Gold in antiquity: Did you mean...?

A chunk of quartz with gold from the Witwatersrand mines in South Africa. Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

An engraved gold ring from the Minoan civilization on Crete, 15-14th century BCE. The ring probably originates from Knossos and depicts the epiphany of a goddess: seated in a shrine, floating in the air and standing in a boat...

Gold stater from Lydia, reign of Croesus, 560-546 BCE. O: Lion and ox. R: Two incuse squares.

A captured German bunker with 50-mm gun at Gold Beach, attacked during the D-Day Normandy landings of 6 June 1944. (Imperial War Museums)

The convex and carved surfaces of the earrings. Each earring is composed of nine lunar-shaped segments forming a flattened half- ball. The cuneiform signs run vertically from above downward, starting from the right...

An aerial view of Gold Beach during the D-Day Normandy Landings of 6 June 1944. The smoke is from German defensive positions struck by Allied naval and air bombardment. (Imperial War Museums)

A gold and garnet ring from Agrigento, Sicily, 3rd century BCE. (Archaeological Museum of Agrigento).

This is the upper surface of the earring. Note how the cuneiform signs were carved and distributed and their distance from the center. The cuneiform text is read vertically, from the upper surface downwards on...

In the Late Roman Period, precious metal that had been paid in tax was melted down into bars before being re-minted, to eliminate plated forgeries. Because local mint officials could be corrupt, the bars were stamped...

Gold hair ornament from Agrigento, Sicily, 3rd century BCE. The central medallion depicts Medusa. Archaeological Museum of Agrigento.