Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c22.s4.7

v1.c22.s4.7

The spurt in jewelleries and gem incrustations in the area came after Alexander’s invasion which indirectly influenced a synthesis of the Greek, Pārthian and Indian arts. No gold finger-ring of any kind has been found in the Bhir Mound, and no ring of any metal inset with a stone or paste. This tradition started only in the second century BC Greek establishment at Sirkap. The Edwin Jack collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston contain third-second century BC Greek artefacts — ear-rings, bangles and snake bracelets made of gold and inset garnet/agate/lapis lazuli or emerald, the like of which was not known in Greece before Alexander. Emerald must have come from the Egyptian mines and gradually gained popularity in India as the celebrated marakata.