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ΉΕ use of stones for the decoration of images of the ' gods, and in religious ceremonies, more especially
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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 to 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 (Amenti). 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.
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