body piercing jewelry

Getting ears pierced is just a fact of life for young girls in the modern western world. Navel, labret and tongue piercing is gaining so much popularity that soon it will no longer shock a conservative older generation. Few teenaged body adorners stop to consider that what they’re doing is nothing new. In fact, people have been piercing their bodies for thousands of years.

The ancient Egyptian elite were famous for their love of beauty.  Adorning their bodies with elaborate jewelry served not only a beauty function but also separated the classes.  In ancient Egypt only the Pharaoh was permitted to pierce his navel.  A bellybutton ring for anyone but the Pharaoh was an offence punishable by execution. For any young people who are afraid to let their parents see their new body jewelry this should put things in perspective. At least the authorities won’t come round the house after and throw you in the electric chair!

It’s also well known that most wealthy Egyptians wore earrings to display their wealth. Years ago archeologists unearthed the mummified remains of a man with large-gauge plugs in his earlobes. This five-thousand year old corpse is the oldest example of body piercing ever found. Those plugs in your ears may represent the very first type of body modification ever!

So the next time some conservative old geezer complains that ‘in their day’ people didn’t feel the need to pierce their bodies you have a great argument to throw back. Just tell them that you’re carrying out an act of cultural preservation that dates back more than five thousand years.

For more body jewelry and piercing info and shopping click here.