The Attraction Of Gold Through Ages

Through the ages, men and women have cherished gold, and many have had a compelling desire to amass great quantities of it–so compelling a desire, in fact, that the frantic need to seek and hoard gold, has been rightly named gold fever.

The most precious metal ever known to man is gold. It was among the often-mined metals, as it was always available in the pure form, and it was not mixed with other elements. Gold has always been an item of obsession for most of the people. Men have fought wars to acquire this precious metal. In some of the ancient civilisations, gold was related to the sun, and therefore, it was believed that it holds great powers. Gold has been a source, and symbol of great wealth from the time immemorial.

The narration of gold begins in far-flung ancient times. It is not well known when this metal was first revealed, but people have been using gold to make jewellery from the time of Stone Age. Gold signifies prosperity and exquisiteness. Artisans of ancient civilisations used gold sumptuously in decorating tombs, temples, and palaces of emperors. It is assumed that appropriate gold mining took place as early as 4000 B.C., just about 3000 B.C. The summer civilisation of southern Iraq used gold to generate an extensive variety of jewellery, and other ornaments, often using complicated, and diverse styles.

In 1500 B.C, gold was recognised as benchmark intermediate for switch over in the international trade. At some stage in this time, diverse methods to test transparency of gold were devised. Citizens of Kingdom of Lydia (western Turkey) used gold money for the first time in 700B.C. for the period of the middle Ages, European armies looted Inca and Mayan civilisations to please their desire for gold. In most of the earliest civilisations, gold was equated with gods and rulers, and it was sought after in their name, and was committed to their adoration.

The importance of gold can be judged by the fact that most of the achievements are rewarded in the form of gold medals, and decorations. This trend has been in use for many centuries, as the Ancient kings, and emperors always used to offer gold, as gift or award to those who had performed great feats of bravery in wars, and battles. In the same way, the winners of athletic events and other such competitions are usually awarded with gold medals.

Gold is called a \”noble\” metal (an alchemistic term), because it does not oxidize (gets rusty) under ordinary conditions. Its chemical symbol Au is derived from the Latin word \”aurum.\” In pure form, gold has a metallic lustre and is sun yellow in colour. Another remarkable property of gold is that pure gold is chemically un-reactive.