Gold was used as an element of beauty and value four thousand years ago – and today, the precious metal is still treasured as a commodity of enduring significance.

Tutankhamen’s burial chamber revealed many secrets but what the world remembers most is the hoard of treasure that it contained, including the ornate golden death mask weighing 22 pounds. At today’s price the mask alone was worth nearly R450 000 and its value as an historical relic is incalculable. The solid gold sarcophagus weighing 3 536 troy ounces adds an additional R4.5 million! Include all the golden panels, statuettes and artefacts enclosed in the four rooms of his burial chamber and the figure becomes billions.

One thing that Tut and all the other Pharaohs before and after him could never have known was the curse of wealth and its effect on power. Today, we all know that in the end, you can’t take it with you – but back then the belief in the afterlife was so strong that tombs were filled with treasures and necessities for the continuing journey. Pharaohs were so engrossed in their power that they never gave a thought to bequeathing their wealth for the benefit of the nation or to those who would follow. They wanted to take all their treasure with them, the bulk of which consisted of unimaginable quantities of golden artefacts and gems. The tragedy is that the tombs of all Pharaohs except Tut have been pillaged by tomb raiders. If indeed they were on some journey through the afterlife, they did so as paupers.

What is intriguing is how gold became to be so highly valued in an era that existed over 4000 years ago. We can understand its allure today as both an investment and a hedge against fiat currency fluctuations. But what made gold, in comparison to all the other metals that were known back then, so attractive as a tradeable commodity? The value of gold had already been established in Mesopotamia seven hundred years previously – not just as a symbol of wealth and power in fine ornaments – but as stocks in temple treasures as a medium of exchange between merchants, as an investment in trading ventures and as a standard of value.

In the beginning, it was discovered as alluvial deposits in the streams flowing from the mountains of the Mesopotamia/Anatolia border. It was scarce and difficult to find and the actual purity of this alluvial gold was erratic – invariably it contained quantities of silver and copper. There were no sophisticated refining techniques and ancient goldsmiths worked with whatever natural alloy was available. But this attractive yellow metal was extremely malleable and importantly, it never tarnished. The combination of scarcity, its high cost of sourcing, plus its beauty and workability for adornments and jewellery, made it a very desirable commodity. And so, its value as a means of storage and exchange of wealth expanded within the nations of a world as yet mostly undiscovered.

Back in Egypt 3300 years ago, the Nile was the life-blood of Egypt, providing unique nourishment and fertility. The nation flourished independently from its neighbours and thrived as an international hub of trade. The influence of the river on people’s lives and their religious beliefs was profound. The Pharaoh, as supreme leader was acknowledged as the master of the Nile – the sun god Ra (also the symbol for gold) was associated with its flowing waters. Gold was valued, not as money but as a divine metal that retained its luster indefinitely and was indeed the flesh of Ra, whom they worshipped. As such, gold was regarded as a magical substance that protected the wearer.

Fast forward to 2016 and although gold’s divine status may have tarnished, it retains its allure as a standard of internationally-agreed wealth. History repeatedly demonstrates that two elements dominate the realm of leaders – power and wealth; either too much or too little power and invariably an obsession with wealth. Back in ancient Egypt when a boy of nine became the leader of an empire, power and wealth were pivotal denominators of that era, outwardly represented by lavish displays of gold. Similarly, today, gold remains the world’s most stable form of wealth. But as Tut demonstrates, wealth is relative – and so is power. He displayed only one recorded instance of leadership power during his abbreviated rule. His father, a self-aggrandising heretic and an unpopular ruler had closed all temples that worshipped Egypt’s main deity Amun and forced his subjects to worship his sun god Aten, after whom he had renamed himself, Akhanaten – meaning ‘Living Image of Aten’. Tutankhamen reversed his father’s decrees and allowed his subjects to worship Ra or whichever god they chose. Pretty radical stuff for a teenage leader back then – even if it was orchestrated by his chief advisor!

Today, the divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ seems to be growing wider. And the consequences are manifesting in behaviour that has seldom been seen before. Migrant refugees risk their lives to flee the tyranny their oppressors as Russian leaders conspire behind the doors of the Kremlin. Europe holds its breath as Britain struggles with the dilemma of Brexit and the world watches with incredulity as the American Presidential Election process draws nearer to its woeful conclusion. As Africa struggles to retain credibility within the global community, its countries choose to disassociate themselves from the Hague’s bastion of crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court, on the pretext that its genocidal leaders are exempt. Closer to home, thinking South Africans question how much longer the current regime will deliberately drag the country into an economic abyss in the pursuit of personal aggrandisement whilst students burn down the grand buildings of universities to extort free education. Never has the demand for authentic leadership been greater within a world experiencing such dynamic turmoil.

To accept the mantle of power means selfless service in the pursuit of a better life for all. It does not entitle leaders to use their power for the purpose of self-enrichment. Conversely, recent years have seen those with wealth using their resources to attain power. It seems that power and wealth are inextricably conjoined – irrefutable partners in a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.

If only gold did possess magical properties that bestowed those in power with the wisdom to do the right thing – plus protect the wearer from the vagaries of poor leadership! The only guarantee of stability within a global system spiralling towards the unknown … remains gold – just as it did over four thousand years ago.

Written by Michael Pryke on behalf of Metcon