Cameos have been a popular form of artistic jewelry for around 2,500 years. Cameos were extremely popular in the Greco-Roman world. The origin of the word may be the Hebrew "Kamea", for a charm or amulet; or Latin "Cammaeus" for an engraved gemstone. Cameos historically were produced from sea shells or semi-precious gemstones such as quartz agate. The most popular form of cameo in the Roman world was the intaglio cameo, where the image was carved out of the gemstone forming a recess.