- Feb 5, 2002
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The history of engagement rings extends almost as far back as the history of rings themselves. “Engagement season” takes place between Christmas and St. Valentine’s Day — with an estimated 6 million proposalstaking place on Feb. 14 — and there is a Catholic connection with engagements and rings (and the betrothal rite too).
Rings first appeared on people’s fingers in the Bronze Age, as humans began working with metal and fashioning the original jewelry. The ancient Egyptians started the trend, according to George Frederick Kunz in his 1917 book (released as an e-book in 2023) Rings for the Finger: From the Earliest Known Time to the Present, first using the signet ring to establish authority and sign and seal household items or documents.
As Kunz explains in his book, the history of engagement rings is vast. The first ring mentioned in the Bible appears when the patriarch Joseph received a ring from Pharaoh as a sign of his authority.
“With that, Pharaoh took off his signet ring and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck” (Genesis 41:42, NAB-RE).
Continued below.
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Rings first appeared on people’s fingers in the Bronze Age, as humans began working with metal and fashioning the original jewelry. The ancient Egyptians started the trend, according to George Frederick Kunz in his 1917 book (released as an e-book in 2023) Rings for the Finger: From the Earliest Known Time to the Present, first using the signet ring to establish authority and sign and seal household items or documents.
As Kunz explains in his book, the history of engagement rings is vast. The first ring mentioned in the Bible appears when the patriarch Joseph received a ring from Pharaoh as a sign of his authority.
“With that, Pharaoh took off his signet ring and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck” (Genesis 41:42, NAB-RE).
Sign of Betrothal
Continued below.
How a Pope ‘Christianized’ Engagement Rings (and Other Ring Stories)
The history of engagement rings extends almost as far back as the history of rings themselves — and there is a Catholic connection with engagements and rings (and the betrothal rite too).
