Gold has long been regarded as a precious object and has been equated with kingship and authority. As gold was rare, and sometimes not locally available, people often travelled over great distances and endured enormous hardships to obtain this precious commodity. In ancient Egypt, for instance, the New Kingdom pharaoh Hatshepsut boasts of a trade expedition south to the land of Punt, where, among other things, gold was brought back to Egypt. The quest for gold can also be perceived in Classical mythology. In the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, the hero’s quest was the attainment of a relic known as the Golden Fleece. Mountains of Silver: Tiny Bolivian village of Potosi was once the largest industrial mining complex in the world The Search for Cibola, the Seven Cities of Gold The Chibcha Tribe and Their Gold Rituals Ever since the myths and heroes of the Classical world were conceived, they have exerted a great influence on the European mind. Some have identified parallels between the stories of Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece with certain tales from Europe’s Age of Discovery, one of the most famous of which is the search for El Dorado. Read moreSection: NewsMyths & LegendsAmericasRead Later