oldest since this treasure is the largest and most diverse.


title: Jewellery

text: By approximately 5,000 years ago, jewellery-making had become a significant craft in the cities of Mesopotamia. The most significant archaeological evidence comes from the Royal Cemetery of Ur, where hundreds of burials dating 2900–2300 BC were unearthed; tombs such as that of Puabi contained a multitude of artefacts in gold, silver, and semi-precious stones, such as lapis lazuli crowns embellished with gold figurines, close-fitting collar necklaces, and jewel-headed pins. In Assyria, men and women both wore extensive amounts of jewellery, including amulets, ankle bracelets, heavy multi-strand necklaces, and cylinder seals.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery in Mesopotamia tended to be manufactured from thin metal leaf and was set with large numbers of brightly coloured stones (chiefly agate, lapis, carnelian, and jasper). Favoured shapes included leaves, spirals, cones, and bunches of grapes. Jewellers created works both for human use and for adorning statues and idols. They employed a wide variety of sophisticated metalworking techniques, such as cloisonné, engraving, fine granulation, and filigree.


title: Jewellery

text: Extensive and meticulously maintained records pertaining to the trade and manufacture of jewellery have also been unearthed throughout Mesopotamian archaeological sites. One record in the Mari royal archives, for example, gives the composition of various items of jewellery:


title: Jewellery

text: The Greeks started using gold and gems in jewellery in 1600 BC, although beads shaped as shells and animals were produced widely in earlier times. Around 1500 BC, the main techniques of working gold in Greece included casting, twisting bars, and making wire. Many of these sophisticated techniques were popular in the Mycenaean period, but unfortunately this skill was lost at the end of the Bronze Age. The forms and shapes of jewellery in ancient Greece such as the armring (13th century BC), brooch (10th century BC) and pins (7th century BC), have varied widely since the Bronze Age as well. Other forms of jewellery include wreaths, earrings, necklace and bracelets. A good example of the high quality that gold working techniques could achieve in Greece is the 'Gold Olive Wreath' (4th century BC), which is modeled on the type of wreath given as a prize for winners in athletic competitions like the Olympic Games. Jewellery dating from 600 to 475 BC is not well represented in the archaeological record, but after the Persian wars the quantity of jewellery again became more plentiful. One particularly popular type of design at this time was a bracelet decorated with snake and animal-heads Because these bracelets used considerably more metal, many examples were made from bronze. By 300 BC, the Greeks had mastered making coloured jewellery and using amethysts, pearl, and emeralds. Also, the first signs of cameos appeared, with the Greeks creating them from Indian Sardonyx, a striped brown pink and cream agate stone. Greek jewellery was often simpler than in other cultures, with simple designs and workmanship. However, as time progressed, the designs grew in complexity and different materials were soon used.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery in Greece was hardly worn and was mostly used for public appearances or on special occasions. It was frequently given as a gift and was predominantly worn by women to show their wealth, social status, and beauty. The jewellery was often supposed to give the wearer protection from the "Evil Eye" or endowed the owner with supernatural powers, while others had a religious symbolism. Older pieces of jewellery that have been found were dedicated to the Gods.


title: Jewellery

text: They worked two styles of pieces: cast pieces and pieces hammered out of sheet metal. Fewer pieces of cast jewellery have been recovered. It was made by casting the metal onto two stone or clay moulds. The two halves were then joined together, and wax, followed by molten metal, was placed in the centre. This technique had been practised since the late Bronze Age. The more common form of jewellery was the hammered sheet type. Sheets of metal would be hammered to thickness and then soldered together. The inside of the two sheets would be filled with wax or another liquid to preserve the metal work. Different techniques, such as using a stamp or engraving, were then used to create motifs on the jewellery. Jewels may then be added to hollows or glass poured into special cavities on the surface.


title: Jewellery

text: The Greeks took much of their designs from outer origins, such as Asia, when Alexander the Great conquered part of it. In earlier designs, other European influences can also be detected. When Roman rule came to Greece, no change in jewellery designs was detected. However, by 27 BC, Greek designs were heavily influenced by the Roman culture. That is not to say that indigenous design did not thrive. Numerous polychrome butterfly pendants on silver foxtail chains, dating from the 1st century, have been found near Olbia, with only one example ever found anywhere else.


title: Jewellery

text: Gorgons, pomegranates, acorns, lotus flowers and palms were a clear indicator of Greek influence in Etruscan jewellery. The modelling of heads, which was a typical practice from the Greek severe period, was a technique that spread throughout the Etruscan territory. An even clearer evidence of new influences is the shape introduced in the Orientalizing era: The Bullae. A pear shaped vessel used to hold perfume. Its surface was usually decorated with repoussé and engraved symbolic figures.


title: Jewellery

text: Much of the jewellery found was not "worn" by Etruscans, but were made to accompany them in the after world. Most, if not all, techniques of Etruscan goldsmiths were not invented by them as they are dated to the third millennium BC.


title: Jewellery

text: Although jewellery work was abundantly diverse in earlier times, especially among the barbarian tribes such as the Celts, when the Romans conquered most of Europe, jewellery was changed as smaller factions developed the Roman designs. The most common artefact of early Rome was the brooch, which was used to secure clothing together. The Romans used a diverse range of materials for their jewellery from their extensive resources across the continent. Although they used gold, they sometimes used bronze or bone, and in earlier times, glass beads & pearl. As early as 2,000 years ago, they imported Sri Lankan sapphires and Indian diamonds and used emeralds and amber in their jewellery. In Roman-ruled England, fossilised wood called jet from Northern England was often carved into pieces of jewellery. The early Italians worked in crude gold and created clasps, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. They also produced larger pendants that could be filled with perfume.


title: Jewellery

text: Like the Greeks, often the purpose of Roman jewellery was to ward off the "Evil Eye" given by other people. Although women wore a vast array of jewellery, men often only wore a finger ring. Although they were expected to wear at least one ring, some Roman men wore a ring on every finger, while others wore none. Roman men and women wore rings with an engraved gem on it that was used with wax to seal documents, a practice that continued into medieval times when kings and noblemen used the same method. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the jewellery designs were absorbed by neighbouring countries and tribes.


title: Jewellery

text: Post-Roman Europe continued to develop jewellery making skills. The Celts and Merovingians in particular are noted for their jewellery, which in terms of quality matched or exceeded that of the Byzantine Empire. Clothing fasteners, amulets, and, to a lesser extent, signet rings, are the most common artefacts known to us. A particularly striking Celtic example is the Tara Brooch. The Torc was common throughout Europe as a symbol of status and power. By the 8th century, jewelled weaponry was common for men, while other jewellery (with the exception of signet rings) seemed to become the domain of women. Grave goods found in a 6th–7th century burial near Chalon-sur-Saône are illustrative. A young girl was buried with: 2 silver fibulae, a necklace (with coins), bracelet, gold earrings, a pair of hair-pins, comb, and buckle. The Celts specialised in continuous patterns and designs, while Merovingian designs are best known for stylised animal figures. They were not the only groups known for high quality work. Note the Visigoth work shown here, and the numerous decorative objects found at the Anglo-Saxon Ship burial at Sutton Hoo Suffolk, England are a particularly well-known example. On the continent, cloisonné and garnet were perhaps the quintessential method and gemstone of the period.


title: Jewellery

text: The Eastern successor of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, continued many of the methods of the Romans, though religious themes came to predominate. Unlike the Romans, the Franks, and the Celts, however, Byzantium used light-weight gold leaf rather than solid gold, and more emphasis was placed on stones and gems. As in the West, Byzantine jewellery was worn by wealthier females, with male jewellery apparently restricted to signet rings. Woman's jewellery had some peculiarities like kolts that decorated headband.


title: Jewellery

text: The Renaissance and exploration both had significant impacts on the development of jewellery in Europe. By the 17th century, increasing exploration and trade led to increased availability of a wide variety of gemstones as well as exposure to the art of other cultures. Whereas prior to this the working of gold and precious metal had been at the forefront of jewellery, this period saw increasing dominance of gemstones and their settings. An example of this is the Cheapside Hoard, the stock of a jeweller hidden in London during the Commonwealth period and not found again until 1912. It contained Colombian emerald, topaz, amazonite from Brazil, spinel, iolite, and chrysoberyl from Sri Lanka, ruby from India, Afghan lapis lazuli, Persian turquoise, Red Sea peridot, as well as Bohemian and Hungarian opal, garnet, and amethyst. Large stones were frequently set in box-bezels on enamelled rings. Notable among merchants of the period was Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who brought the precursor stone of the Hope Diamond to France in the 1660s.


title: Jewellery

text: When Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned as Emperor of the French in 1804, he revived the style and grandeur of jewellery and fashion in France. Under Napoleon's rule, jewellers introduced "parures", suites of matching jewellery, such as a diamond tiara, diamond earrings, diamond rings, a diamond brooch, and a diamond necklace. Both of Napoleon's wives had beautiful sets such as these and wore them regularly. Another fashion trend resurrected by Napoleon was the cameo. Soon after his cameo decorated crown was seen, cameos were highly sought. The period also saw the early stages of costume jewellery, with fish scale covered glass beads in place of pearls or conch shell cameos instead of stone cameos. New terms were coined to differentiate the arts: jewellers who worked in cheaper materials were called "bijoutiers", while jewellers who worked with expensive materials were called "joailliers", a practice which continues to this day.


title: Jewellery

text: Starting in the late 18th century, Romanticism had a profound impact on the development of western jewellery. Perhaps the most significant influences were the public's fascination with the treasures being discovered through the birth of modern archaeology and a fascination with Medieval and Renaissance art. Changing social conditions and the onset of the Industrial Revolution also led to growth of a middle class that wanted and could afford jewellery. As a result, the use of industrial processes, cheaper alloys, and stone substitutes led to the development of paste or costume jewellery. Distinguished goldsmiths continued to flourish, however, as wealthier patrons sought to ensure that what they wore still stood apart from the jewellery of the masses, not only through use of precious metals and stones but also though superior artistic and technical work. One such artist was the French goldsmith François-Désiré Froment-Meurice. A category unique to this period and quite appropriate to the philosophy of romanticism was mourning jewellery. It originated in England, where Queen Victoria was often seen wearing jet jewellery after the death of Prince Albert, and it allowed the wearer to continue wearing jewellery while expressing a state of mourning at the death of a loved one.


title: Jewellery

text: In the United States, this period saw the founding in 1837 of Tiffany & Co. by Charles Lewis Tiffany. Tiffany's put the United States on the world map in terms of jewellery and gained fame creating dazzling commissions for people such as the wife of Abraham Lincoln. Later, it would gain popular notoriety as the setting of the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. In France, Pierre Cartier founded Cartier SA in 1847, while 1884 saw the founding of Bulgari in Italy. The modern production studio had been born and was a step away from the former dominance of individual craftsmen and patronage.


title: Jewellery

text: This period also saw the first major collaboration between East and West. Collaboration in Pforzheim between German and Japanese artists led to Shakudō plaques set into Filigree frames being created by the Stoeffler firm in 1885). Perhaps the grand finalé – and an appropriate transition to the following period – were the masterful creations of the Russian artist Peter Carl Fabergé, working for the Imperial Russian court, whose Fabergé eggs and jewellery pieces are still considered as the epitome of the goldsmith's art.


title: Jewellery

text: Many whimsical fashions were introduced in the extravagant eighteenth century. Cameos that were used in connection with jewellery were the attractive trinkets along with many of the small objects such as brooches, ear-rings and scarf-pins. Some of the necklets were made of several pieces joined with the gold chains were in and bracelets were also made sometimes to match the necklet and the brooch. At the end of the Century the jewellery with cut steel intermixed with large crystals was introduced by an Englishman, Matthew Boulton of Birmingham.


title: Jewellery

text: In the 1890s, jewellers began to explore the potential of the growing Art Nouveau style and the closely related German Jugendstil, British (and to some extent American) Arts and Crafts Movement, Catalan Modernisme, Austro-Hungarian Sezession, Italian "Liberty", etc.


title: Jewellery

text: Art Nouveau jewellery encompassed many distinct features including a focus on the female form and an emphasis on colour, most commonly rendered through the use of enamelling techniques including basse-taille, champleve, cloisonné, and plique-à-jour. Motifs included orchids, irises, pansies, vines, swans, peacocks, snakes, dragonflies, mythological creatures, and the female silhouette.


title: Jewellery

text: René Lalique, working for the Paris shop of Samuel Bing, was recognised by contemporaries as a leading figure in this trend. The Darmstadt Artists' Colony and Wiener Werkstätte provided perhaps the most significant input to the trend, while in Denmark Georg Jensen, though best known for his Silverware, also contributed significant pieces. In England, Liberty & Co., (notably through the Cymric designs of Archibald Knox) and the British arts & crafts movement of Charles Robert Ashbee contributed slightly more linear but still characteristic designs. The new style moved the focus of the jeweller's art from the setting of stones to the artistic design of the piece itself. Lalique's dragonfly design is one of the best examples of this. Enamels played a large role in technique, while sinuous organic lines are the most recognisable design feature.


title: Jewellery

text: Growing political tensions, the after-effects of the war, and a reaction against the perceived decadence of the turn of the 20th century led to simpler forms, combined with more effective manufacturing for mass production of high-quality jewellery. Covering the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the style has become popularly known as Art Deco. Walter Gropius and the German Bauhaus movement, with their philosophy of "no barriers between artists and craftsmen" led to some interesting and stylistically simplified forms. Modern materials were also introduced: plastics and aluminium were first used in jewellery, and of note are the chromed pendants of Russian-born Bauhaus master Naum Slutzky. Technical mastery became as valued as the material itself. In the West, this period saw the reinvention of granulation by the German Elizabeth Treskow, although development of the re-invention has continued into the 1990s. It is based on the basic shapes.


title: Jewellery

text: In Asia, the Indian subcontinent has the longest continuous legacy of jewellery making anywhere, Asia was the first place where these jewellery were made in large numbers for the royals with a history of over 5,000 years. One of the first to start jewellery making were the peoples of the Indus Valley civilization, in what is now predominately modern-day Pakistan and part of northern and western India. Early jewellery making in China started around the same period, but it became widespread with the spread of Buddhism around 2,000 years ago.


title: Jewellery

text: The Chinese used silver in their jewellery more than gold. Blue kingfisher feathers were tied onto early Chinese jewellery and later, blue gems and glass were incorporated into designs. However, jade was preferred over any other stone. The Chinese revered jade because of the human-like qualities they assigned to it, such as its hardness, durability, and beauty. The first jade pieces were very simple, but as time progressed, more complex designs evolved. Jade rings from between the 4th and 7th centuries BC show evidence of having been worked with a compound milling machine, hundreds of years before the first mention of such equipment in the west.


title: Jewellery

text: In China, the most uncommon piece of jewellery is the earring, which was worn neither by men nor women. In modern times, earrings are still considered culturally taboo for men in China—in fact, in 2019, the Chinese video streaming service iQiyi began blurring the ears of male actors wearing earrings. Amulets were common, often with a Chinese symbol or dragon. Dragons, Chinese symbols, and phoenixes were frequently depicted on jewellery designs.


title: Jewellery

text: The Chinese often placed their jewellery in their graves. Most Chinese graves found by archaeologists contain decorative jewellery.


title: Jewellery

text: The Indian subcontinent has a long jewellery history, which has gone through various changes via cultural influence and politics for more than 5,000–8,000 years. Because India had an abundant supply of precious metals and gems, it prospered financially through export and exchange with other countries. While European traditions were heavily influenced by waxing and waning empires, India enjoyed a continuous development of art forms for some 5,000 years. One of the first to start jewellery making were the peoples of the Indus Valley civilization. By 1500 BC, the peoples of the Indus Valley were creating gold earrings and necklaces, bead necklaces, and metallic bangles. Before 2100 BC, prior to the period when metals were widely used, the largest jewellery trade in the Indus Valley region was the bead trade. Beads in the Indus Valley were made using simple techniques. First, a bead maker would need a rough stone, which would be bought from an eastern stone trader. The stone would then be placed into a hot oven where it would be heated until it turned deep red, a colour highly prized by people of the Indus Valley. The red stone would then be chipped to the right size and a hole bored through it with primitive drills. The beads were then polished. Some beads were also painted with designs. This art form was often passed down through the family. Children of bead makers often learned how to work beads from a young age. Each stone had its own characteristics related to Hinduism.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery in the Indus Valley was worn predominantly by females, who wore numerous clay or shell bracelets on their wrists. They were often shaped like doughnuts and painted black. Over time, clay bangles were discarded for more durable ones. In present-day India, bangles are made out of metal or glass. Other pieces that women frequently wore were thin bands of gold that would be worn on the forehead, earrings, primitive brooches, chokers, and gold rings. Although women wore jewellery the most, some men in the Indus Valley wore beads. Small beads were often crafted to be placed in men and women's hair. The beads were about one millimetre long.


title: Jewellery

text: A female skeleton (presently on display at the National Museum, New Delhi, India) wears a carlinean bangle (bracelet) on her left hand. "Kada" is a special kind of bracelet and is widely popular in Indian culture. They symbolize animals such as peacock, elephant, etc.


title: Jewellery

text: According to Hindu belief, gold and silver are considered as sacred metals. Gold is symbolic of the warm sun, while silver suggests the cool moon. Both are the quintessential metals of Indian jewellery. Pure gold does not oxidise or corrode with time, which is why Hindu tradition associates gold with immortality. Gold imagery occurs frequently in ancient Indian literature. In the Vedic Hindu belief of cosmological creation, the source of physical and spiritual human life originated in and evolved from a golden womb (hiranyagarbha) or egg (hiranyanda), a metaphor of the sun, whose light rises from the primordial waters.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery had great status with India's royalty; it was so powerful that they established laws, limiting wearing of jewellery to royalty. Only royalty and a few others to whom they granted permission could wear gold ornaments on their feet. This would normally be considered breaking the appreciation of the sacred metals. Even though the majority of the Indian population wore jewellery, Maharajas and people related to royalty had a deeper connection with jewellery. The Maharaja's role was so important that the Hindu philosophers identified him as central to the smooth working of the world. He was considered as a divine being, a deity in human form, whose duty was to uphold and protect dharma, the moral order of the universe.


title: Jewellery

text: Navaratna (nine gems) is a powerful jewel frequently worn by a Maharaja (Emperor). It is an amulet, which comprises diamond, pearl, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, cat's eye, coral, and hyacinth (red zircon). Each of these stones is associated with a celestial deity, represented the totality of the Hindu universe when all nine gems are together. The diamond is the most powerful gem among the nine stones. There were various cuts for the gemstone. Indian Kings bought gemstones privately from the sellers. Maharaja and other royal family members value gem as Hindu God. They exchanged gems with people to whom they were very close, especially the royal family members and other intimate allies.


title: Jewellery

text: India was the first country to mine diamonds, with some mines dating back to 296 BC. India traded the diamonds, realising their valuable qualities. Historically, diamonds have been given to retain or regain a lover's or ruler's lost favour, as symbols of tribute, or as an expression of fidelity in exchange for concessions and protection. Mughal emperors and Kings used the diamonds as a means of assuring their immortality by having their names and worldly titles inscribed upon them. Moreover, it has played and continues to play a pivotal role in Indian social, political, economic, and religious event, as it often has done elsewhere. In Indian history, diamonds have been used to acquire military equipment, finance wars, foment revolutions, and tempt defections. They have contributed to the abdication or the decapitation of potentates. They have been used to murder a representative of the dominating power by lacing his food with crushed diamond. Indian diamonds have been used as security to finance large loans needed to buttress politically or economically tottering regimes. Victorious military heroes have been honoured by rewards of diamonds and also have been used as ransom payment for release from imprisonment or abduction.


title: Jewellery

text: Today, many jewellery designs and traditions are used, and jewellery is commonplace in Indian ceremonies and weddings. For many Indians, especially those who follow the Hindu or Jain faiths, bridal jewellery is known as "streedhan" and functions as personal wealth for the bride only, as a sort of financial security. For this reason, this jewellery, especially in the sacred metals of gold and silver, has large cultural significance for Indian brides. Jewellery is worn on the arms and hands, ears, neck, hair, head, feet, toes and waist to bless the bride with prosperity.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery played a major role in the fate of the Americas when the Spanish established an empire to seize South American gold. Jewellery making developed in the Americas 5,000 years ago in Central and South America. Large amounts of gold was easily accessible, and the Aztecs, Mixtecs, Mayans, and numerous Andean cultures, such as the Mochica of Peru, created beautiful pieces of jewellery.


title: Jewellery

text: With the Mochica culture, goldwork flourished. The pieces are no longer simple metalwork, but are now masterful examples of jewellery making. Pieces are sophisticated in their design, and feature inlays of turquoise, mother of pearl, spondylus shell, and amethyst. The nose and ear ornaments, chest plates, small containers and whistles are considered masterpieces of ancient Peruvian culture.


title: Jewellery

text: Among the Aztecs, only nobility wore gold jewellery, as it showed their rank, power, and wealth. Gold jewellery was most common in the Aztec Empire and was often decorated with feathers from Quetzal birds and others. In general, the more jewellery an Aztec noble wore, the higher his status or prestige. The Emperor and his High Priests, for example, would be nearly completely covered in jewellery when making public appearances. Although gold was the most common and a popular material used in Aztec jewellery, jade, turquoise, and certain feathers were considered more valuable. In addition to adornment and status, the Aztecs also used jewellery in sacrifices to appease the gods. Priests also used gem-encrusted daggers to perform animal and human sacrifices.


title: Jewellery

text: Another ancient American civilization with expertise in jewellery making were the Maya. At the peak of their civilization, the Maya were making jewellery from jade, gold, silver, bronze, and copper. Maya designs were similar to those of the Aztecs, with lavish headdresses and jewellery. The Maya also traded in precious gems. However, in earlier times, the Maya had little access to metal, so they made the majority of their jewellery out of bone or stone. Merchants and nobility were the only few that wore expensive jewellery in the Maya region, much the same as with the Aztecs.


title: Jewellery

text: In North America, Native Americans used shells, wood, turquoise, and soapstone, almost unavailable in South and Central America. The turquoise was used in necklaces and to be placed in earrings. Native Americans with access to oyster shells, often located in only one location in America, traded the shells with other tribes, showing the great importance of the body adornment trade in Northern America.


title: Jewellery

text: Native American jewellery is the personal adornment, often in the forms of necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, pins, brooches, labrets, and more, made by the Indigenous peoples of the United States. Native American jewellery reflects the cultural diversity and history of its makers. Native American tribes continue to develop distinct aesthetics rooted in their personal artistic visions and cultural traditions. Artists create jewellery for adornment, ceremonies, and trade. Lois Sherr Dubin writes, "[i]n the absence of written languages, adornment became an important element of Indian [Native American] communication, conveying many levels of information." Later, jewellery and personal adornment "...signaled resistance to assimilation. It remains a major statement of tribal and individual identity."


title: Jewellery

text: Within the Haida Nation of the Pacific Northwest, copper was used as a form of jewellery for creating bracelets.


title: Jewellery

text: Metalsmiths, beaders, carvers, and lapidaries combine a variety of metals, hardwoods, precious and semi-precious gemstones, beadwork, quillwork, teeth, bones, hide, vegetal fibres, and other materials to create jewellery. Contemporary Native American jewellery ranges from hand-quarried and processed stones and shells to computer-fabricated steel and titanium jewellery.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery making in the Pacific started later than in other areas because of recent human settlement. Early Pacific jewellery was made of bone, wood, and other natural materials, and thus has not survived. Most Pacific jewellery is worn above the waist, with headdresses, necklaces, hair pins, and arm and waist belts being the most common pieces.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery in the Pacific, with the exception of Australia, is worn to be a symbol of either fertility or power. Elaborate headdresses are worn by many Pacific cultures and some, such as the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea, wear certain headdresses once they have killed an enemy. Tribesman may wear boar bones through their noses.


title: Jewellery

text: Island jewellery is still very much primal because of the lack of communication with outside cultures. Some areas of Borneo and Papua New Guinea are yet to be explored by Western nations. However, the island nations that were flooded with Western missionaries have had drastic changes made to their jewellery designs. Missionaries saw any type of tribal jewellery as a sign of the wearer's devotion to paganism. Thus many tribal designs were lost forever in the mass conversion to Christianity.


title: Jewellery

text: Australia is now the number one supplier of opals in the world. Opals had already been mined in Europe and South America for many years prior, but in the late 19th century, the Australian opal market became predominant. Australian opals are only mined in a few select places around the country, making it one of the most profitable stones in the Pacific.


title: Jewellery

text: The New Zealand Māori traditionally had a strong culture of personal adornment, most famously the hei-tiki. Hei-tikis are traditionally carved by hand from bone, nephrite, or bowenite.


title: Jewellery

text: Nowadays a wide range of such traditionally inspired items such as bone carved pendants based on traditional fishhooks "hei matau" and other greenstone jewellery are popular with young New Zealanders of all backgrounds – for whom they relate to a generalized sense of New Zealand identity. These trends have contributed towards a worldwide interest in traditional Māori culture and arts.


title: Jewellery

text: Other than jewellery created through Māori influence, modern jewellery in New Zealand is multicultural and varied.


title: Jewellery

text: Most modern commercial jewellery continues traditional forms and styles, but designers such as Georg Jensen have widened the concept of wearable art. The advent of new materials, such as plastics, Precious Metal Clay (PMC), and colouring techniques, has led to increased variety in styles. Other advances, such as the development of improved pearl harvesting by people such as Mikimoto Kōkichi and the development of improved quality artificial gemstones such as moissanite (a diamond simulant), has placed jewellery within the economic grasp of a much larger segment of the population.


title: Jewellery

text: The "jewellery as art" movement was spearheaded by artisans such as Robert Lee Morris and continued by designers such as Gill Forsbrook in the UK. Influence from other cultural forms is also evident. One example of this is bling-bling style jewellery, popularised by hip-hop and rap artists in the early 21st century, e.g. grills, a type of jewellery worn over the teeth.


title: Jewellery

text: The late 20th century saw the blending of European design with oriental techniques such as Mokume-gane. The following are innovations in the decades straddling the year 2000: "Mokume-gane, hydraulic die forming, anti-clastic raising, fold-forming, reactive metal anodising, shell forms, PMC, photoetching, and [use of] CAD/CAM."


title: Jewellery

text: Also, 3D printing as a production technique gains more and more importance. With a great variety of services offering this production method, jewellery design becomes accessible to a growing number of creatives. An important advantage of using 3d printing are the relatively low costs for prototypes, small batch series or unique and personalized designs. Shapes that are hard or impossible to create by hand can often be realized by 3D printing. Popular materials to print include polyamide, steel and wax (latter for further processing). Every printable material has its very own constraints that have to be considered while designing the piece of jewellery using 3D modelling software.


title: Jewellery

text: Artisan jewellery continues to grow as both a hobby and a profession. With more than 17 United States periodicals about beading alone, resources, accessibility, and a low initial cost of entry continues to expand production of hand-made adornments. Some fine examples of artisan jewellery can be seen at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.


title: Jewellery

text: The increase in numbers of students choosing to study jewellery design and production in Australia has grown in the past 20 years, and Australia now has a thriving contemporary jewellery community. Many of these jewellers have embraced modern materials and techniques, as well as incorporating traditional workmanship.


title: Jewellery

text: More expansive use of metal to adorn the wearer, where the piece is larger and more elaborate than what would normally be considered jewellery, has come to be referred to by designers and fashion writers as metal couture.


title: Jewellery

text: Freemasons attach jewels to their detachable collars when in Lodge to signify a Brothers Office held with the Lodge. For example, the square represents the Master of the Lodge and the dove represents the Deacon.


title: Jewellery

text: Jewellery used in body modification can be simple and plain or dramatic and extreme. The use of simple silver studs, rings, and earrings predominates. Common jewellery pieces such as earrings are a form of body modification, as they are accommodated by creating a small hole in the ear.


title: Jewellery

text: Padaung women in Myanmar place large golden rings around their necks. From as early as five years old, girls are introduced to their first neck ring. Over the years, more rings are added. In addition to the twenty-plus pounds of rings on her neck, a woman will also wear just as many rings on her calves. At their extent, some necks modified like this can reach long. The practice has health impacts and has in recent years declined from cultural norm to tourist curiosity. Tribes related to the Padaung, as well as other cultures throughout the world, use jewellery to stretch their earlobes or enlarge ear piercings. In the Americas, labrets have been worn since before first contact by Innu and First Nations peoples of the northwest coast. Lip plates have been worn by the African Mursi and Sara people, as well as some South American peoples.


title: Jewellery

text: In the late twentieth century, the influence of modern primitivism led to many of these practices being incorporated into western subcultures. Many of these practices rely on a combination of body modification and decorative objects, thus keeping the distinction between these two types of decoration blurred.


title: Jewellery

text: In many cultures, jewellery is used as a temporary body modifier; in some cases, with hooks or other objects being placed into the recipient's skin. Although this procedure is often carried out by tribal or semi-tribal groups, often acting under a trance during religious ceremonies, this practice has seeped into western culture. Many extreme-jewellery shops now cater to people wanting large hooks or spikes set into their skin. Most often, these hooks are used in conjunction with pulleys to hoist the recipient into the air. This practice is said to give an erotic feeling to the person and some couples have even performed their marriage ceremony whilst being suspended by hooks.


title: Jewellery

text: According to a 2007 KPMG study, the largest jewellery market is the United States with a market share of 31%, Japan, India, China, and the Middle East each with 8–9%, and Italy with 5%. The authors of the study predicted a dramatic change in market shares by 2015, where the market share of the United States will have dropped to around 25%, and China and India will increase theirs to over 13%. The Trend of buying jewellery online is also increasing day by day, as a results the best quality jewellery can be provided in cheaper price to any part of India via too many online shops. The Middle East will remain more or less constant at 9%, whereas Europe's and Japan's marketshare will be halved and become less than 4% for Japan, and less than 3% for the biggest individual European countries, Italy and the UK.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: Scary Movie 3 is a 2003 American parody film which parodies the horror, sci-fi, and mystery genres. It is the sequel to "Scary Movie 2" and is the third film in the "Scary Movie" film series, and the first to be directed by David Zucker.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: The film stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall reprising their roles as Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks, respectively. New cast members include Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Hart, and Leslie Nielsen. It is the first film in the series to feature no involvement from the Wayans family. The characters of Shorty Meeks and Ray Wilkins, previously played by Shawn and Marlon Wayans, do not appear, nor are they referenced.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: The film's plot significantly parodies the films "The Ring", "Signs", "The Matrix Reloaded" and "8 Mile." The film grossed $220.7 million worldwide, becoming the second highest grossing film in the series. It is the last film in the series to be released by The Walt Disney Company's subsidiary Miramax Films, under the brand Dimension Films. It was named the 2004 Teen Choice Awards in the category of "Choice Movie: Your Parents Didn't Want You to See".


title: Scary Movie 3

text: Katie and Becca talk about what Katie believes is a sex tape, but Becca calls it a cursed tape. After several odd occurrences, they both die. Meanwhile, in a farm outside Washington, D.C., widowed farmer Tom Logan and his brother George discover a crop circle, saying "Attack Here!", after noticing the dogs' strange activity.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: Cindy Campbell, now a reporter, announces the crop circles on the news. She picks up her paranormally endowed nephew Cody from school, where her best friend Brenda Meeks is his teacher. George picks up his niece Sue, who is in the same class. Cindy and George quickly become attracted to one another, and George invites her and Brenda to a rap-battle with his rapper friends Mahalik and CJ. George proves to be talented but is violently thrown out after he raises his unintentionally pointy white hood.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: After watching the cursed videotape, Brenda asks Cindy to keep her company. After playing several pranks on Cindy, the girl from the cursed tape, Tabitha, fights with and kills Brenda. George receives a phone call about the death, and Tom meets with Sayaman, who apologizes for the accident involving himself and Tom's wife Annie.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: During Brenda's wake, George and Mahalik wreak havoc in an unsuccessful attempt to revive her, only to blow up her body and get kicked out of the house. Cindy finds the cursed tape in Brenda's room, watches it, and receives a phone call warning her of her death in seven days. She calls George, CJ and Mahalik for help. CJ says his Aunt Shaneequa might be able to help. Shaneequa, the Matrix Oracle, and her husband Orpheus agree to watch the tape with her. Shaneequa discovers the hidden image of a lighthouse and gets in a fight with Tabitha's mother. Shaneequa tells Cindy to find the lighthouse to break the curse. When Cindy returns home, she finds Cody watched the tape.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: At work, Cindy searches through pictures of lighthouses before finding the one from the tape. Desperate to save Cody, Cindy warns everyone by entering a message into the news anchor's teleprompter. Her boss interrupts her, and the anchor mechanically recites the wrong message. The Logans take it seriously since they encountered an alien disguised as Michael Jackson, and President Baxter Harris personally visits the farm to investigate the crop circles. Cindy visits the lighthouse, where she encounters The Architect. The loquacious old man explains Tabitha was his evil adopted daughter, whom his wife drowned in the farm's well, but not before she imprinted her evil onto the tape. Unfortunately, he mistakenly returned it to Blockbuster believing it was "Pootie Tang", unleashing the curse. When Cindy asks about how this relates to the Aliens, the Architect speculates that Tabitha is summoning them to aid her in destroying the human race.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: Returning home, Cindy discovers her station has been broadcasting the evil tape for hours, and there have been various sightings of aliens around the world. Worse, Cody is missing. Cindy tracks him to the Logan farm, where he has taken refuge with George. Tom orders everybody into the basement for safety, as he, George and Mahalik go outside to fight the extraterrestrials. The aliens arrive but reveal they are friendly and have come to stop Tabitha, since they accidentally watched the tape on a broadcast they had intercepted, again believing it was "Pootie Tang".


title: Scary Movie 3

text: In the basement, Cindy recognizes the farm's cellar from the tape, and she finds the well where Tabitha drowned. Suddenly, Tabitha appears behind her. A short fight ensues, during which Tabitha takes Cody hostage. Cindy and George appeal to her, offering her a place in their family. Tabitha transforms into a little girl and claims her curse is broken, but changes back to her monstrous form and says she was “just screwing on them”. As she advances on Cindy and the others, President Harris opens a door and accidentally knocks her into the well. The aliens leave in peace, and Cindy and George get married. Leaving for their honeymoon, they realize they left Cody behind. After Cindy avoids hitting Cody at an intersection, Cody breathes a sigh of relief and another car strikes him.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: As well as in "The Rap Battle", several actual rappers assist in the confrontation with the aliens and a subsequent shootout amongst themselves.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: On November 22, 2002 Dimension Films announced a third "Scary Movie" without the Wayans brothers returning. The movie was given the title "Scary Movie 3: Episode I — Lord of the Brooms", and the movie was supposed to spoof the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer were the writers of the movie. David Zucker was going to shoot that script but eventually decided to not use it.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: Filming started on March 12, 2003 and wrapped on July 16, 2003. The movie was shot in British Columbia and in Washington, D.C.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: The score for the film was composed by James L. Venable. The original soundtrack was released on October 24, 2003, and features hip hop artists such as Buku Wise, Delinquent Habits, Dame Lee, Kebyar, and others. Frank Fitzpatrick served as music supervisor for the film and soundtrack. Jorge Corante produced and co-wrote the majority of original songs used for the feature.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: The DVD edition includes a director's audio commentary, several deleted scenes and alternate endings (with optional commentary). A "3.5" special DVD was also released, and contained several more deleted scenes than the original DVD, with an unrated version of the film.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: In the alternate ending, Cindy is told Cody does not exist by her psychiatrist (played by William Forsythe). After hitting a few people in the face with a shovel, Cindy asks everybody who is not real to stand over at a different spot. Cody goes over there but is followed by Santa Claus. The aliens then begin to invade but George stops them by transforming into The Hulk. President Harris tries to hulk out but ends up soiling his pants. Cindy enters the Logan House, where she is attacked by Tabitha. She is teleported away to Aunt Shaneequa, who teaches her how to defeat Tabitha. Cindy must then confront hundreds of Tabitha's. She wins the battle by performing moves from "The Matrix" and teleports back to the Logan House. The cast then gets into a car with the President, but are horrified to learn that the driver happens to be M. Night Shyamalan.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: One of the scenes that appeared on the Extended DVD named "Scary Movie 3.5" was part of the unrated feature. After Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy shut off the TV, the two compliment each other on their good looks. Anderson then asks if McCarthy wants her "shaved pussy", but this turns out to be a furless kitten.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: "Scary Movie 3" opened at the number one spot in the US, grossing $48.1 million in its opening weekend and $57.5 million for that week. In its second week, it grossed $24.7 million. At the end of its box office run, "Scary Movie 3" grossed $110 million in the US and $110.7 million internationally, making $220.7 million in total.


title: Scary Movie 3

text: "Scary Movie 3" received a 35% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 131 critics. The site's consensus was "Though an improvement over the second "Scary Movie", the laughs are still inconsistent." On Metacritic, it has a score of 49 out of 100 based on reviews from 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on a scale of A+ to F.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).


title: Pat Robertson

text: On Robertson's own account, he originally set out to be a businessman. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955 but later failed the New York bar exam, which he described as a minor setback since he never planned to practice law and he already had a career with a major corporation on Wall Street. He became a Christian while having dinner at a restaurant in Philadelphia with an author and WWII veteran, Cornelius Vanderbreggen. After his conversion, Robertson left the corporate world and went into ministry.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Spanning over five decades, Robertson is the founder of major organizations including The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel/Freeform), the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, and the Christian Coalition.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Founded in 1978, Operation Blessing is the humanitarian organization that has helped millions of people in more than 90 countries and territories through services including safe water, hunger relief, medical aid, disaster relief, as well as vulnerable children and orphan care.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson is also a best-selling author and the former host of "The 700 Club", a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.


title: Pat Robertson

text: The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), a housewife and a musician. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed "Pat" by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". Later, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat".


title: Pat Robertson

text: When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."


title: Pat Robertson

text: In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.'" For Robertson's service in the Korean War, the US Marines awarded him three Battle Stars.


title: Pat Robertson

text: In 1986, Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Camp Pendleton, wrote a public letter challenging Robertson’s record in the military. Robertson filed a libel suit against McCloskey but he dropped the case in 1988 in order to devote “his full time and energies toward the successful attainment of the Republican nomination for the president of the United States.”


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association., which did not deter Robertson because he never intended to practice law anyway. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion and decided against pursuing a career in business. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.


title: Pat Robertson

text: In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.


title: Pat Robertson

text: In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station, with the call sign WYAH-TV, first broadcast on October 1, 1961. On April 29, 1977, CBN launched a religious cable network, the CBN Satellite Service, which eventually became The Family Channel.


title: Pat Robertson

text: In 1977 CBN became the first direct-to-cable, satellite-delivered television channel in America, delivering content to cable systems all over the country. The venture became so lucrative that it could not continue to be kept under a tax-exempt charity, so Robertson spun off The Family Channel into a separate commercial entity that was sold to News Corporation for $1.9 billion in 1997.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson founded CBN University, a private Christian university, in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. Since its founding, the university has established eight academic schools and offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in over 150 areas of study. It was renamed Regent University in 1990. According to the school's catalog, "a regent is one who represents Christ, our Sovereign, in whatever sphere of life he or she may be called to serve Him."


title: Pat Robertson

text: With more than 11,000 current students, Regent University has ranked the #1 Best Online Bachelor’s Program in Virginia for ten years in a row by "U.S. News & World Report", 2022, as well as 2023 Best Graduate Schools-Law, Best Graduate Schools – Social Sciences and Humanities Doctoral Programs – Psychology, 2023 Best Graduate Schools – Public Affairs, and 2023 Best Education Schools by "U.S. News & World Report". Robertson serves as its chancellor and CEO.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson founded Operation Blessing, a United States based non-profit 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization, on a Friday morning in 1978 after reading Isaiah 58:6-14, which states that whoever helps others in need will experience God’s blessing. Robertson announced the launch of Operation Blessing live on The 700 Club that same day, writing on a blackboard for his viewers that the program would feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and house the homeless. The idea was to match the ability of some viewers to donate with the needs of other audience members.


title: Pat Robertson

text: The program quickly grew, and in 1986 Robertson organized the Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, which expanded the program’s services from assisting individuals to large scale humanitarian operations through four core program areas: disaster relief, medical care, hunger relief and clean water.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Operation Blessing purchased a fleet of tractor-trailer trucks to deliver thousands of pounds of food, water and other essential products to a network of food pantries and churches across the country, which he called the "Hunger Strike Force". In the last year, the Hunger Strike Force delivered more than 44 million pounds of food, beverages and other supplies to families in need.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Operation Blessing also began sending medical teams to third world countries to help people who had no access to medical care. In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson also had exploratory diamond mining operations. According to a 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, two Operation Blessing pilots who were interviewed alleged that the organization's planes were used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire. Robertson has adamantly denied the pilots’ accounts, and public records show that Operation Blessing did in fact conduct major humanitarian relief efforts in that country.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson also established a U.S. disaster relief team which has since responded to numerous major natural and humanitarian disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes in Haiti, China, and Nepal, the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Russia’s 2022 war against Ukraine, and dozens of other hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Since its founding Operation Blessing has been dedicated to its mission of demonstrating God’s love by alleviating human need and suffering, touching the lives of millions of people in more than 90 countries and in every state. In its 2021 ranking of "100 Largest Charities,” Forbes ranked Operation Blessing/CBN at #44, with an efficiency rating of over 90%.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).


title: Pat Robertson

text: Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/"700 Club" programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on "The 700 Club".


title: Pat Robertson

text: In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the venture fell through after progressive activists protested over Robertson’s Biblical views on an array of issues.


title: Pat Robertson

text: While some have estimated his wealth to be between $200 million and $1 billion, Robertson has pointed out that these estimates are not based on any facts and are incorrect.


title: Pat Robertson

text: A June 2, 1999 article in "The Virginian-Pilot" alleged that Robertson had business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson, according to the article, negotiated a multimillion- dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. Robertson has denied any business dealings with Taylor, and he also denied ever speaking to President George W. Bush about Taylor's alleged activities. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., while Robertson has denied ever meeting or speaking to Charles Taylor.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the "nom de course", Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures," yet the complaint was dismissed by a federal judge. In March 1986, he told "Israeli Foreign Affairs" that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.


title: Pat Robertson

text: In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.


title: Pat Robertson

text: Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.