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12 Precious Stones and their uses in bygone times.
knowledge of the origin of both common and Precious Stones, and of their natural forms.
It
is certain that Aristotle had knowledge of a still larger number of
Precious Stones, and that he was acquainted with some of their special
properties. His scholar, Theophrastus, has left us a small work on this
subject. The little treatise of Theophrastus, Περί rûv Αιθυν, was
written before the year 300 B.C., and notwithstanding its brevity, is
of special interest as being the earliest Greek work devoted to
Mineralogy which has come down to modern times. It is true there exists
a curious Greek poem on Precious Stones, Αιθίκα, by the
pseudo-Orpheus, but this is of very little value from a scientific
point of view, and its date is a matter on which the opinion of
scholars is divided.
But
though we have no other early Greek treatises on minerals, we find
references to Precious Stones occasionally interspersed through the
pages of other writers. Didorus mentions the Topaz found in the Serpent
Island of the Arabian Sea, probably what we now call Chrysolite.
Dionysius Periegetes refers to the clear and brilliant Diamond, the
beautiful Asterios (a star-stone, either. Sapphire or Ruby) that
glitters like a star, the Lychnis with the colour of fire, the blue
Beryl, the dull Jasper, the pure bluish and greenish Topaz, and the
lovely Amethyst with its soft, purple sheen.
In
the time of Alexander the Great, and still more so in the time of the
luxurious Diadochi, there was a great increase in the use of Precious
Stones as articles of luxury. They were used not only for signet rings,
but also in ornamenting many articles of use and luxury, being set
round the feet and other parts of the drinking vessels and candelabra
of the period.
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