Gold—Secret Bilong Hem
Gold—start from bifor kam, pipol tinghae tumas long disfala soft metal wea color bilong hem braet yellow. Color bilong hem, way wea hem shaen, easy for bend, and no savvy rasta mekem hem spesel from olketa narafala metal. Bikos long hae price bilong hem long tingting bilong pipol wea lukaotem, gold garem history wea different from eni narafala metal.
“GOLD! Hem gold, mi no liar! Hem gold!” Taem pipol faendem gold heart bilong olketa jump narawe, olketa hapi tumas, and enikaen tingting kam long mind. Pipol lukaotem long land, insaed olketa river and creek, and planti thousand meter underneath long graon tu.
Gold hem mekem olketa king and queen luk naes taem olketa wearim olsem ring and earing. Gold hem mekem throne and wall long haos bilong king luk naes. Pipol worshipim olketa gold idol, olsem fish, bird, animal, and narafala samting. Way for lukaotem gold hem kasem planti ples, and tu way wea hem affectim living.
Gold and History
Long Egypt bifor olketa pharaoh sendem olketa bisnisman and army go long farawe kantri for lukaotem gold, and olketa say evri gold hia bilong olketa god and pharaoh bilong Egypt. Grave bilong Tutankhamen, wea olketa faendem long 1922, hem fulap withim planti gold samting wea barava spesel. Coffin box bilong hem tu olketa workim from full gold.
Samfala man for raetem history say Alexander the Great hem “interest long Asia firstaem bikos long kastom story abaotem gold bilong Persia.” Olketa say army bilong hem iusim planti thousand animal for karim gold wea hem tekem long Persia for go back long Greece. From diswan, Greece kamap wanfala nation wea rich long gold.
Wanfala man for raetem history say “olketa king [bilong Rome] iusim gold for mekem olketa bigman bilong olketa stap loyal and tu for sweetim olketa bigman bilong narafala kantri. Olketa mekem pipol tinghae and fraet long olketa taem olketa showimaot spesel richfala gold samting bilong olketa.” Olketa bilong Rome kasem planti gold taem olketa winim Spain and tekem olketa gold mine, wanfala buk talem olsem.
But, iumi bae no kasem full story abaotem gold sapos iumi no lukluk long history bilong hem wea fulap long blood. Hem story bilong way for win, raf fasin, way for slave, and dae.
History Wea Fulap Long Blood
Taem living kamap moabeta, olketa ship wea moa big and moa strong go for lukaotem olketa niufala kantri, startim niufala ples, and lukaotem gold. Main goal bilong planti man for travel hem for faendem gold, wanfala nao Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) wea wanfala first man for travel long sea.
Laef bilong native pipol no important long Columbus taem hem lukaotem gold. Taem hem story long king and queen bilong Spain abaotem samting wea hem duim long wanfala island, wea tufala nao peim gogo bilong hem, Columbus raet olsem insaed buk bilong hem: “For rul long hia, man need for getius nomoa long ples and showimaot paoa ovarem olketa native pipol, wea bae duim eni samting wea iu talem olketa for duim. . . . Olketa Indian pipol . . . naked and no garem eni samting for faet, so hem easy for givim order long olketa for duim work.” Columbus believim God nao blessim hem. Olketa gold samting bae help for peim samting for olketa holy war bilong Spain. ‘Letem mercy bilong God helpem mi for faendem gold,’ hem talem bihaen hem kasem wanfala gold mask olsem present.
Bihaen long Columbus, King Ferdinand bilong Spain givim order for olketa man bilong hem wea travel long sea for lukaotem gold: “Tekem kam gold long mi! Sapos fitim, tekem long gudfala way. But iufala mas tekem kam long mi, nomata wanem.” Olketa man hia busarem planti thousand native pipol wea olketa meetim long Mexico and Central and South America. Gold wea olketa ship tekem go back long Spain hem olsem hem fulap long blood.
Then ship bilong olketa man for steal, wea no stand for eni nation start for work. Long open sea, olketa stealim evri gold and richfala samting long olketa ship bilong Spain. Olketa ship wea karim gold no garem inaf man and gun for faetem olketa rabis man hia for steal. Long mek-17 and mek-18 century, olketa ship bilong olketa man for steal spoelem planti ship, main ples nao long West Indies and saed sea long America.
Lukaotem Gold Long Mek-19 Century
Long 1848 olketa faendem planti gold long Sacramento Valley, long California. No longtaem nius hia kamap big, and planti pipol go long there for kasem piece land for olketa. Long year bihaen, California fulap withim planti thousand pipol wea olketa kolem “forty-niner”—pipol from evri part long world wea laek for kamap rich. Population bilong California hem grow from samting olsem 26,000 long 1848 kasem samting olsem 380,000 long 1860. Olketa farmer lusim land bilong olketa, olketa man wea work long sea lusim ship, olketa soldia lusim army—for lukaotem gold nomoa. Samfala long olketa “barava raf man.” From pipol from evri different ples stap tugeta, bigfala bad fasin and raf fasin kamap. Olketa wea laekem gold but no willing for work start for steal, attackim and steal from olketa stagecoach and train.
Long 1851, no longtaem bihaen olketa faendem gold long California, nius hem kamap hao pipol faendem staka gold long Australia. “Olketa faendem planti gold” report hem say. For lelebet taem, Australia nao winim evri ples long world for sellim gold. Samfala wea go long California lusim there and muv go long Australia. Population bilong Australia hem grow big tumas—from 400,000 long 1850 kasem winim 1,100,000 long 1860. Work long farm and olketa narafala work stop nao taem planti pipol kwiktaem go for lukaotem gold.
Long end bilong mek-19 century, staka pipol wea lukaotem gold muv go long Yukon and Alaska, taem samfala pipol faendem gold long olketa ples hia. Planti thousand pipol go long Far North, long Klondike area and Alaska, and struggle long datfala barava coldfala ples for piece land wea garem staka gold for olketa seleva.
Rich Samting Wea Sinkdaon
Long mek-20 century, taem olketa start for daeva long deep sea, pipol wea lukaotem gold lukluk long bottom bilong sea. Olketa lukaotem rich samting wea insaed olketa ship wea sinkdaon—gold earing and ring and narafala spesel samting bilong planti hundred year bifor.
Long September 20, 1638, ship bilong Spain Concepción sinkdaon long Pacific Ocean, klosap long Saipan, taem barava raf sea bangim hem againstim bigfala ston. Kago wea hem karim nao gold and narafala rich samting wea distaem bae kostim planti million dollar. Klosap evriwan long 400 pipol long datfala ship dae. Olketa man for daeva tekem back from datfala wreck 32 gold chain, wea long bilong each wan hem wan and haf meter and hevi bilong olketa hem fewfala kilogram. Total bilong evri samting wea olketa man for daeva tekem kamap nao 1,300 gold samting—olketa chain, cross, button, pin, ring, and belt.
Olketa faendem olketa narafala wreck tu. Long 1980, olketa man for daeva faendem wreck bilong ship Santa Margarita bilong Spain bilong mek-17 century klosap long Florida, long United States. Kasem end bilong year bihaen, olketa daeva faendem winim 50 kilogram bilong gold, and narafala gold samting tu.
Gold Long Taem Bilong War
Bihaen gavman long Germany sarenda long 1945, olketa soldia faendem interesting samting long olketa salt mine long Kaiseroda, long Thuringia, Germany. Niuspepa The Atlanta Journal say “olketa mine hia garem $10.1 billion long gold, painting, selen and stock and bond.” And tu olketa faendem planti bag wea fulap long gold and silver from teeth bilong pipol, wea samfala olketa meltim finis, wea olketa aotem from pipol wea dae long Holocaust. Planti gold hia wea olketa haedem hem helpem olketa bigman bilong Nazi army for peim olketa samting for mekem datfala war go ahed. Niuspepa Journal hem say olketa givim go back gold wea kost bilong hem samting olsem $12 billion long tenfala kantri wea Hitler tekova bifor. From planti say olketa no faendem yet evri gold wea olketa Nazi haedem, pipol still lukaotem distaem.
Yes, gold hem garem hae price. But, Bible say gold, olsem narafala richfala samting, kanduit givim laef long pipol wea lukaotem. (Psalm 49:6-8; Zephaniah 1:18) Wanfala toktok long Bible say: “Way for kasem wisdom hem moabeta winim gold!” (Proverbs 16:16) Trufala wisdom kam from Creator, Jehovah God, and datwan stap insaed Word bilong hem, Bible. Taem hem studyim Word bilong God, man wea lukaotem wisdom olsem savvy learnim olketa law, principle, and kaonsel bilong God and followim long laef bilong hem. Wisdom wea hem kasem hem moabeta winim evri gold wea olketa man faendem finis. Wisdom olsem savvy meanim laef wea moabeta distaem and laef olowe long future.—Proverbs 3:13-18.
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Samfala Information Abaotem Gold
• Gold nao easy for bend winim eni narafala metal. Olketa savvy hammerim for kamap thin winim pepa. Sapos olketa hammerim 28 gram bilong gold, diswan savvy kasem 17 square meter. Sapos olketa pullim 28 gram bilong gold, bae hem long kasem 70 kilometer.
• Bikos full gold hem soft tumas, planti taem olketa mixim withim narafala metal for mekem hem moa strong taem olketa workim ring and earing and narafala gold samting. Olketa savvy measurem olketa mix bilong gold long 24 sekson, wea olketa kolem karat; so, 12-karat gold hem 50 percent full gold, 18-karat gold hem 75 percent full gold, and 24-karat gold hem full gold nao.
• Olketa main kantri wea sellim planti gold nao South Africa and United States.
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Alexander the Great: The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore
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Painting wea showim taem wea Christopher Columbus kasem Bahamas long 1492 for lukaotem gold
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Courtesy of the Museo Naval, Madrid (Spain), and with the kind permission of Don Manuel González López