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280 THE MAGIC OP JEWELS AND CHARMS
tombs. Should this view be correct, precious stones were imitated in glass at a very remote period.1*
An
exceedingly fine specimen of ancient Egyptian goldsmith's work, now in
the Louvre Museum, Paris, is a pendant terminating in a bull's head,
each of the horns being tipped with a little ball. Above the double
reins are four rondelles, one of gold, two of a material still
undetermined, and one of lapis lazuli ; the different parts of the
pendant are connected by gold wire. Its most interesting and attractive
feature, however, is a polished hexagonal amethyst, engraved on both
faces. In each case the form of a priest is figured; in one he appears
with his official staff or wand, and in the other he is represented as
bearing an incense-burner and offering the mineral and vegetable
sacrifices ; an Oriental pearl is set above the engraved amethyst. The
religious and sacrificial significance of this ornament, coupled with
the costliness of the materials and the superior excellence of the
workmanship, make it likely that we have here an amulet or talisman
made for some Egyptian of very high rank.2
—- St. Jerome (346Î-420 a.D.), in
his commentary on Isaiah (liv, 11,12), alludes to the verses of Ezekiel
describing the glories of the King of Tyre and the precious stones with
which he was adorned. Evidently Jerome believed that this passage was
to be taken symbolically, for he asks :
Who
could have so little judgment and intelligence as to think that any
Prince of Tyre whatever should be set in the Paradise of God, and have
his place among the Cherubim, or could fancy that he dwelt with the
glowing stones, which we should without doubt understand as the angels
and the celestial virtues.*
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