THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BREASTPLATE 293
the
almandine garnet, or some similar variety of that stone. The Authorized
Version has "emerald" here instead of in the third place. On this
fourth stone of the breastplate was engraved the tribal name of Judah.
V. Sappir. [vsd.] This is rendered sapphirus in all the old versions.15 The stone cannot have been our sapphire, for both Theophrastus and Pliny describe the sapphirus as
a stone with golden spots, thus showing that they meant the
lapis-lazuli, which is often spotted with particles of pyrites having a
golden sheen. This stone was named chesbet by the Egyptians,
and was highly prized by them, a quantity of lapis-lazuli often
appearing as an important item in the lists of tribute paid to Egypt
and among the gifts sent by Babylonia to the Egyptian monarchs, and
obtained from the oldest mines in the world. These were worked at a
period 4000 b.c. and
still are worked to this day. From this material amulets and figures
were made, many of which have been preserved for us, and the Egyptian
high-priest is said to have worn, suspended from his neck, an image of
Mat, the Goddess of Truth, made of lapis-lazuli. The name is composed
of the Latin lapis, "a stone," and lajuward, the name of
the stone in Persian. From this latter word is also derived our
"azure." In ancient times the lapis-lazuli was the blue stone par excellence, because
of its beautiful color and the valuable ultramarine dye derived from
it. Although Pliny writes (xxxvii, 39) that this stone was too soft for
engraving, this fact need not have prevented its use in the
breastplate, since the stones set therein were not intended for use as
seals and hence were not subjected to any wear. In this connec-
15 There
are two evident transpositions in the text of Josephus between the
fifth and sixth and the eighth and ninth stones respectively.
