Today wedding rings are precious items full of the sentiment of love. It is believed that the Egyptians were the first to introduce attribute a specific meaning to the rings. For them, the circle symbolised eternity, with no beginning and no end. Even the hole inside the ring had a meaning, representing a door to an unknown event which would eventually unfold and be experienced during the couple’s lifetime. Therefore, when an Egyptian woman was gifted a wedding ring it was a demonstration of endless and eternal love.
Later, the Romans also adopted wedding rings. However, under their empire the meaning shifted, and rather than profess eternal love wedding rings became the symbol of ownership. A Roman woman wearing a wedding ring was identified as belonging to her “giver”, void of the emotional bond that the Egyptians valued so much. With the uprising of Christianity, however, the ring acquired a new and very romantic meaning as it came to symbolize the “union of two hearts”, as we still know it today.
