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Sec. I, Ch. 3: Precious Stones & Their Uses in Bygone Times

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10 Precious Stones and their uses in bygone times.
we understand by Mineralogy. As regards India, Strabo and Pliny tell us that gold and Precious Stones were used for personal adornment, and that drinking cups were set with Emeralds, Beryls and Rubies.
From the East the Phoenicians, in their universal traffic, exported costly stones as well as ivory, with Tyrian purple and other stuffs, which were known as early as the Homeric period. The songs of Homer contain references to valuable bright stuffs and stones which served for ornaments, without mentioning their special names or qualities. For instance " The witch puts on her costly robe and brilliant earrings ; " but their nature is not defined. Eurymachus gives to Penelope an exquisitely worked necklace of gold, ornamented with light amber, bright as the sun. Eurydamas also gives magnificent earrings, such as must have been worn by high-born ladies and princesses in Homeric times.
Besides the Precious Stones recorded in Genesis and Exodus, the precious Onyx and the Sapphire are mentioned by Job, with the Coral, Pearls, Rubies, and Topaz of Ethiopia; and the place in which some were found appears to have been known by the patriarch of Uz ; " He putteth forth His hand upon the rock : He cutteth out rivers among the rocks, and His eye seeth every precious thing."
Six or seven hundred years before the Christian Era, the Greeks were acquainted with a multitude of Precious Stones, and the rulers in Greece and neighbouring lands wore ornamental and signet rings set with gems, such as Ruby and Sapphire. The famous ring of Polycrates (died B.c. 522) was doubtless as valuable to him for its costly stones and workmanship, as for any hidden virtue which it is said to have possessed.
In the beginning of the 5th century, B.C., we find
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