Greetings, how is life treating you? I am so happy that you are interested in getting to know more about the history of nose piercings. I always find it important that you know and appreciate what you are wearing BEFORE you wear it. Obviously, everyone does what they want. Before we get into this please know that I did all my research with google, and websites I found. I compared the information with each other, just so I could get and give the right information. So if you do see something that is wrong, I kindly ask you to correct me.
Okay, Let’s get into this.
So the first time we heard about a nose piercing or nose jewelry was back in 44,000c in Australia. People wore bone pieces through their septum. This style of piercing updated many times and is now a trendy piece of jewelry. It didn’t just jump from people wearing bones through their noses to what we have now though.
The piercing we wear now was inspired by the Middle East over 4000 years ago. Although it is inspired by the middle eastern culture you could find the same piercing in many other cultures around the globe.
Around the 20s century, this piercing reached western civilization. Then the nose piercing got named a few times in Christianity. Even the Old Testament in the Bible references nose rings several times. The oldest mention of a nose ring in the Bible is where Abraham gifts his daughter-in-law a gold nose ring on her marriage to his son Isaac. This practice of gifting the bride with a nose ring on her wedding day has continued in many parts of the Middle East, Africa, and India.
Afterwards, it got migrated to India and became regular jewelry by 1500. Personally, when I think of the history of nose piercings, I think of Indian women and their beautiful Naths.
A bridal Nath or nose ring is a part of every bride’s wedding outfit. In Maharashtrian weddings, wearing a bridal nose ring or a Marathi Nath signifies the beginning of a woman being married.
But like I said you can find the nose jewelry in many other cultures with many other meanings.
Here are another few:
- For the Berber people of North Africa, it was a sign of wealth, social status, and prestige. The larger the nose piercing, the wealthier and more important you are. Berber grooms even give their wives nose jewelry as an expression of their wealth.
- In India, the nose is connected to sexual health, fertility, and childbirth. If your left nostril is pierced it will result in easing the cramps during your period, increases sexual pleasure, and assist in safe and easier childbirth. The Ayurvedic (a natural system of medicine, that originated in India more than 3,000 years ago.) reasoning behind this is that a woman’s left nostril is connected to her reproductive organs.
- Nose jewelry is still frowned upon by certain sections of Western society, or by the older generation of African and Asian parents. In the West, a nose piercing is seen as only a fashion accessory and holds little cultural or historical significance.
…and many more others.
So as you can see nose piercings have different meanings in different cultures.
In my culture (west-African) a nose piercing can be seen as a dowry, healing practice, and most important beauty. In some Tribes, it’s seen as wealth or a sign of respect.
So now that you have read about the history and culture behind nose piercings, whether it’s worn because of marriage or for health or social status, or even just because it’s a cute accessory, don’t ever forget about the richness behind it.
