A Brief History of Gifts
A Brief History of Gifts
As an expression of love, appreciation and gratitude, humans never grew tired of giving and receiving gifts since their early beginnings. Its been said that offering presents and gifts is one the oldest human practices ever, and that the history of this habit goes as far back as before the birth of civilizations, reaching into the depths of the Stone Ages.
Early Man
In accordance with the limited development of humans at the time, gifts took rudimentary shapes during the Stone Ages; people offered things such as animal teeth, horns, and strange-looking stones as gifts to loved ones. Once our ancestors developed a bit further, they managed to dig holes into similar objects to make necklaces and chains.
Ancient Sumer (6000 B.C – 1000 B.C)
And with the birth of civilizations, technological and social developments grew quickly, and humans began thinking more creatively when it came to gifts. Since ancient Sumer (Mesopotamia) -the world’s oldest civilization-, civilizations never seized their habit of gift giving. In addition to giving presents to each other, Sumerians also offered gifts to their gods, and to foreign allies as symbols of alliance. As for the types of gifts they exchanged, Sumerians excelled in wool and other kinds of garments to be worn or as carpets. It is believed, according to a number of sources that the Sumerian civilization started sometime during 6th millennia B.C, and continued until approximately 1st millennia B.C. Sources also claim that Sumerians began producing gold and jewellery as gifts in the city of Ur circa 3000 B.C.
Ancient Egypt (3100 B.C- 30 B.C)
As for Ancient Egyptians, their traditions with regards to gifts (and almost everything else) created a huge shift in the way societies employed gifts and gift-giving to this day. Ancient Egyptians used to offer their Pharaohs gifts on their inauguration days as they believed they were their true birthdays. The Egyptians were also famous of course for placing gifts in the Pyramids and graves for the dead to use once they resurrect as they famously once believed.
Ancient China (1600 B.C – 221 B.C)
Since the birth of the Chinese civilization reportedly 5000 years ago, the exchange of gifts has been a norm and standard practice for the Chinese nation as it is considered a tool to strengthen social bonds and an expression of respect, gratitude and/or love. Just as they’re known for their practicality and innovation, the Chinese civilization exchanged gifts of those features. Out of respect and adherence to their ancient ways, the Chinese usually still exchange small traditional gifts such as Jade necklaces, high quality combs, and other travel-size items which can be carried by their owners as souvenirs wherever they go or travel.
Ancient Greece ( 8th Century B.C – 146 B.C)
Like the Ancient Egyptians, ancient Greeks also excelled in setting traditions which stood the test of time. Ancient Greeks paid importance to birthdays as events worthy of celebration and days when gifts are to be expected. Notably, gifts play a central -usually tragic- role in Ancient Greek tales and legends. Undoubtedly, the most famous example for such tragic tales would be the story of the Trojan Horse, which told of the huge horse statue the Greeks presented to the Trojans as a gift, but turned out to be a hiding place for Greek soldiers who snuck out from it at night to take over the city of Troy. The famous saying ‘beware of the Greeks bearing gifts’ was originally said by Trojan princess Cassandra as a warning to her people not accept the infamous gift.
The Roman Empire (625 B.C – 476 A.D)
The Romans were known for their many celebratory events and seasons, which made the culture of gift exchange one of the important features of Roman Empire traditions. At the beginning of each year, Roman exchanged goods such figs, honey and dates, in addition to precious or rare coins. Perhaps inspired by the Greeks, the Romans stressed and popularized the importance of birthdays as events to celebrate and exchange gifts.
Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 B.C - 539 B.C)
When speaking about this topic, we must mention one of the greatest and most creative gifts ever given in mankind’s history; The Hanging Gardens of Babylon which were built by the Great Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. For more than 45 years (562-605 B.C), Nebuchadnezzar ruled his kingdom Babylon (current Iraq) with relentless ambitions towards achievements and developments in all kinds of fields. In addition to its legendary military victories, Nebuchadnezzar’s reign also witnessed state-of-the-art architectural pieces that wow those who see, read or hear about them to this day.
And just like it drives us to give, love also drove Nebuchadnezzar to build his famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon as a gift for his wife Amedia. In addition to being one the 7 wonders of the old world, the Gardens of Babylon are also considered one of the most famous and beautiful gifts in history, as they reportedly grew a huge contrasting variety of plants and flowers so that the gardens would remain fruitful all year long, which required an advanced ‘ahead of its time’ irrigation system.
Current era
The tradition of gift giving continued in its many forms throughout our history. Nowadays, the leaps in technology and globalization lessened the value of many goods and commodities, among which are gifts, Mass and overproduction of gift items left this field crippled with repetitiveness, dullness and lack of quality. So, finding or coming up with original gift ideas has become a challenge not many can take on. However, as long as our imagination as humans is infinite, finding something nice and creative to give our loved ones will always possible.