 7. Religious uses of precious stones, pagan, Hebrew, and Christian. The use of stones for the decorations of images of the gods and in religious ceremonies, more especially in those connected with the burial of the dead, can be traced back to a remote antiquity. Indeed, we may regard this religious use of precious or peculiar stones as the natural development of the original idea of their talismanic virtue. If a certain supernatural essence manifested itself in the stone, what more fit object could be imagined for the decoration of statues of the gods, or to bear engraved texts from the sacred writings, and be placed with the bodies of the dead as passports to ensure the safe entry of the souls of the departed into the better land? While this employment of mineral substances for religious purposes is practically universal, the earliest recorded instances come from Egypt, and concern the Egyptian custom of engraving texts from a very ancient ritual composition called the Book of the Dead, upon certain semi-precious stones which had been cut into various symbolical forms. This Book of the Dead composed of a number of distinct chapters, each complete in itself, describes the passage of the soul of the deceased through the realm of the dead, a menti. Here the soul addresses the gods and other beings who receive it, and the prayers and invocations recited in the chapters are supposed to procure a safe passage and protection from all evil influences or impediments. One of the most unusual of the engraved amulets is the buckle or tie that. This was generally of red jasper, carnelian, or red porphyry, or else of red glass or pheons, or of sycamore wood. The wood was symbolical of the blood of Isis, and the amulets were sometimes engraved with the 156th chapter of the Book of the Dead. They were placed on the mummy's neck. The formula engraved reads, Chapter of the Buckle of Carnelian which is put on the neck of the deceased. The blood of Isis, the virtue of Isis, the magic power of Isis, the magic power of the eye are protecting this, the great one. They prevent any wrong being done to him. This chapter is said on a buckle of carnelian dipped into the juice of Ankhama, inlaid into the substance of the sycamore wood and put on the neck of the deceased. Whoever has this chapter read to him the virtue of Isis protects him. Horus, the son of Isis, rejoices in seeing him, and no way is barred to him unfailingly. Another amulet is the tet. The hieroglyph represents a mason's table, and the word signifies firmness, stability, preservation. These figures made of pheons, gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and other materials were placed on the neck of the mummy to afford protection. The papyrus scepter, what, is usually cut from matrix emerald or made of pheons of similar hue. What means verger, flourishing, greenness. Placed on the neck of the mummy it was regarded as emblematic of the eternal youth it was hoped the deceased would enjoy in the realm of the dead. In the 159th chapter of the Book of the Dead we read of an what of matrix emerald. It was believed to be the gift of thoth, serving to protect the limbs of the deceased. The amulet representing the pillow, Urse, was generally made of hematite. The 166th chapter of the Book of the Dead is sometimes engraved thereon. Dr. Budge renders this as follows. Rise up from nonexistence, O prostrate one. They watch over thy head at the exalted horizon. Thou overthrowest thine enemies. Thou triumphest over what they do against thee, as Horus the Avenger of his father, this Osiris, has commanded to be done for thee. Thou cut us off the heads of thine enemies, never shall they carry off from thee thy head. Verily Osiris maketh slaughter at the coming forth of the heads of his enemies, may they never remove his head from him. Of all these amulets the type most frequently encountered has the shape of a heart, ab. These are found of carnelian, green jasper, basalt, lapis lazuli, and other hard materials. The heart, regarded in ancient Egypt as the seed of life, was the object of a special care after death. Enclosed in a special receptacle it was buried with the mummy, and the belief was that only after it had been weighed in the balance of the underworld against the symbol of law, could it regain its place in the body of the deceased. The heart was symbolically represented by a scarab. A fine example of a heart amulet shows on one side the figure of the goddess Neath, with the penubird, or phoenix, an emblem of the resurrection, and bears inscribed the chapter of the heart. The following extract from the Book of the Dead treats of the formula to be recited over a funeral scarab cut from a hard stone, perhaps the lapis lazuli. Egyptian tradition assigned this chapter to the reign of Semti, the fifth king of the first dynasty, about 4400 BC, chapter of not allowing a man's heart to oppose him in the divine regions of the netherworld. My heart, which came from my mother, my heart necessary for my existence on earth, do not rise up against me. Do not testify as an adversary against me among the divine chiefs in regard to what I have done before the gods. Do not separate from me before the great Lord of Amenti. Hail to thee, O heart of Osiris, dwelling in the west. Hail to you, gods of the braided beard, august by your scepter. Speak well of the Osiris, and make him prosper by Nebka. I am reunited with the earth. I am not dead in Amenti. There I am a pure spirit for eternity. To be said over a scarab base, fashioned from a hard stone, coated with gold, and placed on the heart of the man after he has been anointed with oil. The following word should be said over him as a magic charm. My heart, which came from my mother, my heart is necessary for me in my transformations. Take your elements, pass around the turquoise basin, and go to him who is in his temple, and from whom the gods proceed. The most ancient inscription of this especially favorite text is on the plinth of a scarab in the British Museum bearing the cartouche of Sibach and Saff, a king of the 14th dynasty, 2300 B.C. It is made from an exceptionally fine piece of green jasper, the body and head of the beetle being carefully carved out of the stone, while the legs are of gold carved in relief. The scarab is inserted into a gold base of tabloid form, and was found at Kerna, Thebes, by Mr. Salt. As green jasper was believed to possess altogether exceptional virtues as an amulet, this particular scarab was probably regarded as especially sacred. It appears to have been the rule to engrave certain specials chapters of the Book of the Dead, among those referring to the heart, upon particular stones. Thus, for instance, the 26th chapter was engraved on Lapis Lazuli, the 27th upon Feldspar, the 30th upon Serpentine, and the 29th upon Carnelian. This may perhaps have been originally due to some association of the God principally invoked in the text with the precious substance upon which the text was engraved. The form of an eye fashioned out of Lapis Lazuli and ornamented with gold constituted an amulet of great power. It was inscribed with the 140th chapter of the Book of the Dead. On the last day of the month, Meshir, an offering of all things good and holy, was to be made before this symbolic eye, for on that day the Supreme God Ra was believed to play such an image upon his head. Sometimes those eyes were made of jasper and could then be laid upon any of the limbs of a mummy. Of the image of truth made from a Lapis Lazuli and worn by the Egyptian High Priest, Alien aptly says that he would prefer the judge should not bear truth about with him, fashioned and expressed in an image, but rather in his very soul. Among the Assyrian texts giving the formulae for incantations in various magical operations, there is one which treats of an ornament composed of seven brilliant stones to be worn on the breast of the king as an amulet. Indeed, so great was the virtue of these stones that they were supposed to constitute an ornament for the gods also. The text as rendered by Fasi is as follows. Incantation. The splendid stones, the splendid stones, the stones of abundance and joy, made resplendent for the flesh of the gods. The Hualini stone, the Sigaru stone, the Hualalu stone, the Sandhu stone, the Uknu stone, the Dushu stone, the precious stone Elmeshu, perfect in celestial beauty, the stone of which the pingoo is set in gold, placed upon the shining breast of the king as an ornament. Azaksud, High Priest of Bal, make them shine, make them sparkle, let the evil one keep aloof from the dwelling. The names of these two gems, the Hualalu and the Hualalini, suggest that they were of a similar class. As the fundamental meaning of the root once the names are formed is to perforate, it is barely possible that we have here the long-sought Assyrian designation for the pearl, which was commonly regarded in ancient times as a stone. In Arabic the perforated pearl has a special name to distinguish it from the unperforated or virgin pearl. All we know of the Sandhu is that it must have been a dark-colored stone. The Uknu, however, is almost certainly the lapis lazuli. It is often mentioned in the Tel El-Armarna tablets as having been among the gifts sent by the kings of Babylonia and Assyria to the pharaohs of Egypt, and also by the latter two-frontly Asiatic monarchs. Of the Sir-Guru and the Dushu stones, nothing is known, but the Elmeshu, the seventh in the list, was evidently regarded as the most brilliant and splendid of all. Indeed, Professor Frederick Delich hazards the conjecture that it is the diamond. In any case, this stone must have been set in rings and considered very valuable, for an Assyrian text occurs the following passage. Like an Elmeshu ring may I be precious in thine eyes. The fact that this stone is described as having a celestial beauty might incline us to believe that it was a sapphire. The idea of this mystic ornament composed of seven gems probably originated in Babylonia, where the number seven was looked upon as especially sacred. As we shall see there is some reason to attribute a Hindu origin to the nine gems, the covering of the king of Tyre, enumerated by Ezekiel, while the breastplate on the effod of the Hebrew high priest with its twelve stones, symbolizing the twelve months of the year, appears to be of later date and seems to belong to the time of the return from the Babylonian captivity and the building of the Second Temple. Certainly the historic and prophetic books of the Old Testament know nothing of it, although the Urim and the Thumim are mentioned and the elaborate description given in Exodus is generally regarded by biblical scholars as belonging to the so-called priestly codex, the latest part of the Pentateuch, gradually evolved during the exile and given its final form in the fifth century. In the very ancient Assyrian Babylonian epic narrative of the descent of the goddess Ishtar to Hades, the guardian of the infernal regions obliges the goddess to lay aside some part of her clothing and ornaments at each of the seven gates through which she passes. At the fifth we are told that she stripped off her girdle or stones which aided parturition. It has been asserted, and perhaps with some reason, that of the many mineral substances supposed to possess this virtue, jade, nephrite, or jadeite, was the earliest known. The Babylonian legends also tell of trees on which grow precious stones. In the Gilgamesh epic a mystic cedar tree is described. This grew in the Elamite sanctuary of Arnaina and was under the guardianship of the Elamite king Humbaba. Of this tree an inscription relates, It produces Samtu stones as fruit. Its bows hang with them, glorious to behold. The crown of it produces lapis lazuli. Its fruit is costly to gaze upon. Another tree bearing precious stones was seen by the hero Gilgamesh after he had passed through darkness for the space of twelve hours. This must have been a most resplendent object to judge from the following description on a cuneiform tablet. It bore precious stones for fruits. Its branches were glorious to the site. The twigs were crystals. It bore fruit costly to the site. One of the rarest and most significant specimens illustrating the use of valuable stones for religious ceremonial purposes in the pagan world is in the Morgan Tiffany collection. It is an ancient Babylonian ax head made of banded agate. So regular indeed is the disposition of the layers in this agate that one might be justified in denominating it an onyx. Its prevailing hue is what may be called a deer brown. Some white splotches now apparent are evidently due to the action of fire or that of some alkali. This ax head bears an inscription in archaic cuneiform characters and presumably in the so-called Sumerian tongue. That believed to have been spoken by the founders of the Babylonian civilization. The form of the inscription indicates that the object dates from an earlier period than 2000 BC. While the characters are clearly caught and can be easily deciphered, the inscription is nevertheless exceedingly difficult to translate. It is evident that the ax head was a vote of offering to a divinity probably on the part of a certain governor named Adagish. But whether the divinity in question was Shamash, the Sun God, or the God Adad, or some other member of the Babylonian pantheon, cannot be determined with any finality. The French Assyriologist, François Lenornon, who first described this ax head in 1879 and Professor Ira Maurice Price of the Semitic Department of Chicago University, both admit that it may have been consecrated to Adad. As the weather god, the thunderer, the ax symbol would have been more especially appropriate to him in view of the usage, almost universal among primitive peoples of associating stone ax heads or ax-shaped stones with the thunderbolt, and hence with the divinity who is believed to have launched it toward earth. The Sumerian ax head measures 134.5 millimeters in length, 5.3 inches, 35.5 millimeters in width, 1.4 inches, and 31 millimeters in thickness, 1.22 inches. It was originally secured by Cardinal Stefano Borgia, 1731 to 1804 for some time secretary of the College of Propaganda in Rome, who probably acquired it from some missionary to the east. From the Cardinal's family it passed for 15,000 lira, $3,000, to the Tishkowitz collection, and when the objects therein comprised were disposed of at a public sale, the writer purchased it for the American Museum of Natural History in New York, April 16, 1902. In Alicante, in Spain, cut upon the pedestal of an ancient statue, supposed to have been that of Isis, was found in inscription giving a list of the offerings dedicated by Divine Command by a certain Fabia Fabiana in honor of her granddaughter. Evidently the fond grandmother had given of her best and choicest jewels which were used to adorn the statue. They consisted of a diadem set with a unial, a large round pearl, and six smaller pearls, two emeralds, seven barrels, two rubies, and a hyacinth. In each ear of the statue was inserted an earring, bearing a pearl and an emerald. About the neck was hung a necklace consisting of four rows of emeralds and pearls, eighteen of the former and thirty-six of the latter. Two circlates bound round the ankles, contained eleven barrels and two emeralds, while two bracelets were set with eight emeralds and eight pearls. The adornment was completed by four rings, two bearing emeralds, while two, placed on the little finger, were set with diamonds. On the sandals were eight barrels. A notable instance of an antique vote of offering is the necklace of valuable precious stones dedicated to the statue of Vesta. The Byzantine historian Zazimus attributes the tragic end of Stilicho's widow Serena to her having to spoil the image of Vesta of this costly ornament and finds a sort of poetic justice in the manner of her death, since she was strangled by a cord which encircled her neck. Chapter 7 Part 2 of the Curious Lore of Precious Stones This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org, the Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Frederick Kuntz. It is not only in the works of the Fathers of the Christian Church that we find precious stones used as similes of religious virtue. In Buddhist writings also we have examples of this. In the Questions of King Melinda, composed perhaps as early as the third century of our era, occur the following passages. Just, O King, as the diamond is pure throughout, just so, O King, should the strenuous Bixhu, earnest in effort, be perfectly pure in his means of livelihood. This, O King, is the first quality of the diamond he ought to have. And again, O King, as the diamond cannot be alloyed with other substances, just so, O King, should the strenuous Bixhu, earnest in effort, never mix with wicked men as friends, this, O King, is the second quality of the diamond he ought to have. And again, O King, just as the diamond is set together with the most costly gems, just so, O King, should the strenuous Bixhu, earnest in effort, associate with those of the highest excellence, with men who have entered the first or second or third stage of the noble path, with the jewel treasures of the air-hots, of the recluses of the three-fold wisdom or of the six-fold insight. This, O King, is the third quality of the diamond he ought to have, for it was said, O King, by the Blessed One, the God over all gods in the Sutta-Napata. Let the pure associate with the pure, ever in recollection firm, dwelling harmoniously wise, thus shall ye put an end to griefs. The description of the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelations finds a curious parallel in the Hindu Puranas. Here we are told that the Divine Krishna, the Eighth Incarnation of Vishnu, took up his abode in the wonderful city of Devaraka, and was visited there by the various orders of gods and geniuses. Gods Asuras, Gandharas, Kinaras, began to pour into Duraka to see Krishna and Valorama. Some descended from the sky, some from their cars, and alighting underneath the banyan tree, looked on Duraka the matchless. The city was square, it measured a hundred yojanas, and overall was decked in pearls, rubies, diamonds, and other gems. The city was high. It was ornamented with gems, and it was furnished with cupolas of rubies and diamonds, with emerald pillars and with courtyards of rubies. It contained endless temples. It had cross-roads decked with sapphires and highways blazing with gems. It blazed like the meridian sun in summer. As compared with the description in Revelations we cannot fail to note the lack of definiteness. Instead of the well-ordered scheme of color as represented by the twelve precious stones dedicated to the twelve tribes of Israel, the mystic Hindu city is simply a gorgeous mass of the most brilliant gems known in India. The poetic description of the royal city Kusavati, given in the Maha Siddhasana Sutanta, may perhaps have originated in some tradition regarding Ekbatana or Babylon. Seven ramparts surrounded Kusavati, the materials being respectively gold, silver, barrel, crystal, agate, coral, and, for the last, all kinds of gems. In these ramparts were four gates, one of gold, one of silver, one of crystal, and one of jade, and at each gate seven pillars were fixed, each three or four times the height of a man, and composed of the seven precious substances that constituted the ramparts. Beyond the ramparts were seven rows of palm trees, the fourth row having trunks of silver and leaves and fruit of gold, then followed palms of barrel with leaves and fruit of barrel, agate palms whose fruit and leaves were of coral, and coral palms with leaves and fruit of agate. Lastly the palms whose trunks were composed of all kinds of gems had leaves and fruits of the same description, and when these rows of palm trees were shaken by the wind arose a sweet sound and pleasant and charming and intoxicating. In Greek literature also there is a gem city, namely the city of the islands of the blast, described by Lucien in his Vera Historia. The walls of this city were of emerald, the temples of the gods were formed of barrel, and the altars therein of single amethysts of enormous size. The city itself was all of gold as a fit setting for these marvelous gems. Hindu mythology tells of a wonderful tank formed of crystal, the work of the god Maya. Its bottom and sides were encrusted with beautiful pearls and in the center was a raised platform blazing with the most gorgeous precious stones. Although it contained no water, the transparent crystal produced the illusion of water, and those who approached the tank were tempted to plunge into it and take a refreshing bath in what appeared to be clear fresh water. The kelpa tree of Hindu religion, a symbolical offering to the gods, is described by Hindu poets as a glowing mass of precious stones. Pearls hung from its boughs and beautiful emeralds from its shoots. The tender young leaves were corals and the ripe fruit consisted of rubies. The roots were of sapphire, the base of the trunk diamond, the uppermost part of cat's eye, while the section between was of topaz. The foliage, except the young leaves, was entirely formed of zircons. The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Huon Zeng, who visited India between 629 and 645 AD, tells of the wonderful diamond throne which according to the legend had once stood near the tree of knowledge, beneath whose spreading branches Gotama Buddha is said to have received his supreme revelation of truth. This throne has been constructed in the age called the Kalpa of the Sages. Its origin was contemporaneous with that of the earth, and its foundations were at the center of all things. It measured one hundred feet in circumference and was made of a single diamond. When the whole earth was convulsed by storm or earthquake, this resplendent throne remained immovable. Upon it the thousand Buddhas of the Kalpa had reposed and had fallen into the ecstasy of the diamond. However, since the world has passed into the present and last age, sand and earth have completely covered the diamond throne, so that it can no longer be seen by human eyes. In the Kalpa Sutra written in Prakrit, one of the sacred books of the Jains, the rivals of the Buddhists, it is said that Harinagami-si, the Divine Commander of the Foot Troop, seized fourteen precious stones, the chief of which was Vajra, the diamond, and rejecting their grosser particles retained only their finer essence to aid him in his transformations. In the same Sutra the following glowing description is given of the adornment of the surpassingly beautiful goddess Sri. On all parts of her body shone ornaments and trinkets composed of many jewels and precious stones, yellow and red gold. The pure cup-like pair of her breasts sparkled encircled by a garland of kunda flowers in which glittered a string of pearls. She wore strings of pearls made by clever and diligent artists strung with wonderful strings, a necklace of jewels with a string of dinars, and a trembling pair of earrings touching her shoulders diffused a brilliancy. But the united beauties and charms of these ornaments were only subservient to the loveliness of her face. As engraved decoration of a fine Chinese face of white jade with delicate crown markings appear eight storks each of which bears in its beak an attribute of one of the eight Taoist immortals. Thus we have the double gourd as attribute of the most powerful of these demigods known as Li with the iron crotch, whose aid is sought by magicians and astrologers. The magic sword with which Lu Tong Pin vanquished the spirits of evil that roamed through the Chinese empire in the form of terrible dragons, the basket of flowers attribute of Lan Tsai Hou, the patron of gardeners and florists, the royal fan used by Han Zhongli of the Chao dynasty, 1122 to 220 BC, to call again to life the spirits of the departed. The lotus flower, emblematic of the virgin, Hou Xianqu, venerated somewhat as a patron saint by Chinese housewives, and who acquired the gift of immortal life by the help of a powder of pulverized jade and mother of pearl. The bamboo tubes and rods with which the mighty necromancer Cheng Guo, patron of artists, evoked the souls of the dead, flute of the musician's patron, Han Xianqu, who owed his immortality to his craft in stealthily entering the Taoist paradise and securing a peach from the sacred tree of life, and lastly the castanets of Cao Guo Qin, especially revered by Chinese actors. The prevailing belief in India that treasures offered to the images or shrines of the gods will bring good fortune to the generous donor finds expression in many ancient and modern Hindu writings. In the rich Veda it is said that by giving gold the giver receives a life of light and glory. In the Samaveda Upanishad we read, givers are high in heaven, those who give horses live conjointly with the sun, givers of gold enjoy eternal life, givers of clothes live in the moon. Another text, Heitish Smiriti reads, coral in worship will subdue all three worlds. He who worships Krishna with rubies will be reborn as a powerful emperor. If with a small ruby he will be born a king. Offering emeralds will produce Guyana or knowledge of the soul and of the eternal. If he worships with a diamond even the impossible or nirvana, that is eternal life in the highest heaven, will be secured. If with a flower of gold a man worships for a month, he will get as much wealth as Kuvera, the Lord of rubies, and will hereafter attain to nirvana and to muskwa or salvation. At Multan, one of the most ancient cities of India, situated in the Punjab, 164 miles southwest of Lahore, there was in the Hindu temple an idol having for eyes two great pearls. The eyes of the rude image of Jagannath at Puri in Bengal, Orissa, are said to have at one time been formed of precious stones, as were also those of the idols of Vishnu at Chandranagar and in the Great Seven Wall Temple at Srirangam, whence appears to have come the Orloff Diamond. In ceremonial worship the Hindus recognize 16 offerings, the 9th consisting of gems and jewelry, and a divine assurance of adequate return to the giver appears in the Bhagavad-Purana, where Krishna says, Whatever is best and most valued in this world and that which is most dear to you should be offered to me and it will be received back in immense and endless quantity. On certain appointed days the holy images are decorated with the choicest garments and the richest jewelry in the temple treasury. This is especially the case on the day celebrated as the birthday of the respective divinity. However the gifts are believed to retain their sacred character as dedicated objects only for a comparatively brief period, varying from a month or more for garments and vestments to 10 or 12 years for jewels, such as the Naratna or the Pantratna, the prized and revered jewels composed respectively of nine and five gems. The Pantratna usually consists of gold, diamonds, sapphire, ruby, and pearl. After the gifts have ceased to be worthy of use in the temples they may be disposed of to defray the expenses of the foundation, including the cost of supporting the numerous priests and attendants. As the objects still retain their sacred associations they are eagerly bought by pious Hindus who undoubtedly regard them as valuable talismans. Thus they not only serve to bring blessings upon the donors but also constitute one of the chief sources of income for the temples. One of the oldest and perhaps the most interesting talismanic jewel is that known as the Naratna or Naratna, the nine gem jewel. It is mentioned in the old Hindu Ratnakastras or treatises on gems, for example, in the Naratna Pariksha where it is described as follows, manner of composing the setting of a ring, in the center the sun, the ruby, to the east, Venus, the diamond, to the southeast, the moon, the pearl, to the south, Mars, the coral, to the southwest, Rahu, the jasinth, to the west, Saturn, the sapphire, to the northeast, Jupiter, the topaz, to the north, the descending node, the cat's eye, to the northwest, Mercury, the emerald, such is the planetary setting. From this description we learn that the jewel was designed to combine all the powerful astrological influences. The gems chosen to correspond with the various heavenly bodies and with the aspects known as the ascending and descending nodes differ in some cases from those selected in the west. For instance, the emerald is here assigned to Mercury, whereas in western tradition this stone was usually the representative of Venus, although it is sometimes associated with Mercury also. On the other hand, the diamond is dedicated to Venus, instead of to the sun, as in the western world. In the Naratna the five gems known to the Hindus as the Maharatnani, or great gems, the diamond, pearl, ruby, sapphire, and emerald, were, as we see, associated with the sun and moon, Venus, Mercury, and Saturn. While the four lesser gems, uparatnani, namely the jasinth, topaz, cat's eye, and coral, represent Mars, Jupiter, Rahu, and the descending node. The two last named are very important factors in astrological calculations and are often called the dragon's head and the dragon's tail. These designations signify the ascending and descending nodes, indicating the passage of the ecliptic by the moon in her ascent above and descent below this arbitrary plane. In three somewhat obscure passages of the Ridge Veda, there are references to the seven Ratnas. Whether these were gems cannot be determined since the primary meaning of the word Ratna is a precious object, not necessarily a precious stone. But it is possible that we may have here an allusion to some earlier form of talisman in which only the sun, moon, and the five planets were represented. It is easy to understand that such a talisman as the Naratna, combining the favorable influences of all the celestial bodies supposed to govern the destinies of man, must have been highly prized and we may well assume that only the rich and powerful could own this talisman in a form ensuring its greatest efficacy. For the Hindus believed that the virtue of every gem depended upon its perfection, and they regarded a poor or defective stone as a source of unhappiness and misfortune. In modern times this talisman is sometimes differently composed. A specimen shown in the Indian court of the Parasax position of 1878 consisted of the following stones, coral, topaz, sapphire, ruby, flat diamond, cut diamond, emerald, amethyst, and carbuncle. Here the cut diamond, amethyst, and carbuncle take the place of the jasinth, pearl, and cat's eye. Instead of uniting the different planetary gems in a single ring, they have sometimes been set separately in a series of rings to be worn successfully on the days originally named after the celestial bodies. We read in the Life of Apollonias of Tyanna, for Century 80, by Philistratus. Domus also relates that Iarchus gave to Apollonias seven rings named after the planets, and the latter wore these one by one in the order of the weekdays. Although it is not expressly stated that the appropriate stones were set in the rings, the custom of the time makes it probable that this was the case. Among the Burmese the value for occult purposes of the nine gems composing the Neoratna, or Neoratna, is strictly determined in the following order. First the ruby, second the diamond, or rock crystal, third the pearl, fourth the coral, fifth the topaz, sixth the sapphire, seventh the cat's eye, eighth the amethyst, and ninth the emerald. That the ruby diamond and pearl should occupy places of honor is quite natural, but the relegation of the sapphire to sixth place, after coral and topaz, seems to be a rather unfair treatment of this beautiful stone. End of Chapter 7 Part 2 Recording by Joan Wendell Hampshire, Illinois Chapter 7 Part 3 of the Curious Lore of Precious Stones This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Frederick Kunz The yellow girdles worn by the Chinese emperors of the Manchu dynasty were variously ornamented with precious stones according to the different ceremonial observances at which the emperor presided. For the services in the Temple of Heaven, the very appropriate choice of Lapis lazuli ornaments was made. For the altar of earth, yellow jade was favored. For a sacrifice of the altar of the sun, the gems were red corals, while white jade was selected for the ceremonies before the altar of the moon. Jade of different colors was used for the six precious tablets employed in the worship of heaven and earth and the four cardinal points. For the worship of heaven, there was the dark green round tablet. For that of earth, an octagonal tablet of yellow jade. The east was worshiped with a green pointed tablet. The west was worshiped with the white tiger tablet. The north with a black semi-circular tablet. And the south with a tablet of red jade. Of all the Chinese works on jade, the most interesting and remarkable is the Kuyu Toyu Pu, or Illustrated Description of Ancient Jade. A catalogue divided into a hundred books and embellished with upward of seven hundred figures. It was published in 1176, and lists the magnificent collection of jade objects belonging to the first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty. One of the treasures here described was a four-sided plaque of pure white jade over two feet in height and breadth, and it was regarded as of altogether exceptional value. For on it was a design miraculously engraven. This was a figure seated on a mat with a flower vase on its left and an alms bowl on the right, in the midst of rocks enveloped in clouds. The figure was an image of the Buddhist saint, Samanta Bahadra, and the plaque is said to have been washed out of a sacred cave in the year 1068 by a violent and mysterious current. Jade talismans are very popular at the present day in the Moabadan world, and among the Turks they are so highly prized as heirlooms that it is difficult to secure any of them. There is an Orthodox Moabadan sect whose members call themselves Pekdash, and who during their whole lifetime carry about with them a flat piece of jade as a protection against injury or annoyance of every kind. The four rain-making gods are shown wearing necklaces of coral and turquoise in the ceremonial sand paintings of the Navajos. These four gods are respectively colored to denote the four cardinal points, black for north, blue for south, yellow for west, and white for east. The whole painting, measuring nine by thirteen feet, is guarded on three sides by magic wands. Toward the east it is left unprotected as only good spirits are believed to dwell in this direction. Each of the rain gods carry suspended from his right wrist an elaborately decorated tobacco pouch bearing the figure of a stone pipe. The Navajos believe that in this pouch the god places a ray of sunlight with which he lights his pipe. When he smokes clouds form in the sky and the rain descends. In the sand picture representing the god of the whirlwind this divinity also wears ear pendants and a necklace of turquoise. Of the turquoise in Aztec times we have the testimony of the missionary Bernardino de Sahogan that one variety, presumably that regarded as the finest and most attractive, bore the name tuksevitl which signified turquoise of the gods. No one was allowed either to own or wear this as it was exclusively devoted to the service of the gods, whether as a temple offering or for the decoration of the divine images. Sahogan describes this turquoise as fine, unspotted and very clear. It was very rare and was brought to Mexico from afar. Some specimens were of rounded shape like a hazelnut cut in half. Others were broad and flat and some were pitted as though in a state of decomposition. The god of fire, Jaiutokatli, or Işsokokui, presided over the ceremony of piercing the ears of the young boys and girls. The image of this god was decorated with earrings encrusted with a mosaic of turquoise. He held in his left hand a buckler on which were five large green stones called chalchutl, jadeite, placed in the form of a cross on a plate of gold almost covering the shield. At the time of the Spanish conquest an immense emerald, almost as large as an ostrich egg, was adored by the Peruvians in the city of Manta. This emerald goddess bore the name of Uminya, and like some of the precious relics of the Christian world, was only exhibited on high feast days when the Indians flocked to the shrine from far and near bringing gifts to the goddess. The wily priests especially recommended the donation of emeralds, saying that these were the daughters of the goddess who would be well pleased to see her offspring. In this way an immense store of emeralds rewarded the efforts of the priests and on the conquest of Peru all these fine stones fell into the hands of Pedro de Alvarado, Garcilaso de la Vega, and their companions. The mother emerald however had been so cleverly concealed by the priests of the shrine that the Spaniards never succeeded in gaining possession of it. Many of the other emeralds were destroyed because of the ignorance and stupidity of some of their new owners, who supposing that the test of a true emerald was its ability to withstand hard blows, laid the stones on an anvil and hammered them to pieces. The old and entirely false notion that the genuine diamond could endure this treatment may have suggested the unfortunate test. Garcilaso likens the growth of the emerald in its mine to that of a fruit on a tree, and he believed that it gradually acquired its beautiful green hue, that part of the crystal nearest the sun being the first to acquire color. He notes an interesting specimen found in Peru, half of which was colorless like glass, while the other half was a brilliant green, this he compares with a half-ripened fruit. The remarkable jade adds, generally known as the cunse adds, was found in Oaxaca, Mexico, brought to the United States about 1890, and is now in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Of a light greenish-gray hue with a slight tinge of blue, this jade artifact is 272 millimeters long, 10 and 13 16 inches, 153 millimeters wide, six inches, and 118 millimeters thick, four and five-eighths inches. Its weight is 229.3 troy ounces, nearly sixteen pounds, of wardepois. Roodly but not unskillfully, carved upon its face is a grotesque human figure. Four small shallow depressions, one under each eye and one near each hand, may have served to hold in place small gold films, but no trace of gold decoration is now extant. In its mechanical execution, this adds, offers evidence of considerable skill on the part of the Aztec lapidary. The polish equaling that of modern workers. In the fact that a large piece, which must apparently have weighed at least two pounds, has evidently been cut out of this implement by some one of its Indian owners, we can see a proof of the talismanic power ascribed to jadeite in Aztec times, for there can be little doubt that nothing less than a belief in the great virtue of jadeite, coupled with the rarity of the material, could have induced the mutilation of what must have been regarded in its time as a remarkable work of art. The source of the prehistoric jade, Nephrite and jadeite, found in Europe, and also of that worked into ornaments by the Indians before the Spanish conquest of America, was long the subject of contention among mineralogists and archaeologists. In Germany this question was denominated the Nephrite Frage, and the most notable contribution to the discussion was the great scientific and scholarly work issued by Heinrich Fischer. His conclusion was that as there was no evidence of the existence of these minerals outside of a few localities in Asia, the European and American supply must have been brought to these parts of the world from Asia, and that hence the presence of these jade artifacts in America clearly pointed to commercial intercourse at an early period between the American continent and Asia, and might be regarded as offering a strong argument in favor of an Asiatic origin for an American civilization. According to this theory the prehistoric jade objects found in Europe must have had a similar source and would constitute a proof of the existence of traffic with remote points in Asia, at a date long previous to that commonly accepted. This view was strongly opposed by Professor A. B. Meyer of Dresden, and recent discoveries have effectively disproved the theory in the case of Europe at least, for Nephrite has been found there in situ in several places. The largest mass of this material that has been taken from a European deposit is that found by the writer Jordan Smoul in Silesia in April 1899, and which weighed 4704 pounds. The origin of American jade in the forms of Nephrite and jadeite has not yet been determined, but we have every reason to suppose that deposits of these minerals will eventually be discovered in various parts of the American continent, as they have already been in Europe. Indeed the existence of Nephrite in Alaska is already well attested. The peculiar and characteristic qualities of these substances have made them favorite materials for ornamental objects from the earliest ages down to our own day, and in almost all parts of the world. A most important element contributing to the popularity of jade has been its supposed possession of wonderful talismanic and therapeutic virtues, and while the Western world has not the same belief in these matters as the Eastern world, a more or less definite appreciation of what jade still signifies for many in the Orient continues to exercise an influence over both Americans and Europeans, making objects of Nephrite or jadeite highly prized everywhere at the present time. The term chelchihuitl was indifferently applied by the ancient Mexicans to a number of green or greenish white stones. Ketzal chelchihuitl, which was regarded as the most precious variety, may perhaps have been more exclusively denoted jadeite. This is somewhat indefinitely described by Sahagun as being white with much transparency, and with a slight greenish tinge, something like Jasper. Of eight ornamental objects of green stone examined some years ago by the writer, four were of jadeite, one of serpentine, another of green quartz, and the remaining two of a mixture of white feldspar and green hornblend. An inferior kind of chelchihuitl, said by Sahagun to have come from quarries in the vicinity of Tecalco, appears to have been identical with the so-called Mexican onyx, which is found in veins in that place and is an aragonite stalagmite. This material from which figures, ornaments, and beads were made by the ancient Mexicans is today greatly valued as an ornamental stone. The greater number of ancient Mexican jadeite beads appear to have been rounded pebbles of this material, assorted as to size, and drilled for use in making necklaces. Other green stones used at this time in Mexico were green Jasper, green plasma, serpentine, and also the Tecalco onyx, or marble above mentioned. In many cases the substances are of such rich green that they might easily be mistaken for jadeite by those who lack the tests or the experience at the command of modern mineralogists. Should jadeite ever be found in situ in Mexico, it seems probable that the discovery will be made in the state of Oaxaca whence came the finest ancient specimens, including the splendid vote of ads. Moreover one of the few materials by which jadeite can be worked is furnished by the streams of this reason. Whence have been taken several rolled pebbles which the writer has identified as yellow and blue corundum, the quality being equal to that of specimens from Ceylon. Gessner describes one of the lip ornaments worn by the Aborigines of South America in the following words, a green stone or gem which the inhabitants of the West Indies use. They pierce their lips and insert this stone so that the thicker part adheres to the hole and the rest protrudes. We might call these ornaments or a penduli, mouth pendants. This stone was given me by a learned Piedmontese, Johannes Ferraris, and he wrote of it as I send a cylindrical green stone as long as a man's middle finger and having at one extremity two ridges. It is stated that the Brazilians of high rank wore these from their youth in their pierced lips, one or more being worn according to the dignity of the wearer. While eating or whenever they so wish for any other reason these ornaments are removed from the lips. Similar ornaments made of a green quartz and a barrel are in the Kun's collection in the Field Museum of Chicago. The reason for these strange mutilations which often cause serious discomfort to those who practice them is not at all easy to determine. Some have conjectured that by the insertion of bright colored objects in the ears, nose, and lips members of the same tribe were enabled to recognize each other at a distance, each tribe having selected a particular color. However, although certain local preferences are shown in the matter of color or material, there is no hard and fast rule in this matter, and frequently neighboring tribes will employ stones or shells of the same or similar hue and appearance. Others find in this custom a religious significance and suppose that the mutilation represents a form of sacrifice to the spirits. Good or bad, who must be rendered favorable to man by some act on his part, showing his unconditional submission to them. Originating in this way the idea of adornment was a secondary impulse. It is a fact that ancient peoples regarded the wearing of earrings as a badge of slavery, and according to rabbinical legend Eve's ears were pierced as a punishment for her disobedience when she was driven from the garden of Eden. A curious theory was advanced by Knopf. He calls attention to the habit children have of thrusting small bright objects into their noses and ears, and suggests that this indicates a natural propensity which coupled with the early developed love of adornment induced primitive man to affix ornamental objects on or in the nose, ear, or mouth. There may be more in this than we are willing to admit, but on the whole it seems most probable that ceremonial and religious considerations give rise to the custom. One of the largest masses of sculptured Chinese jade is in the collection of T. B. Walker Esquire of Minneapolis. This shows a jade mountain with groups of figures artistically placed at its base and winding pathways up to its summit. On the face of the rock is inscribed in beautiful Chinese characters the Epidendron Pavilion Essay of Wang Haichi, a masterpiece of Chinese calligraphy. An enormous mass of New Zealand jade, Punamu, Greenstone, weighing 7,000 pounds, found in South Island in 1902, is to be seen in the Museum of Natural History New York. It was secured by the writer and was donated to the Museum by the late J. Pierpont Morgan. This is the largest mass of jade known, of which we have any record. On it is placed a remarkable and in its own peculiar way an artistic decoration serving as a type of old Maori life and at the same time designating the geographic source of the jade in a striking and unmistakable manner calculated to appeal to the least intelligent visitor. This is a statue of a Maori warrior of the old days executing a war dance, characteristics of which were a distortion of the features, and a thrusting out of the tongue intended to express defiance and contempt of the enemy. The time or cadence of the dance was marked by slapping the thigh with the flat of the left hand. This figure was executed from life by Sigurd Nandross. Indeed, it was actually cast from the model so that there can be no doubt as to its fidelity. Rock crystal is included among the various objects used as fetishes by the Cherokee Indians. This stone is believed to have great power to give aid in hunting and also in divining. An owner of such a crystal kept his magic stone wrapped up in buckskin and hid it in a sacred cave. At stated intervals he would take it out of its repository and feed it by rubbing over it the blood of a deer. This goes to prove that the stone as a fetish was considered to be a living entity and as such to require nourishment. The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Frederick Kuns Chapter 7 Part 4 Religious Uses of Precious Stones Pagan, Hebrew, and Christian Precious stones have been everywhere regarded as especially appropriate offerings at the shrine of a divinity. For the worshipper naturally thought that what was most valuable and beautiful in his eyes must also be most pleasing to the divinity he worshipped. However, we rarely find the usage which was remarked by Francisco Lopez de Gomara among the Indians of New Granada about the time of the Spanish conquest. These natives burned gold and emeralds before the images of the sun and moon which were regarded as the highest divinities. Certainly to use precious stones for a burnt offering was an original and curious idea although we have abundant proof that pearls were offered in this way by the mound builders of the Mississippi Valley. In this case, great quantities of pearls were burned at the obsequies of the chiefs of the tribes or at those of anyone belonging to the family of a chief. In ancient Mexico, the lapidaries adored the four following divinities as their tutelary gods. Chico Naui it's currently nine dogs, Nauil Pili noble necromancer, Machuulacali five horses, and Sintectil the god of harvest. A festival was celebrated in honor of the three last named divinities when the zodiacal sign called Chico Naui it's squintly was in the ascendant. A feminine divinity represented this sign and to her was attributed the invention of the garments and the ornaments worn by women. The four gods of the lapidaries were looked upon as the discoverers and teachers of the art of cutting precious stones and of piercing and polishing them as well as of the making of labrets and ear flaps of obsidian rock crystal or amber. They also were the inventors of necklaces and bracelets. The stones worn by Chinese mandarins as a designation of their rank were undoubtedly determined originally by religious or ceremonial considerations. They are as follows it will be noticed that red stones are given the preference red or pink tourmaline ruby and rubolite first rank coral or an inferior redstone garnet second rank bluestone barrel or lapis lazuli third rank rock crystal fourth rank other white stones fifth rank the knowledge of classical mythology was so slight among the ecclesiastics of the middle ages that some very queer attributions of the subjects engraved on Greek and Roman gems were made during this period. A reliquary containing a tooth of the apostle Peter preserved in the cathedral of Troy was set with antique gems which had been plundered by French and Venetian crusaders from the treasure house of the Greek emperor in Constantinople when that city was sacked in 1204 during the fourth crusade. Among these gems was one representing Lida and the Swan certainly a curious subject for the adornment of a Christian reliquary. Another Greek or Roman gem long preserved in a church was furnished by its Christian owners with an inscription indicating that the figure engraved upon it was that of Saint Michael while in reality it was a representation of the god Mercury. Still another gem was provided with an inscription signifying that the subject was the temptation of Mother Eve in the garden of Eden but the Greek gem engraver's intent had been to carve the figures of Zeus and Athena standing before an olive tree a design which appears on some Athenian coins at the feet of the divinities appears a serpent. In a similar way the grain measure crowning the head of Jupiter Serapis led to the attribution of a gem so engraved to the patriarch Joseph. An engraved amethyst bearing the figure of a little cupid is said to have been worn in a ring by Saint Valentine. While this may be somewhat doubtful it is by no means impossible for many pagan gems were worn by pious Christians who reconciled their consciences to the use of these beautiful but scarcely religious ornaments by giving to the pagan symbols a Christian meaning. Certainly in view of the time honored customs connected with Saint Valentine's day there seems something peculiarly appropriate in the design of the ring supposed to have been worn by Saint Valentine. That precious stones had sense and feeling was quite generally believed in medieval times and a legend told of Saint Marshall illustrates this idea. The gloves worn by this Saint were studded with precious stones and when on a certain occasion a sacrilegious act was committed in his presence the gems horrified at the site sprang out of their settings and fell to the ground before the eyes of the onlookers. The Saint Sylvester or Saint James Stone is a banded agate in two colors the one dark and the other light with a cat's eye effect so that both colors are equally visible. The light side represents the old year with its known occurrences and the opaque side represents the new year which is dark like futurity. This is a typical stone for a new year's present or for one born on Saint Sylvester's day the last day of the year. The popular tradition is that the member of a family or a household who is last to arise on that day will be the last to arise all the year around. The famous Sacro Catino preserved in Genoa was long believed to be made of a single immense emerald but careful investigation proved that it was of no more valuable material than green glass. A legend still current in the early part of the 16th century represented this cup or dish as having been used by Christ at the last supper and stated that it was one of the utensils which King Herod ordered to be brought from Galilee to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Paschal feast but his purpose having been changed by divine providence he made other use of it. A queer story has been told regarding the Genoese emerald at one time when the government was hard-pressed for money the Sacro Catino was offered to a rich Jew of Metz as pledge for a loan of 100,000 crowns. He was loath to take it as he probably recognized its spurious character and when his Christian clients forced him to accept it under threats of dire vengeance in case of refusal he protested that they were taking a base advantage of the unpopularity of his faith since they could not find a Christian who would make the loan. However, when some years later the Genoese were ready to redeem this precious relic they were much puzzled to learn that a half-dozen different persons claimed to have it in their possession the fact being that the Jew had fabricated a number of copies which he had succeeded in pawning for large sums assuring the lender in each case that the redemption of the pledge was certain. Among the celebrated emeralds noted by George Agricola 1490 to 1555 was a large one preserved in a monastery near Lyon, France. This is also mentioned by Gesner who states that it was shaped as a dish or shallow cup and was held to be the Holy Grail like its rival at Genoa. Another of Agricola's emeralds was somewhat smaller but nevertheless measured 9 inches in diameter and was in the chapel of St. Wenselus at Prague. This may have been a chrysopraise as at the present day many fine specimens of this stone can be seen in St. Wenselus where the walls are inlaid with the golden green gemstone. Still another larger than the last named was set in the gold monstrance in Magdeburg and was believed to have been the handle of Emperor Otto I's knife since it was perforated. Possibly however the emerald if genuine was an oriental stone for it was customary to pierce rubies sapphires emeralds etc in the east so as to string them for necklaces or attach them as pendants to a jewel. In the convent church of St. Stefan in Persian Armenia erected about the middle of the 17th century it is related by the French traveler Tavernier that there was preserved a cross said to be made out of the basin in which Christ washed the feet of the apostles. Set in this cross was a white stone and the priests asserted that when the cross was laid upon the body of one seriously ill this stone would turn black if he were about to die but would regain its white hue after his death. No jeweled sacred image has been the object of greater reverence than has been accorded to the rude little wooden carving popularly known as the Sacro Bambino or Sacred Baby in the old church of Arakoeli in Rome. This figure was carved in 1847 by a monk out of a piece of olive wood from one of the ancient trees growing on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. The carving was executed in the Holy Land and was sent thence to Italy and although the ship bearing it was shipwrecked this precious freight was miraculously preserved and is supposed to have been conveyed to its destination in some mysterious way. The reverence of the thousands of pilgrims who in the course of time have gazed with veneration upon this quaint and curious work of art has found expression in the bestowal of a wealth of gems and jewels including necklaces brooches rings etc with which the silken dress of the image is studded. A crown of gold adorned with precious stones rests upon the head of the olive wood figure which is jealously guarded by the priests and only shown to the faithful as a particular favor except on the occasion of certain religious festivals. One of the most renowned emeralds in the world surmounted the elaborately jeweled imperial crown that was placed upon the head of the venerated image of the Vergen del Sagrario in the Cathedral of Toledo. This emerald of a rich green color was cut as a perfect sphere and measured about 40 millimeters or one and a half inches in diameter. The crown itself was the work of the Toledo gold smith Dandiego Alejo de Montoya who began his task in 1574 and devoted 12 years to its completion. It is described as being of almost pure gold and executed in the Renaissance style. Curiously chased in arabesque designs and enameled in various colors the framework of the crown served as a magnificent background for the gems constituting its adornment which comprised rubies, emeralds and oriental pearls. A row of angels and cherubs sustained the arches which bore at their summit the allegorical figures of faith, hope and charity. Upon that representing faith rested the splendid emerald. This precious ornament was still preserved in the cathedral in 1865 but was so carelessly guarded that it was stolen in 1869. If we are to believe the following anecdote, the emerald disappeared at an earlier date. It is said that in 1809 during the French occupation of Spain, Marshal Junot visited this cathedral and the emerald was pointed out to him as one of the chief glories of the shrine. As soon as the Marshal's covetous glance rested upon the gem he plucked it from its setting remarking Cooley to the astonished and horrified bystanders. This belongs to me. Then smiling and bowing he left the cathedral with the emerald safely ensconced in his waistcoat pocket. Later it was replaced by an imitation in glass. The famous collection of jewels gathered together in the treasury of the Santa Casa at Loretto, Italy was plundered during the French occupation in 1797 and all trace of most of the magnificent ornaments has been lost. These represented the gifts of many crowned heads and titled personages. Among the former was the unfortunate Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I who donated a golden heart-shaped jewel with the words Jesus Maria encrusted in diamonds. This jewel is described as being as big as both a man's hands opened onto two leaves on one of which was the figure of the Blessed Virgin and on the other a portrait of the Queen herself. Of the many rich vestments for decorating the statue of the Virgin in the sanctuary, the most splendid was the gift of the Infanta Isabel of Flanders and was valued at forty thousand crowns. In a 17th century account by an English traveler it is thus described. It's set thick with six rows of diamonds down before to the number of three thousand and it's all wrought over with a kind of embroidery of little pearl set thick everywhere within the flowers with great round pearl to the number twenty thousand pearls in all. The same writer tells us the niche in which the statue was placed was bordered with a row of precious stones of great number size and value. The colors being so varied that this bordering formed a rich iris of several colors. There is also said to have been a great pearl set in gold and engraved with the image of the Virgin and child. It seems probable that this was a jewel made of a baroque pearl or pearls completed by enamel work so as to represent the sacred figures. The pectoral cross worn in solemn processions by the prior of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial was adorned with eight perfect emeralds five diamonds and five pearls. From it hung a splendid pear shaped pearl the gift of Philip II in 1595 and one of the finest of those acquired by this monarch. In 1740 the cross was valued at fifty thousand crowns Philip's great pearl not being included in this valuation. The monastery of strong shall later Whitby Abbey was founded about 656 AD by Oswe king of Northumbria in fulfillment of a vow made before his victory over the pagan king Penda at the battle of Winwitfeld fought in November 654. St. Hilda was made Abbas of this monastery and Oswe's daughter Elfelda took the veil and eventually in 680 succeeded Hilda as Abbas she died in 713. Tradition relates that at this early date crosses and rosaries were made for the inmates of the monastery from the jet found in the neighborhood. The Whitby jet so popular and fashionable in the 18th century was largely derived from the same source and since then has had several revivals until replaced by black stained calcedoni the so-called onyx and later still by steel carved with glass and glass itself. In the 16th century jet was popularly called black amber and cardano states that in his time beads of this material were made up into rosaries. He also says that curious figures made of jet were brought from Spain to Italy. Many are unaware of the fact that a number of ornamental objects made of nephrite and jadeite unquestionably of European origin are to be seen in the quiet little town of Perugia. These objects collected principally in central and southern Italy constitute the Bellucci collection in that city. This collection also contains other specimens of worked jadeite which must have been brought to Europe at the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru. A very interesting example shows us the utilization of a pagan kelp to form a Christian emblem. By the removal of a rectangular piece from each of the four corners of the jadeite kelp a perfect cross has been made the back and front of which still offer the original polish given to the material centuries ago by the Native American worker. The superstitious belief propagated in Europe by the returning Spanish sailors very probably an invention of their own to enhance the value of their jade and jadeite that these minerals were worn by the natives as a cure for diseases of the kidneys once the name lapis nephriticus rendered the material exceptionally precious in the eyes of many. And quite possibly it may have been thought that by transforming this object into the sacred form of the cross a talisman would be produced that would not only affect the cure of a special disease but would also by its superior virtue guard the wearer from harm and danger of all kinds. Here may also be seen some Celts of European jade sewed up in little bags to be worn on the loins. End of chapter seven part four. Chapter seven part five the curious lore of precious stones. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Rita Boutros. The curious lore of precious stones by George Frederick Cun's. Chapter seven part five. Religious uses of precious stones pagan Hebrew and Christian. Certain curious amulets called magatama crooked jewels have been found in Japanese graves of the Iron Age. They are formed of various materials among others of steatite, jasper, carnelian, agate, rock crystal, chrysoprase, and nephrite jade. In the shell heaps of a period preceding the Iron Age the magatama are frequently made of horn or of bores or wolf's teeth and their peculiar form which is variously explained as a symbol may have been conditioned by the shape of the materials originally used. The magatama were evidently regarded as amulets. They are generally perforated at the thick end and were worn on a string together with beads and bugles of the same material. These peculiar ornaments were used to adorn the statues of the gods and were also employed as imperial insignia and distinctive marks of high rank. At the present day they are numbered among the three emblems of sovereignty in Japan. A green and a red magatama are combined in the national emblem of Korea and a similar figure is used in China to symbolize the union of the masculine and feminine principles yang and yin in nature. Dr. Bells believes that the swastika emblem encountered in so many different parts of the world belongs to the same order of ideas. The bagai tribes of Burma have many superstitions in regard to stones such as garnets, rock crystal, calcidone, carnelian, agate, onyx and others of less value. They are repute not depending entirely or principally upon their quality as gemstones. In almost every household is installed a stone fetish and blood offerings are on occasion made to this. A question as to the reason for this offering elicited the following reply. If we do not give it blood to eat it will eat us. A common belief was that spirits good or bad dwelt in the stones and in case a great misfortune be fellow family this was sometimes laid to the charge of such a spirit. The father of a family having died his widow commanded her son to throw away their magic stone. This he did but the spirit was not to be denied for shortly afterward this very stone was found to have returned to its accustomed place and had even brought two companion stones with it. Rui Gonzalez de clavijo who traveled in the east during the years 1403 to 1406 gives a description of a slab of stone bearing the outlines of a natural picture and placed in the church of Saint Sophia in Constantinople. In the wall on the left hand side there is a very large white slab on which among many other figures was drawn very naturally without any human artifice of sculpture or painting the most sacred and blessed Virgin Mary with our Lord Jesus Christ in her most holy arms with his most glorious forerunner Saint John the Baptist on one side. These images as I said before are not drawn or painted with any color or inlaid but the stone itself gave birth to this picture with its veins which may be clearly seen and they say that when this stone was cut to be placed in this most holy place the workmen saw these most wonderful and fortunate images on it and as this church was the most important one in the city that stone was deposited in it. The said images appear as if they were in the clouds of heaven and as if there was a thin veil before them. Many other examples of these natural gems are noted by early writers among them was an agate gem in the treasury of the Basilica of Saint Mark in Venice. Upon this gem appeared the head of a king adorned with a diadem the whole design being figured naturally by the veining of the agate and not owing anything to artifice. In the same city upon a column in the church of Saint George the Maggiore could be seen the likeness of our Lord hanging from the cross. Such stones with peculiar markings indicating the form of human heads and figures were regarded as the work of higher powers. Another remarkable example is described by Kersher as follows. In Rome in the chapel of the sacred virgin near the organ to the right hand of those who entered the church of Saint Peter an image may be seen in which the blessed virgin of Loretto is so artistically depicted by nature that it appears to be the work of an artist's hand. She is attired in a triple garment divided by a zone and holds in her arms the child who is distinguished by a crown as is the mother. Around may be seen the figures of angels. The red spots upon the bloodstone were said in Christian legend to represent the blood of Christ. This idea has been beautifully utilized in some gems cut from this stone whereon the thorn crowned head of Christ is so placed that the red spots of the bloodstone figure the drops of blood trickling down the hair and face of the savior. Such a gem might well be looked upon as a Christian amulet and one that could be reverently worn by any believer. The ignorance in the middle ages of the art of gem engraving often induced the belief that engraved stones were the work of nature. A striking instance of this was the celebrated stone over the figure of the mother of Jesus on the tomb of Saint Elizabeth of Marburg. On this gem appeared two heads touching each other and it was, according to tradition, not a work of art but a freak of the sculptress nature. An oft-repeated legend tells us that a former elector of Ments offered the whole district of Ammonenburg for this costly stone which robber hands removed at Kassel. It is in reality a fine onyx engraved with heads of Castor and Pollux. We might be disposed to regard rather skeptically the tales regarding wonderful stones bearing the image of Christ or that of the Virgin Mary and we may be inclined to believe that the old accounts are exaggerated or distorted by the pious imaginations of the writers. Nevertheless, in our own time we have a well-attested case of the discovery of such a stone. In 1880, while visiting the village of Ober-Amergao Bavaria, to witness the passion play, Mrs. Eugenia Jones Bacon of Atlanta, Georgia, found on Mount Cuffell, which overlooks the village, a small stone composed of church and limestone, and having on its surface excretances so disposed that when the stone was held at a certain angle, the shadows cast by them formed a striking likeness of the head of Christ as depicted in Christian art. This peculiar freak specimen has been carefully examined by experts and has been pronounced to be entirely a work of nature. The mineralogist is not disposed to see here anything more than coincidence, and yet the most skeptical cannot fail to be impressed by the fact that such a stone was found at the time and place of the passion play. As Max Mueller said in commenting on this strange discovery, the chapter of accidents is much larger than we imagine, and the present writer feels disposed to add that it is remarkable how often we find what we are looking for, especially if we are only looking or thinking of one object or subject. The religious symbolism of the diamond was a favorite theme with the 13th century lapidaria or rhymed treatises on precious stones, just as it could only be discovered by night and old fancy, so was the incarnation a hidden mystery. It gave forth a great light just as Jesus illumined the depths of Hades when he descended thither. It was unconquerably hard, and who can resist the might of God? The medieval Italians who were fond of seeking some hidden and significant meaning in the names of precious stones, in the case of the diamond diamante, read the phrase, amante the deal, or lover of God. This was a reason for regarding the brilliant gem as a sacred stone, and one especially suitable for religious use. The Rosicrucians, who sought to combine Pagan with Christian types and figures, saw in the amethyst and the amethystine color a symbol of the divine male sacrifice since the stone and the color were typical of love, truth, passion, suffering, and hope. The love of Christ led him to make the supreme sacrifice and suffer the agony of the cross, and the crucifixion was followed by the resurrection, once came the hope of mankind to enjoy eternal happiness in heaven. The chiasolite, or mackle, shows the representation of a cross on its surface, this effect being produced by the regular arrangement of carbonaceous impurities along the axes of the crystal. The name signifies a marking resembling the Greek letter X, Chi. This marking is often very striking in appearance, and the crystal was naturally regarded as having a mystical and religious significance. It was said to staunch the flow of blood from any part of the body if worn so as to touch the skin, and it was also believed to increase the secretion of milk. All kinds of fevers were cured by this mineral if it were worn suspended from the neck, and the divine symbolet bore served to drive away evil spirits from the neighborhood of the wearer. This very interesting mineral occurs very frequently in Micah shis. When found, it appears about the thickness of a small finger tapering slightly at each edge. If broken near one end, it often shows a white cross with a veined outline of black, making a distinct cross with black markings. The crystals frequently measure from two to four inches in length, and are found in Massachusetts, California, and other places. If small segments are broken off, it will be found that the black outline will become stronger, and the white less marked, until finally a black cross will appear with white markings. The white material is the result of two white wedges pushed point onward until the ends meet, the narrow end of one wedge being crossed by the broad end of the second wedge, and the black filling in the balance of the square. No two of these square crosses can thus ever be exactly alike, and when polished, the crystals naturally form an interesting stone that was known as lapis crucifer or cross stone by the ancients. The peculiar form of the mineral, known as storolite, from the Greek cross, is due to the twinning of two crystals at right angles. In Kronstedt's Treatise on Minerology, published in Stockholm in 1758, we are told that the storolite was sometimes called Besseller Tovstein, baptismal stone, or lapis crucifer, the former name being used in Basel, where the stone was employed as an amulet at baptisms. However, the lapis crucifer of Debut appears from his description to have been the chiestolite. In Brittany, these twin crystals were worn as charms, and local legends state that they had dropped from the heavens. Fine crystals of storolite have been found in Patrick County, Virginia, and they were said to be a beautiful local legend in regard to their origin. Near where they are found, there wells up a spring of limpid water, and the story goes that one day, long, long ago, when the fairies were dancing and playing around this spring, an elfin messenger winged his way through the air and alighted among them. He bore to them the sad tidings of the crucifixion of Christ in a far-off city. So mournful was his recital of the sufferings of the Savior that the fairies burst into tears, and these fairy teardrops as they fell to earth crystallized into the form of the cross. These natural crosses are in great demand as charms, and ex-president Roosevelt is said to wear one of them mounted as a watch charm. There has been found in the southern part of New Mexico and in northern Mexico a blue variety of kalamine, a hydrous silicate of zinc colored blue by an admixture of copper. This stone has been cut into gem form and has been sold to a certain extent as a cheap gem. It is translucent and is sometimes veined with white wavy lines. The Mexican Indians employed in the mines often set up across and a candle near where they were working so that they may pay their devotions at this improvised shrine. In Sonora and western Chihuahua the Indians frequently place a piece of the stone to which we have alluded alongside the cross. They may be attracted by its beautiful blue color or they may believe that it is a turquoise although it does not resemble this latter stone which is more opaque of a different shade of blue and of a different composition. In some epitaphs the hope of the resurrection finds expression in likening the body enclosed in its narrow coffin to a precious jewel in its casket. The following lines from a tombstone erected in 1655 to the memory of Mary Courtney at Fowl Cornwall, England give a good example of this class of inscription. Near this a rare jewels set closed up in a cabinet. Let no sacrilegious hand break through Tizyi strict command. Of the jeweler who have said and his fit he be obeyed I'll require it safe and sound both above and underground. In a churchyard at Priddlewell Essex England a rather whimsical treatment of the same idea is offered by some verses engraved on the stone marking the graves of two wives of a certain freeborn the first of whom died in 1641 and the second in 1658. The bereaved husband seems to have been perfectly willing to await the day of judgment for the return of his lost spouses. Under this stone two precious gems do lie equal in weight worth luster sanctity yet perhaps one of them do excel which was it who knows ask him who knew them well by long enjoyment if he thus be pressed he'll pause then answer truly both were best worked in my choice that either of you twain might be returned to me to enjoy again which should I choose well since I know not whether I'll mourn for the loss of both but wish for neither yet here's my comfort herein lies my hope the time a coming cabinets shall hope which are locked fast then shall I see my jewels to my joy my jewels me the christian symbolism of colors has in many cases determined the use of certain colored gems for religious ornaments and therefore the following summary of their principal significance is of interest here white is regarded as the first of the canonical colors and as emblematic of purity innocence virginity faith life and light for this reason it is used in the ceremonies of Easter and Christmas as in those of the circumcision and epiphany of our lord as the color of virginity it is especially appropriate for the festival of the virgin Mary and as that of faith not sealed with blood for the festivals of the saints who were not martyred the heavenly host of angels and saints wear white robes and in pictures of the assumption of the virgin she is frequently clad in white red is used at the feasts of the exaltation and invention of the cross at pentecost and at the feast of martyrs it suggests and symbolizes suffering and martyrdom for the faith and the supreme sacrifice of christ upon the cross divine love and majesty are also typified by this color blue is an emblem of the celestial regions and of the celestial virtues nevertheless as this is not one of the five canonical colors it is not employed for the decoration of churches or for ecclesiastical vestments in christian art however the virgin and the saints and angels are often robed in blue yellow of a golden hue is emblematic of god's goodness and of faith and good works but it is not a canonical color a dull yellow however has the opposite signification and is a type of treachery and envy hence judice is garbed in yellow of a dull hue and heretics wore garments of this shade when they were condemned to the stake green is the canonical color for us on sundays weekdays and ordinary festivals hope and joy and the bright promises of youth are signified by green violet another canonical color is appropriate for us on septuagisema and quinquagisema sundays during lent and on advent sunday the chastening and purifying effects of suffering find expression in this color black also a canonical color is a symbol of death and of the mourning and sorrow inspired by death therefore it is only used in the church on good friday to symbolize the sorrow and despair of the christian community at the death of christ a sorrow soon to be turned to joy by his glorious resurrection end of chapter seven part five chapter eight part one of the curious lore of precious stones this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org the curious lore of precious stones by george frederick coons chapter eight on the high priest breastplate part one very early and very naturally the religious nature of man led to the use of precious stones in connection with worship the most valuable and elegant objects being chosen for sacred purposes of this mode of thought we have a striking instance in the accounts given in the book of exodus of the breastplate of the high priest and the gems contributed for the tabernacle by the israelites in the wilderness another religious association of such objects is there used to symbolize ideas of the divine glory as illustrated in the visions of the prophet ezekiel and in the description of the new jerusalem in the book of revelation apart from such legitimate uses however gems have become associated with all manner of religious fancies and superstitions traces of which appear in the talmud the koran and similar writings they have also been dedicated to various heathen deities even in modern times some trace of the same ideas remain in the ecclesiastical jewelry and is supposed symbolism in the vision of ezekiel chapter one verse twenty six and in a brief allusion to the similar appearance of the god of israel in exodus chapter twenty four the throne of jehovah or the pavement beneath his feet is compared to a sapphire and the apostle john in the apocalypse describes the great white throne as surrounded by a rainbow like an emerald the rabbinical writings instead of the simple grandeur of these biblical comparisons give us many fanciful ideas the stones of the breastplate are here represented as sacred to twelve mighty angels who guard the gates of paradise and wonderous tales are told of the luminous gems in the tent of abraham and the ark of noah mohammad and legend represents the different heavens as composed of different precious stones and in the middle ages these religious ideas became interwoven with a host of astrological alchemy stick and medical superstitions the following is the description of the breastplate given in exodus chapter twenty eight verses fifteen to thirty and thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it of gold of blue and of purple and of scarlet and of fine twine linen shalt thou make it four square it shall be being doubled a span shall be the length thereof and a span shall be the breath thereof and thou shalt set in it settings of stones even four rows of stones the first row shall be a sardius a topaz and a carbuncle this shall be the first row and the second row shall be an emerald a sapphire and a diamond and the third row a legure an agate and an amethyst and the fourth row a barrel and an onyx and a jasper they shall be set in gold in their enclosings and the stone shall be with the names of the children of israel twelve according to their names like the engravings of a signet everyone with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes and thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreath and work a pure gold and thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings and shall put the rings on the two ends of the breastplate and thou shalt put the two wreath and chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate and the other two ends of the two wreath and chains thou shall fasten in the two ouches and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it and thou shalt make two rings of gold and thou shall put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof which is in the side of the ephod inward and two other rings of gold thou shalt make and shall put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath toward the four part thereof over against the other coupling thereof above the curious girdle of the ephod and they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod and that the breastplate be not loosened from the ephod and Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he go within unto the holy place for a memorial before the Lord continually and thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the urim and the thumim and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he go within before the Lord and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually of the miraculous quality of the stones worn by the high priest the Jewish historian Josephus 37 to 95 ad says from the stones which the high priest wore these were sardonyxes and I hold it superfluous to describe their nature since it is known to all there emanated a light as often as God was present at the sacrifices that which was worn on the right shoulder instead of a clasp emitting a radiant sufficient to give light even to those far away although the stone previously lacked this splendor and certainly this in itself merits the wonder of all those who do not out of contempt for religion allow themselves to be led away by a pretense of wisdom however I am about to relate something still more wonderful namely that God announced victory in battle by means of the twelve stones worn by the high priest on his breast set in the pectoral for such a splendor shown from them when the army was not yet in motion that all the people knew that God himself was present to their aid for this reason the Greeks who reverence our solemnities since they could not deny this call the pectoral log ton or oracle however the pectoral and the onyxes cease to emit this radiance 200 years before the time when I write this because God was displeased at the transgressions of the law this writer who must have seen the high priest wearing his elaborate vestments says that the breastplate was adorned with 12 stones of exceptional size and beauty a decoration not easily to be acquired on account of its enormous value however these gems were not merely rare and costly they also possessed wonderful and miraculous powers writing about 400 AD Saint Epiphanius Bishop of Constantia tells of a marvelous Adamus which was worn on the breast of the high priest who showed himself to the people arrayed in all his gorgeous vestments at the feast of poshka pentacost and tabernacles this adomas was termed the delosis or declaration because by its appearance it announced to the people the fate that God had in store for them if the people were sinful and disobedient the stone assumed a dusky hue which portended death by disease or else it became the color of blood signifying that the people would be slain by the sword if however the stone shone like the driven snow then the people recognized that they had not sinned and hastened to celebrate the festival there seems to be little doubt that this account is nothing more than an elaboration and modification of the passage in Josephus evidently the log time or oracle of Josephus has become the delosis or declaration when Moses wished to engrave on the stones of the breastplate the names of the 12 tribes of Israel he is said to have had recourse to the miraculous Shamir the names are first traced in ink on the stones and the Shamir was then passed over them the result being that the traced inscriptions became engraven on the stones in proof of the magical character of this operation no particles of the gems were removed in the process the name really designates emory an argument against the use of especially rare and costly stones in the decoration of the breastplate has been found in its probable size we are told that when folded it measured a span in each direction and this would indicate that its length and breath were each from eight to nine inches in this case the stones themselves might have measured two by two and a half inches and in view of the number of characters required to express some of the tribal names these dimensions do not seem excessive it is highly improbable that in the time of Moses precious stones like the ruby the emerald or the sapphire would have been available in these dimensions the difficulty of engraving very hard stones with the appliances at the command of the Hebrews of this period must also be taken into consideration as we shall see however there is good reason to believe that after the Babylonian captivity a new breastplate was made and at that time it may have been easier to secure and work precious stones of great value and a high degree of hardness we must also bear in mind that in those periods perfection was not so great a requisite as rich color in his commentary on exodus chapter 28 Cornelius a la pide Cornelius van den steen discusses the question of the diamond in the high priest breastplate in the first place he knows that the diamond was very costly and that a large stone could have been needed to bear the name of Judah or that of any other tribe he considers that a stone of the requisite size would have cost a hundred thousand gold crowns and he asks whence could the poor Hebrews have obtained such a sum of money and where could they have found such a diamond he proceeds to give still another reason for doubting that the diamond was in the breastplate namely that it would have marked too great a distinction between the tribes the result being that the tribe to which the diamond was assigned would have been puffed up with pride while the others would have been filled with hatred and envy for the diamond is the queen gem of all the gems the use of the breastplate to reveal the guilt of an offender is testified to in a Samaritan version of the book of Joshua which has been discovered by Dr. Moses Gaster chief rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in England according to this Akhen steals a golden image from a heathen temple in Jericho the high priest breastplate reveals his guilt for the stems lose their light and grow dim when his name is pronounced many conjectures have been made as to the origin of the breastplate with the mystic Erem and Thumim enclosed within it that an Egyptian origin should be sought seems most probable a breast ornament worn by the high priest of Memphis as figured in an Egyptian relief consists of 12 small balls or crosses intended to represent Egyptian hieroglyphs as it cannot be determined that these figures were cut from precious stones the only definite connection with the Hebrew ornament is the number of the figures this suggests but fails to prove a common origin the monuments show that the high priest of Memphis wore this ornament as early as the fourth dynasty or approximately 4000 BC of the Erem and Thumim the mysterious oracle of the ancient Hebrews Saint Augustine 354 to 450 AD after acknowledging the great difficulty of interpreting the meaning of the words and the character of the oracle as that some believe the words to signify a single stone which changed color according as the answer was favorable or unfavorable while the priest was entering the sanctuary still he thought it possible that merely the letters of the words Erem and Thumim were inscribed upon the breastplate after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD the treasures of the temple were carried off to Rome and we learn from Josephus that the breastplate was deposited in the temple of concord which had been erected by Vespasian here it is believed to have been at the time of the sacking of Rome by the vandals under Genseric in 455 although Reverend C. W. King thinks it is not improbable that Alaric king of the Visigoths when he sacked Rome in 410 AD might have secured this treasure however the express statement of Procopius that the vessels of the Jews were carried through the streets of Constantinople on the occasion of the vandalic triumph of Belisarius in 534 may be taken as a confirmation of the conjecture that the vandals had secured possession of the breastplate and its jewels it must however be carefully noted that Procopius nowhere mentions the breastplate and that it need not have been included among the vessels of the Jews it appears that this part of the spoils of Belisarius was placed by Justinian 483 to 565 in the sacristy of the church of Saint Sophia some time later the emperor is said to have heard of the saying of a certain Jew to that effect that until the treasures of the temple were restored to Jerusalem they would bring misfortune upon any place where they might be kept if this story be true Justinian may have felt that the fate of Rome was a lesson for him and that Constantinople must be saved from a light disaster moved by such considerations he is said to have sent the sacred vessels to Jerusalem and they were placed in the church of the holy sepulchre this brings us to the two last events which can be even plausibly connected with the mystic 12 gems namely the capture and sack of Jerusalem by the sassanian persian king who's row the second in 615 and the overthrow of the sassanian empire by the Mohammedan Arabs and the capture and sack of Tessaphan in 637 if we admit that Khusra took the sacred relics of the temple with him to Persia we may be reasonably sure that they were included among the spoils secured by the Arab conquerors although king who has ingenuously endeavored to trace out the history of the breastplate jewels after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD believes that they may be still varied in some unknown treasure chamber of one of the old Persian capitals a fact which has generally been overlooked by those who have embarked on the sea of conjecture relative to the fate of the breastplate stones is that a large Jewish contingent numbering about 26 000 men form part of the force with which the sassanian persians captured Jerusalem and they might well lay claim to any Jewish vessels or jewels that may have been secured by the conquerors in this case however it is still probable that these precious objects fell into the hands of the Mohammedans who captured Jerusalem in the same year in which they took Tessaphan one circumstance which may have contributed to the preservation of these stones in their original form after they fell into the hands of the Romans is the fact that each one was engraved with the name of one of the Jewish tribes the inscription being probably in the older form of Hebrew writing which was used in the coinage even as late as the last revolt in 137 AD hence recutting would have been necessary to fit them for use as ornaments a process not easily accomplished and involving a great loss of size we must also bear in mind that the intrinsic value of the gems may not have been so great as many suppose since all of them were probably of the less perfect forms of the precious and semi precious varieties it is very likely that the enthusiastic statements of Josephus in this connection were dictated by national pride or arose from the tendency to exaggerate so common among the Oriental writers certainly if the breastplate known to Josephus was made not long after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity their financial resources at the time of its fabrication were quite restricted admitting as a possibility that the Arabs may have secure possession of the breastplate how would they have regarded it the heroes of the Old Testament and especially Moses were such sacred personalities in the eyes of the Mohammedans that this relic would have been as precious for them as for us however the victorious Arabs who overran the Sassanian Empire although filled with religious zeal were no students of archaeology and would have been quite unable to decipher the strange characters engraved on the stones they would most probably have supposed them to be Persian characters and would therefore have valued these stones no higher than others in the Persian treasure this can serve as an explanation of the fact that no allusion to the breastplate with this ornament can be found in the works of those Mohammedan writers such as Tabari who treat of the overthrow of the Sassanian Empire we may be sure that the Persians themselves would have accorded no special honor to objects connected with the Hebrew religion since their own Zoroastrian faith had no connection with it End of chapter 8 part 1