Piercing: A Cultural History Of Holes

Published March 10, 2016
Updated February 20, 2019

Nose Piercings

Indian Woman Nose Ring Piercing

An Indian woman dons a nose ring. Image Source: Pathos

The first recorded mention of nose rings is in Genesis 24:22. When Abraham decides to find a wife for his son Isaac, he chooses Rebekah, and gives her a gold nose ring to seal the deal.

According to The Naked Woman: A Study of the Female Body by Desmond Morris, “it is still a common practice among the Berber and Bedouin peoples of North Africa and the Middle East, where the husband gives his bride a gold nose ring when they are married. The size of the ring indicates the wealth of the family, and, if a divorce occurs later, the rejected wife can use the gold in her nose to provide her with financial security.”

Mughal emperors brought the practice to India in the 16th century. A stud or ring is often worn in the left nostril by women, as the left side is associated with female reproductive organs. The piercing is supposed to lessen the pain of birth and menstruation.

Nose piercings didn’t reach the West until the 1960s and 1970s, when hippies started traveling to India, and were taken up by the punk movement in the ‘70s as a sign of nonconformity.

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.